November 17th, 2020
11:48 runtime
More isnt always better.
In fact, theres often a point of diminishing returns.
From my naive viewpoint, Ive always kind of looked at the10mm roundthat way.
It was just too much of a good thing.
Too long, too loud, too powerful, too much recoil.
Then again, until last week, Id never even shot a 10mm.
My opinions were simply based off of gun lore and not personal experience.
Would Springfield Armory change my mind about 10mm with the introduction of the Ronin 1911 in 10mm?
Its a Looker
Im not one to judge a book by its cover.
TheRonin 9mmwas the beauty in the box.
I loved the two-tone look and the rose colored grips.
And the new 10mm didnt disappoint when I glanced at her as well.
Obviously, the 1911 has a classic beauty all its own.
Springfield Armory magnifies what John Moses Browning started.
Springfieldsforged slides and framesare the foundation for their 1911 pistols.
The hot salt bluing on the forged slide is a great contrast to the frame.
The polished slide slabs match the frame flats sheen and sport both rear and front serrations.
The rounds of the slide also have a matte finish, as on the frame.
The look of the Ronin is completed with its laminate rose grips.
The 10mm sample I received had an even deeper color to the grips than the 9mm.
Springfield allows the Ronin to lead with its beauty.
If youre looking for a classy 1911, the Ronin series of pistols definitely fit that bill.
Remember, the 9mm was my intro to the Ronin family of pistols.
Of course, the 9mm 1911 was a dream to shoot.
Adding one little millimeter wouldnt seem to make much of a difference from a shooting standpoint.
However, the difference between 9mm and 10mmis significant.
It isnt so much the diameter that matters here, its the overall length of the cartridge.
The 9mm Parabellum has an overall cartridge length of 1.169 while the 10mm rings in at 1.260.
That may not sound like much, but it is significant.
Frankly, I expected the 10mm Ronin to be a gun that would show me who was boss.
I was ready to actually have to deal with some discomfort, especially from the hotter rounds.
However, I was pleasantly surprised.
The 10mm Ronin turned out to be very enjoyable to shoot.
Dont get me wrong, this pistol is snappy, but it was also incredibly shootable.
(Want to see the Ronin take headshots at 70 yards on a steel target?
I ran rounds from 180- up to 220-grains and never felt a flinch from the recoil.
Plain and simple, this gun is way easier to shoot than a 10mm is supposed to be.
The capacity of the Ronin is reasonable at 8+1.
To be honest, Im not really recoil shy.
In fact, from time to time it can feel good to shoot something that has a good kick.
But the kick never materialized the way I thought it would.
This gun changed my mind.
Alaska is a land of big critters.
Big brown bears, black bears and moose.
In the past I took a 12 gauge stoked up with slugs.
No doubt that is some serious bear medicine.
Its also big, awkward and heavy.
No stock and long barrel to get tangled up in my fly line.
The Ronin is a smaller, lighter and much more elegant solution than my old scattergun.
The other place that the Ronin fits for me is as a deer hunting handgun.
The 5 barrel and the red fiber optic sight means easy target acquisition and hits.
Simply put, it was a blast.
It was beautiful and shootable, and it fills an important niche as a very powerful semi-automatic handgun.
The Ronin is a gorgeous pistol.
