Ed Brown’s new LS10 is a standout in the growing field of long-slide 10mm handguns.
If you have your finger on the pulse of the goings-on in the handgun industry, you’re aware that we’re in the midst of a 10mm Auto renaissance. The 10mm’s sudden popularity comes as no surprise to the cartridge’s substantial fan base, who think it’s about time the rest of us caught onto what a marvel of engineering the round truly is. But the fact that this cartridge has even survived is a testament to its merits.
Handgun shooters were impressed with the 10mm’s ballistics when the cartridge broke cover in the 1980s. The 10mm Auto is a potent cartridge—just what the FBI was looking for after the notorious 1986 shootout in Miami in which two agents were killed because their 9mm service weapons failed to stop the assailants. In short order the agency adopted the 10mm, but it proved to be too much for many agents. This paved the way for the .40 S&W, which was seen as the final nail in the 10mm’s coffin.
The 10mm suffered a setback when the Bren Ten pistol in which it was first chambered was plagued by manufacturing issues. The 10mm Auto was verging on obsolescence when Colt stepped in in 1987 and saved the day, offering it in the new Delta Elite 1911. Still, the cartridge never really caught on and survived only as a niche round.
Now, more than 30 years after it was released, the cartridge has finally gained a secure footing thanks to its combination of sufficient knockdown power and manageable (at least for experienced shooters) recoil.
Ed Brown, a machinist and competitive shooter turned gun manufacturer from Missouri, began making parts for his competition 1911s when he couldn’t
