Rest assured, the 10 mm Auto cartridge is not only here to stay, but it’s experiencing a bit of a renaissance these days. Most major manufacturers now offer a handgun chambered in 10 mm (and several offer a rifle). Last year, Smith & Wesson added the 10 mm to its M&P handgun line-up. New for 2023, the company is giving its 10 mm-chambered M&P the Performance Center treatment.

The Performance Center Edition M&P 10 mm features an extended and ported barrel that mates with its extended and ported slide. Image courtesy of Smith & Wesson.

The Performance Center Edition builds on the architecture of the M&P 2.0 10 mm. The polymer frame uses an embedded, extended stainless-steel chassis with an 18-degree grip angle and comes with four sizes of interchangeable backstraps. The stainless steel barrel and slide are Armornite treated. The slide is optics ready and uses Smith & Wesson’s C.O.R.E. plate system to allow adaptability to a variety of sight footprints. Its tall iron sight height allows for co-witness with many electro-optics. The handgun feeds from a 15-round metal detachable box magazine and comes supplied with two.

Other enhancements over the standard M&P 10 mm include a factory-tuned trigger and factory-installed tritium night sights. Image courtesy of Smith & Wesson.

From here, the pistol gets several Performance Center enhancements. The barrel is extended to a length of 5.6” and ported. It fits flush with the end of the extended slide, but the barrel ports mate with slide ports to help manage recoil. This extra length yields a 7” sight radius. The M2.0 flat-faced trigger is factory tuned. The factory-supplied iron sights contain tritium for low-light use. All models are equipped with a bilateral manual thumb safety.

“The new Performance Center 10 mm was conceived with both the hunter and target shooter in mind. The goal was to build upon the M2.0 10 mm series, with the intention of having reduced felt recoil and quicker follow-up shots. Popular features previously seen on other 5.6-inch PC pistols are present in this design and, when paired with the flat-shooting 10 mm Auto cartridge, provide the end user a total package for hunting, self-defense, or at the range,” said John Myles, senior manager of New Products.

The M&P 10 mm Performance Center Edition uses Smith & Wesson’s C.O.R.E. optics mounting system and an iron sight height that will co-witness with optics. Image courtesy of Smith & Wesson.

The Performance Center Edition M&P 10 mm has the same height and width as a standard M&P 10 mm, an overall length of 8.6”. It weighs 31.4 ozs.

The Smith & Wesson Performance Center Edition M&P 10 mm has an MSRP of $749, offering a full list of enhanced features for the $80 premium over the standard M&P 10 mm. For more information, visit smith-wesson.com.

Article by JEREMIAH KNUPP