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Long story short the .45 is better suited for personal defense!

TAM. The 10mm is not bad in recoil in a full sized gun like my Glock 20. The 29 is a tad bit more but not much. With 180 grain Federal American Eagles the 20 is easy to shoot and is easier to shoot then my father's Glock 22 with 180 grain Federal American Eagles. This is because the Glock 20 weighs at least 5 ounces more then the 22, both have 15 round mags.

My Glock 27 has a good amount of recoil but it is easy to keep on target. The Glock 20 when loaded with 180-230 grain hot loads from Buffalo Bore or Double Tap has more recoil then my friends Glock 21 loaded with .45acp +P.

We did a comparison and the bottom line is that the only two areas where a 10mm really beats a .45acp is in penetration and shooting distances past 50 yards. We were hitting 16 inch pistol targets on every shot at a rifle range resting on bags, grouping was horrible but there is definitely less bullet drop with the 10mm. I am sure there are guys who can do this easily with a .45 but we were not one of them. We could hit the target but not with any great accuracy or frequency. I know this was a silly test at 50 and 100 yards and that is a job for a rifle but this was just informal testing for fun.

Otherwise the .45acp was easier to control, get back on target and our grouping was not only a little closer at distances out to 25 yards but we could shoot 13 shots faster from the 21 then the 20 with a few seconds to spare. (13 round mag in a Glock 21) Makes me wish I bought a Glock 21 and converted it to 10mm. Can't do that with a 20. Long live the .45!

TAM is right. I know so many people who didn't buy a .45 acp because it was just to powerful and had to much recoil, they never even tried one. Of course the more you practice with a certain caliber and handgun the less you think about recoil. I have a G27 and the first time I shot it 4 years back I thought I would never be able to handle it. Same went for my Glock 20 but now I have learned how to grip the weapon with both hands properly and shoot it better then my brothers Glock 17. Practice, Practice, Practice! I think that many first time handgun owners would buy 9mm and .45acp in semi-auto if they shot them back to back. I own all the calibers mentioned plus a few in wheelguns. I have had several friends go with me to the range who had little or no experience with handguns. All preferred the 9mm or .45acp over the .40 S&W and 10mm. In fact my friend who shot a Colt .45acp prior to going to the range with me demanded that I bring the 10mm to the range even though I knew he would not like it. After a 10 round mag he put it down and shot the .45acp the rest of the time. It is hard to argue against a .45 caliber bullet with 230 grains and manageable recoil.