The 10mm Auto cartridge is sized just right for conventional automatic pistols while boasting power normally associated with magnum revolver cartridges. Since its introduction in 1983, the 10mm has grown in popularity as a big game and wilderness defense round. The pistols have evolved, as has the ammunition. The 10mm is available in any configuration, from frangible to conventional jacketed hollow points to non-expanding solids made for big game. The latter includes the Federal Syntech 10mm 200-grain Solid Core load.
The Syntech Difference
Most ammunition uses a copper jacket to protect a soft lead core from deforming and leading the barrel. Federal’s Syntech line uses a polymer coat instead of a copper jacket. It also prevents leading, as well as being softer on barrels compared to copper.
Syntech ammunition is tailored toward non-expanding target ammunition, but a few hollow-point variations in 9mm, .40 S&W, and .45 ACP are available. Federal also offers a Syntech 200-grain big-game load for the 10mm.
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The 10mm Solid Core load uses a nominal 200-grain flat-nose, hard-cast bullet with a deep-blue jacket. It is loaded in nickel cases, complete with sealed primers for maximum waterproofing. The Solid Core round ships in boxes of twenty rounds and is rated at an advertised velocity of 1,200 feet per second.
Power and Handling
10mm ammunition has a reputation for being loaded down to .40 S&W specs, thanks to the FBI’s ill-fated adoption of the round in the early 1990s. Thankfully, some ammunition is loaded to true Norma magnum specifications. The Federal Syntech is closer to that end of the spectrum.
Fired from a 4.6-inch-barreled Glock 20 pistol, it achieved a five-shot average velocity of 1,171 feet per second and 609 foot pounds of energy. The round is consistent with a deviation of only fifteen feet per second from the lowest to the highest velocity round. As such, it produces good accuracy.
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Muzzle rise is pronounced, but felt recoil falls between off-the-shelf 10mm ammunition and heavier 220-grain loads.
Penetration Test
To test the penetrating power of the Syntech load, I shot the round into a layer of twelve bound 1/2 inch pine boards from a distance of twenty feet. The test weapon is the aforementioned Glock 20. The exercise was done twice with two fresh wood stacks.
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Both rounds penetrated straight on through the first seven boards before shedding bits of jacket as the rounds tumbled. Each came to rest nearly sideways out of the back of the tenth board. The projectiles were stopped cold at the eleventh board with no impressions.
I tested the Syntech alongside Double Tap’s 200-grain hard cast load. This load had a velocity premium of 1,232 feet per second and cut a cleaner straight hole to the seventh board. But, in the end, the bullet was also recovered in the tenth board.
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The Bottom Line
The Federal Syntech 10mm 200-grain solid core load looks funny. But its performance is no laughing matter. The polymer coat did its job and largely held up to the torture of our penetration test.
The retrieved projectiles each weighed 194 grains and showed minimal damage. But both showed up conventional bear loads like the Double Tap round. The Syntech is loaded appropriately for big game and boasts accuracy that makes it applicable for handgun hunting and bear defense.
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You would be forgiven for mistaking it for a tube of Coral Blue No. 2 lipstick, but Federal’s 10mm Syntech is a serious round.