10MM - over or underrated? It can be useful in variety of situations and over kill in others. So when is it over kill? Well - my 2 cents - in most (not all) home defense situations. With the 10mm's increased power/ penetrating capability - you might want to consider friendly targets beyond the reach of the bad guys. I.E. - children/ loved ones in their rooms if you are forced to defend your home.
So when is it effective? In my humble opinion - the 10mm makes an excellent hunting round. (One of Uncle Ted Nugent's all time favorite pistol cartridges.) From pig hunting to black bear - the 10mm is not a round to be trifled with. As a hunter who has recently caught the bug for pig hunting - this round is definitely on my list of calibers to own. Will I carry it for my EDC - probably not.
Check on the Military Arm Channel (MAC) go more in to depth on his personal likes and dislikes of the 10mm. Warning - all you .40 S&W fans - might cringe a little.
Imagine this... While sound asleep - you wake up to the dreaded "bump in the night" ... you sit up, evaluate the situation, and decide the proper action is to find out the source of the noise. Which weapon do you chose? Your pistol? Your rifle? Your shotgun? Just about everybody has their own opinions of what they prefer to use - and situational factors (over penetration of walls in family members in nearby rooms - or States where semi-automatic rifles might be prohibited - thank goodness my state isn't one of those.) Either way - each of us should have some training (if you don't have any - GET SOME) on their chosen weapon platform. If you are on the fence about what weapon to chose - check out Mike Lamb of Stoic Ventures' choice of the shotgun in the video below. Whether you agree or not - Mike makes some great arguments for why the shotgun should be considered for home defense.