The 10mm has a lot of mystique around it. A lot of people love it mainly because it just has a lot of power. It really rivals the .357 Magnum and yet it’s a semi-automatic that holds multiple rounds. In fact, this M&P 2.0 holds 15 rounds and that’s a lot of comfort on your hip, especially if you’re in bear country, or around any kind of four-legged predators, but also, as a great self-defense option. Jeff Cooper originally designed the 10mm and the FBI adopted it back in the 80s, but they ended up switching to the .40 caliber—not because of the recoil, but because of getting second and third follow up shots, it just took longer.
The 10mm has a huge following at this time and the Glock 20 and 29 are awesome pistols and some of my favorites, but they’re big and they’re thick. That’s one of the things about the Smith & Wesson 10mm is that it’s really ergonomic and honestly, it feels like you’re grabbing a standard 9mm or 40 caliber pistol, but you still have that power. In full disclosure, Smith & Wesson did send the M&P 2.0 10mm for this review, and I’m really excited to add this to my 10mm collection—because I love 10mm.
When it comes to a powerful cartridge, a lot of times, you have to give up size for concealability. A lot of the 10mm pistols that are out there are fairly large pistols and they need to be because they have to be able to withstand the recoil. But, that’s one thing I think that Smith & Wesson has really hit a homerun on as the M&P 2.0 is actually a very well designed pistol and it is just the right size. Very similar to the original Smith and Wesson 2.0 millimeter but a little bit larger, a little bit thicker, but not by a whole lot. One of the things that’s been hard for a lot of companies to do is to come in with a 10mm that can really compete in size close to your 9mm.
Now taking the M&P 2.0 10mm down to the range I expected it to be 10mm which typically does have more recoil. It’s just got flat faster velocities, it has typically heavier bullets especially than your 9mm or your 40, and so it’s got some power with it. But that is the big draw—the power behind it—because the more that it comes back in your hand, the more powers going downrange. But there are a lot of different 10mm options. If you’re using just regular target loads, you can get them down to about the 40 caliber velocities, but you can really up those to more magnum velocities.
One thing I love about 10mm is that you can adapt. If you want to go with a more comfortable round, less recoil, you can do that. If you’re going to up your game, and you’re taking this on a hunt, or you’re taking this on a hike up in bear country, this is very comforting to have on your hip. Typically, you can put 40 Smith & Wesson in your 10mm, which gives you just less recoil. But while the recoil is more significant, it’s not punishing.
Overall, I feel like this is an exceptional 10mm offering 15 plus one, it’s a standard size so it’s not really large, and again, if you want to go with that 4.6 inch barrel, it doesn’t stick out that much. Again, we really appreciate Smith & Wesson for sending the M&P 2.0 10mm. This M&P 2.0 will definitely be on my hip when we take those trips up into the mountains because there’s some really dangerous four-legged and two-legged predators and it’s a great comfort to have something that’s capable of both right there on your hip.
