10mm Revolver Loads

[Zeke38]

I've recently purchased a Ruger 10mm GP100, starting to seriously reload for it. So what to do about crimping? Taper crimp die, seems to be the only option out there. I do not own a 10mm Auto. What do you guys use and how does it differ from jacketed or lead or powder coated?

Appreciate your imput on this, Thank you!


Zeke

[Spartan1980]

No experience with the Ruger 10mm but quite a bit with S&W 625. My 625s all headspaced on the case mouth and would fire just fine without a moon clip. I'm assuming the Ruger is the same so take that for what it's worth. Being that the 10mm is rimless you are going to have to use clips anyway, so in the Ruger it may not even matter. It just depends on how they set it up. S&Ws are setup to take a moon clip thickness the same as the counterbore depth in the cylinder so they can headspace on that (the clip is dead flush with the back of the cylinder). All of this is related to what crimps you can do. If the Ruger headspaces on the mouth like in an auto and uses a thinner clip you won't be able to roll crimp at all without light primer strikes. If they are the same a S&W you'll be able to do either.

For coated bullets you are probably limited to taper crimping. If you can find a bullet with a cannelure to roll crimp into I highly suggest you do that. In my 625, no matter what bullet or loading I will get bullet pull with a taper crimp. Doesn't matter whether lead, coated, plated or jacketed I can fire 4 or 5 and pull the last ones and they are noticeably longer than when they went into the cylinder. No taper crimp is ever going to stop the inertia in that big heavy .45 slug. A nice heavy roll crimp over a shoulder or into a cannelure stops it cold.

Other than that you need to run lead, coated or plated bullets at least .001" over jacketed diameter and .002" if your chamber throats will allow (doubtful). Check your throat diameters, ideally you want them .0005" larger than the groove dia. of your barrel and size your bullets to fit the throats. Having them reamed is a fairly common requirement days to shoot lead well. This is less critical if you run a jacketed bullet as they are just a lot harder and grab the rifling better and the guns are setup for them.

Make sure you flare fairly generously to keep from scraping the coating when bullet seating.

[Zeke38]

Spartan, very informative post. Lots of good advice as the Ruger operates like the S&W. Sounds like I had best get used to firing lots of jacketed flat points in the 180 grain field. What I really enjoy about the 10mm revolver is the `1250fps 180 but it recoils less than it's 357 counterpart and without the terrific muzzle blast that 357s are famous for and a bullet diameter of .401. All this on a GP100 frame.

You can shoot the 10mm without moonclips but you must pick the casings out one by one. First new caliber for me since the 1980s.

[Spartan1980]

Yes reloading without moons is not fun at all.

10mm is a great revo cartridge. It can be almost fully into the big bore "magnum range" without all the blast and recoil of the big boomers, but with full house loads it's basically a honest .41 magnum for all intents and purposes. I shot a buddy's 610 with major power factor USPSA loads when I was competing in revo and didn't believe the loads were major until I saw the chrono. They felt like .38s in a K frame. Granted major PF isn't near a full house magnum load, but it's still got some power to them. I was looking for a 610 when I found a 5" 625 in pristine condition and just had to grab it. You can also use .40SW brass with light bullets for plinking and basically have less than .38 HBWC target load recoil. Steel Challenge is a hoot with those. ETA: And you can still make USPSA major PF easily in .40SW brass which is plentiful. Lots to like in a 10mm revolver.

[03RN]

Im skeptical of 10mm being close to .41 magnum levels.

The warmest loads seem to be on par with .357 mag.

[Lester Polfus]

Im skeptical of 10mm being close to .41 magnum levels.

The warmest loads seem to be on par with .357 mag.

I have drawn exactly that same conclusion.

[Zeke38]

Thanks for the replies, I have loved the 357 since 1968, but I'm no longer a fan of the muzzle blast and ear splitting report. 10mm 180 at 1250-1300 on a 357 kinda winds my clock, for a field gun. CCW work it's either a 2 or 3 inch Kimber K6 with Remington Golden Sabers 125 grain at 1100+ from the Kimbers and they handle them well.

https://i.imgur.com/GKrhAZC.jpg

[Rick R]

Im skeptical of 10mm being close to .41 magnum levels.

