NCJ Number
127947
Journal
Law Enforcement Technology Volume: 18 Issue: 1 Dated: (January 1991) Pages: 18,20-21,50
Date Published
1991
Length
4 pages
Annotation
This article reviews the history and testing of the 10mm auto pistol cartridge that was recently approved for standard use by the FBI.
Abstract
After the shooting of a number of FBI agents by two felons in Miami on April 11, 1986, the 9mm round lost favor with the FBI. After a battery of tests in which the operative criterion was how deeply a round penetrated, the new 10mm standard was adopted for use in a Smith and Wesson Model 1076 Third Generation pistol. The FBI Academy's Firearms Training Unit conducted eight tests. The tests revealed that an FBI-specified loading by Federal Cartridge Company, using a 180-grain Sierra hollowpoint traveling at 1,035 feet per second out of a 6-inch test barrel, was second only to the Norma 170-grain JHP in its penetration. The Norma round, however, was deemed too unmanageable in the shorter barreled pistol favored by the Firearms Unit. As of November 1, 1990, the first groups of 9,500 agents were going into the field with the new gun and cartridge. At the time of the writing of this article, there had been no firings in the line of duty. Law enforcement agencies will be watching the FBI's shooting reports to determine if they justify switching to the 10mm cartridge also.