I pulled the trigger on a 10mm. Sportsman’s has it for less than $600 with 6 mags. I thought about Glock 20 since I have a Glock 22 but for the price and the XDM is OSP.
I do hunt in bear country in N ID. Some griz in the Selkirks and during archery elk and walking thru the many huckleberry patches and picking some myself. Lots of black bears too. Easy sell to the wife. Plus I don’t run as fast as I used to. 
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That’s a good price. I wonder if Springfield is discontinuing the XDM line because I’ve seen some crazy low prices on several different calibers the last week.
Great choice. I had a bear charge me once and had to spray it while archery hunting. Gotta be prepared.
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I do have the spray as well and it is on my bino rig. I have a 44 mag wheel gun but single action and 6 rounds and kind of heavy. I prefer the bear spray since not a big investigation and lawyer costs and all that. But if you have to make a choice in a split second and you have any doubt of bear spray working, are you going to take a chance? Or use your precious few seconds to pull the pistol without having to think about the situation. Really the likelihood of a griz encounter is low but not zero. The likelihood of a black bear encounter is high but the mostly run away but not zero either. But if I am honest, good justification to buy a new pistol of which I do not have enough of😃
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I have the Springfield 10 mm OSP . Love it.
Springfield enough said……
I think it’s a good choice and the price sure seems right - nothing wrong with the XDM. Much handier that a big ol’ .44 Mag single action, and pepper spray not always an option until way too close (wind).
I have the S&W 10mm. It runs well so far. My wife and I were fishing on Keani river in Alaska. As we finished our float and entered Skilak lake we were done with our trip when all of a sudden a boat from across the lake came flying by us and drove right up onto the shore. We were like WTF and docked and we’re getting the truck when we heard a lot of commotion coming from the boat and saw a lot of running around and yelling. My wife being a ER Doc asked if I thought she should go take a look and I agreed. She went over and a girl had been mauled while jogging across the lake at a high dollar resort. The people refused her help but she stayed just in case. Her injuries were pretty severe with face and scalp peeled back along with possible eye injuries. Life flight had been activated and was nearly there. After life flight arrived the flight Nurse and paramedic came over to access her injuries and one of them ask the lady what happened? Then he asked her did she have Bear Spray to which the lady answered yes. He then ask her if she deployed it? Which she said yes. Then here’s the one that killed me! He then said well how did that work for you to which she had a very stern answer of “Well how do you think it worked?” Lol. Ask a stupid question! Get a stupid answer. From what we found out later she had a lot of surgery but did well. I don’t feel comfortable going into bear woods with just pepper spray. Not just from this incident but from bluff charges I had while hunting in Brown bear country almost close enough to shake hands. 10mm is a little lite for the big bears but it’s better then nothing and it’s what I choose to carry around because of weight of bigger pistols and the lack of rounds of the wheel guns. It is very a good round for black bears of all sizes in my opinion. I like the 10 and will be getting another soon probably the Sig.
I really don’t trust bear spray particularly for a griz on a carcass or a mama bear protecting her cubs. I think they would just go through it because their brain is 100% focused and they are ignoring pain. Walking down a trail and surprise one probably works.
But geez the legal bills of killing a grizzly. I am glad for the young lady. She sure seemed she was prepared.
The best pistol for bears is the one you will carry. I expect a 16 rd 10mm mag dump would deter but if not then likely a big pistol may not have done the job either.
Great deal and I got the same pistol from Sportsman’s in olive drab last summer when they had the same deal. I think I paid $600 plus tax for 7 mags in total (the three included plus 4 extra that they sent by mail a couple of months later.)
Picked up the 10mm yesterday. Haven’t shot it yet. Lots of 10mm ammo on shelves and not outrageous. So did not really need it this weekend but picking huckleberries I heard some crunching behind me in the woods. I thought it was my bro. I stepped in the road and out comes a bear at least 200 lbs. 40 yds from me. I talked to it and it scoots off across the road into the woods. My bro steps out of the woods and says whew that was close. The bear ran in his direction and was 10 ft from him when it saw him and veered off. I think it was more focused on me. Most his life in N ID and he said that was the closest he has been to a live bear. I guess so - it would have to be on top of you to be any closer. None of the three of us had pistols or spray. And other people in the area picking as well.
Finally got around to shooting this. I left the default grips on. I put on a Vortex CCW red dot. My friend bought the same pistol and is having a hard time hitting using the open sights. To be fair it is his first pistol ever. I bought 180gr practice rounds and some 200 gr hard cast. Recoil was quite ok. Feels not much more than my 40 cal glock. I found it easy to double tap on a 6 in plate at 20 yds.
Happy so far. I got Blazer 180 brass for $29/50, so not cheap to shoot but what is? Next either drop leg holster or chest under bino covers . It is bigger so prob drop leg. Not a fan of that weight on my belt.
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I bought the sig x10 nearly went with xdm
A fatal bear attack in Banff of 2 people and dog adds to the part of this discussion we had about bear spray vs a pistol. The people that died had fully discharged a canister of bear spray. Obviously not effective for what ever reason - whether the bear ignored or they missed but I don’t think that is known.
I don’t think a person has time to consider both. Almost better to not have to make the decision in the heat of the moment if carrying bear spray?
It was an old starving bear. 20 yrs old with missing teeth. No consolation for that family. I hear all the statistics like you are more like to choke on a hotdog or fall off a curb and break your neck but those are dumb statistics if you are hunting in grizzly country. And you never know what bear you are going to meet - a happy timid griz or po’ed hungry one or a sow with cubs. Paranoia is warranted IMHO. I am not into shooting a deer or elk at end of day in griz country. I won’t hunt until dark unless glassing something for the next morning. Maybe being a coward? But not looking to have my manhood tested in this manner by looking for a shot animal in the dark in big bear country.
I have 2 10’s and love them. I have a Glock 20 (very snappy) and a Tripp Research. Interesting story on the Tripp, if you are familiar with the 2011’s he is the person who invented them. The company changed names a few times (TRI, STI, back to TR, and now Staccato after he sold it when he retired.
I worked with his brother for several years and got to know him pretty well. When he found out that I was moving from Texas to Alaska he told me that he “had to build me a 10mm for bears.” Who am I to argue 
. I have 2 boys, and after dealing with both of my parents passing away within 3 months of each other, I also asked him to build me one in .45 acp. The Tripp Research is heavy enough and balanced enough that it feels like I’m shooting a 9mm +p is all.
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That’s a sweet gun! My plans for the deer season will take me into bear country and I am just about to pull the trigger on a 10mm. Because I am in California, my options are limited by the handgun roster. It was overturned in court, but of course the state appealed and were given an injunction on the lower court’s ruling. I am very familiar with the Glock platform, so I am going with the Glock 20.
My dad had me shoot his 460 S&W the other day. That is potent medicine.
You are a braver man than I 
!!! That is a LOT of gun. I think you will be very happy with your XD-M. I have sold many (retail sales) and shot a few and I really like them.
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