The warmest loads seem to be on par with .357 mag.

10mm is not on .41 Mag level, unless you count the old 210gr lswc LE load for the .41.
It will throw a 180 - 220gr bullet faster than a .357 with more girth and less earsplittenloudenboomin!
My department went from 4” 686 revolvers loaded with 145gr Silvertips to 5” 1006 with a local commercial loaders ammo using 180gr XTPs at 1,200fps and the effect on road injured deer was remarkable. We eventually ended up using Silvertips in the 10mm too and the deer couldn’t Tell the difference.

I’m a big fan of the 10mm but it’s not a threat to the big bore magnums.

[4given]

I've recently purchased a Ruger 10mm GP100, starting to seriously reload for it. So what to do about crimping? Taper crimp die, seems to be the only option out there. I do not own a 10mm Auto. What do you guys use and how does it differ from jacketed or lead or powder coated?

Appreciate your imput on this, Thank you!


Zeke

Lots of information here:

http://10mm-firearms.com/index.php

[Spartan1980]

Im skeptical of 10mm being close to .41 magnum levels.

The warmest loads seem to be on par with .357 mag.


I have drawn exactly that same conclusion.

I stand corrected. My bad. I was referring to the old original Norma loading in 10mm and going from recollection of the Cor-Bon 170 JHP in .41 Mag. I forgot it was downloaded to encourage LE use. They are very close to each other.

[TOTS]

I want to reinforce the above that you are definitely going to want to roll crimp any heavy bullet or heavy recoiling revolver load to prevent bullet pull.

[Zeke38]

Been to the reloading bench and to the range. Unfortunately bought some bulk 180 bullets of unknown origin. Tried a roll crimp and had bullets flying sideways (keyholing big time) and the ones that didn't keyhole were randomly placed on the target. No group kind of hard to even call it a pattern. Used 9.0 grains of Longshot. That was attempt #1 at reloading.

Attempt#2, 155 gr LSWC, over 8.2 grains of Longshot and a taper crimp from RCBS. Offhand group at 20 yds, 3-3.5 inches and to the sights in windage about 4" low in elevation. Tried a Sierra 165 JHC and 6.8 grains of 231. I was surprised group larger than the lead bullet load, right at 4 inches at same distance and hold, group a little to the right of the previous load.

Continue to search, for the right load. Going to order some 175grain LSWCs and try them next with Unique or HS6.

Your thoughts.

[Rick R]

Your thoughts.

My 3” GP100 shows a definite preference for heavier bullets. Some older commercial cast 155gr lrn I had shot patterns. 180 jacketed shoot well but impact in the fiber optic dot instead of the tip of the sight. 175gr truncated conicals cast from a Lee mold open the group to palm sized at 25 yards up a bit but impact the same.

200gr WFN gas checked at a bit over 1,100fps and Speer’s 200 Gold Dot load hit at the tip of the sight and shoot tighter groups than anything else I’ve tried.

Getting the bullets successfully taper crimped is a balancing act, too little and the bullets creep out of the casings during recoil. Too much and you’ve essentially resized the .402” bullet into something too small for your bore. I’m seeing the best results with Starline brass and minimal crimp. I normally load using Unique or BE-86 for powders.

[Zeke38]

Thanks Rick. You're right about that Taper Crimp issue. If I ever find a can of the BE-86 I'm going to give it a try. I've decided to investigate the 175TC cast next and see how it flies. My 5" has adjustable sights. Did load up a small batch of the 155 LSWC as I have a lot left over from my 40S&W days; with 7.2 grains of 231 and a standard primer. Would really like to stay in the 175-200 gr load area. Bullets are hard to come by right now.

[Zeke38]

Update: Dropped a 400 caliber Sierra down the cylinders and it sailed right on through with just a hint of hesitation. I've ordered some 175TC lead bullets and will be waiting a bit longer as they were ordered and are now on backorder. Going to continue to try some with Longshot as I bought 3 lbs of it back during the Obama panic.

Will keep you posted.