Does recent testing data on 10mm loads exist?

[Suvorov]

Pigs and Black Bears: Any quality barrier blind service caliber load
Brown Bears: 12 ga with good slug (Brenneke or Fed Deep Pen); .45-70 lever gun with deep penetrating projectile; above .30 caliber rifle (.338 Win Mag, .375 H&H Mag, etc...)

Thank you Dr. I mostly roam in black bear country but do want to increase the odds when I'm in griz country and don't want to carry a long gun. Still, when I'm camping I consider the most likely threat to come from 2 legged predators which is why I like the idea of the auto pistol.

So in your expert opinion, does a full power 10mm load offer any real advantage over a reduced loading in terms of terminal effectiveness?

Also does the 10mm in general offer any advantage as a backcountry gun over a 40, .45, or even a 9?

The only real world 10mm data I have was on a big Iowa whitetail doe. She ran about 100 yards after a side/lung shot with a 175gr silver tip.

[GJM]

I am not DOC, but if you are talking about neither a psychological nor eventual stop, you need to be able to penetrate the upper CNS. Traditionally, at pistol velocities, hard cast does that most efficiently. A related problem in semi-auto handguns, if you push loads heavier and faster you may get out of the middle of the reliability envelope.

[DocGKR]

LE and hunters have harvested enough lower 48 state black bears over the years to give a solid idea of what works.

Likewise, folks in Alaska and Canada have had sufficient exposure to large brown bears to realize that no handgun is a good choice for these predators when one is in attack mode. Have some been stopped by pistols? Yes, but a lot of that was luck...

[Symmetry]

I reloaded for 10mm for years, but have completely gotten out of the caliber. There is nothing bad about it, nor outstanding about it in the grand scheme of things either. It punches .40S&W holes, only deeper with stronger loadings. It is harder to shoot quickly than the .45acp, and it makes smaller holes than .45acp. I've found that a good .45acp platform will meet and exceed anything else that the 10mm offers. With modernized designs like the HK45, which was designed from the ground up for the .45acp, its hard to justify using the uncommon 10mm. Standard pressure .45acp loadings work well, but if you want more there are good +P loadings out there and even many platforms that can handle the even stronger .45 Super.

[Chuck Haggard]

That reminds me; my old HK USP Match would run reliably with Triton .45Super rounds. Probably beating the crap out of the gun, muzzle blast was .44 magnum-ish, but kind of fun to shoot and less recoil than a .44mag

I wonder what I coulda done with a 230-250gr hard cast loading in that gun.

[Suvorov]

I reloaded for 10mm for years, but have completely gotten out of the caliber. There is nothing bad about it, nor outstanding about it in the grand scheme of things either. It punches .40S&W holes, only deeper with stronger loadings. It is harder to shoot quickly than the .45acp, and it makes smaller holes than .45acp. I've found that a good .45acp platform will meet and exceed anything else that the 10mm offers. With modernized designs like the HK45, which was designed from the ground up for the .45acp, its hard to justify using the uncommon 10mm. Standard pressure .45acp loadings work well, but if you want more there are good +P loadings out there and even many platforms that can handle the even stronger .45 Super.

This is something that I have been wondering about for a while and in part led to my recent purchase of a USPc 45. Will a .45+P or super offer the same level of critter protection or even hunting effectiveness as a 10mm full power load?

[Symmetry]

This is something that I have been wondering about for a while and in part led to my recent purchase of a USPc 45. Will a .45+P or super offer the same level of critter protection or even hunting effectiveness as a 10mm full power load?

A friend of mine liked to load 250gr hardcast in his 45 Super setup at around 1050fps for bear protection. He used it in a Kimber 1911 as his woods gun with no problems. It would likely be a superior choice versus the best 10mm loads. He also has a H&K MK23 that he has fired close to 10,000rds through of full power 45 Super 230gr at around 1100fps. I'm sure that a USP or HK45 would at least be able to process several thousand rounds of 45 Super with no problems.

[TGS]

A friend of mine liked to load 250gr hardcast in his 45 Super setup at around 1050fps for bear protection. He used it in a Kimber 1911 as his woods gun with no problems. It would likely be a superior choice versus the best 10mm loads. He also has a H&K MK23 that he has fired close to 10,000rds through of full power 45 Super 230gr at around 1100fps. I'm sure that a USP or HK45 would at least be able to process several thousand rounds of 45 Super with no problems.

The USP should be able to shoot 45 Super regularly without problem. That's a seriously robust handgun, more so than the HK45.

[Chuck Haggard]

I just know with the stock RSA in my HKs you could feel the slide hit home HARD during recoil, which was odd feeling for that gun due to how soft the recoil was with regular ammo.

[Rich]

200grs at 1140 would be quite a handful. Any idea what you're pushing for pressures? Are you running the OEM RSA?

My P229 40cal just love the 200gr XTP

But I don't load them up to 1140fps. I have to go look again but I loaded them under 900. But its for accuracy anyway nothing else.

My fasted listed load is around 1065 using a 180gr JHP

maybe if I used lead SWC the velocity would go up a tad.