I'll probably be acquiring a 10mm auto-loader of some flavour fairly shortly, thus I've been researching what to feed it.

I see three needs:

1. Range ammo
   
2. SD load for two-legged predators
   
3. SD load for large four-legged attackers
   

For #1 I see a lot of Sellier & Bellot 180 gr. FMJ and JHP for reasonable prices at the usual places. Seem to rate well on those sites. S&B has worked as well for me as anything else in my other calibers.

For #2 I see Hornady 180 and 155 grain XTP often mentioned. They both performed well in Lucky Gunner's gel tests.

For #3 it seems pretty much anything in a Double Tap, Underwood, or Buffalo Bore 200 grain flat nose FMJ or flat nose hard cast is most commonly recommended.

In case anybody's inclined to go there: I would appreciate it if the usual round of arguments about the sensibility of shooting bears with handguns can be skipped. Thanking y'all in advance for your consideration!

I'm primarily including a two-legged predator SD round for completeness, as I'll primarily carry this pistol only as a woods gun, and that only rarely.

I'd consider American Eagle as another option for range ammo.

For 4 legged predators the Underwood and BB usually come close to posted velocities.

I’ve found American Eagle, locally, to be more expensive than the Sig brand. Also, compared to the Sig brand, the AE felt pretty light. The Sig had some ooomph.

This was out of my Glock 40. I carry the 180 XTP for small stuff. I’m not to concerned for bears for my activities.

What's the skinny on Armscor? I see a lot of that on-line. One of my LGS' has it on the shelf. Prices are good, but is the ammo?

Can't give you the skinny on Armscor ammo but will comment on the points you listed in your opening post.

1. I've been through a couple cases of Sellier & Bellot 10mm 180gr fmj and find it quite satisfactory for range use. It's relatively inexpensive at about $.30/rd. It's listed velocity is 1164 fps which puts it a bit closer to full power than 180gr fmj range ammo offered by most other manufacturers, SIG V Crown excepted at 1250 fps.

2. The Hornady 155gr & 180gr XTP loads you mention both seem good choices. I prefer the heavier bullet, though. My own choice for purpose #2 is Speer 200gr Gold Dot. At 1100 fps, it's easy on recoil and recovery for follow up shots without sacrificing terminal performance. Federal is now offering a 10mm 200gr HST load which would be similar to the Gold Dot in performance.

3. I shot about a half dozen different 10mm offerings in 180gr & 200gr from Underwood. What I settled on is their 200gr hard cast flat nose load for carry in the woods. For practice with this full power load, I use their 200gr fmj flat nose ammo which is available in 50rd boxes. You mentioned Double Tap which I have no experience with. I have shot a bunch of Buffalo Bore and Grizzly ammo in calibers other than 10mm and found their offerings to be good products. Both of these companies offer 200gr 10mm loads equivalent to the Underwood loads I mentioned.

It's nice that the resurgence of interest in the 10mm game has brought us many new choices for 10mm firearms. It looks like the ammunition offerings and availability have finally caught up.

For range, and plinking use I have had good luck with Magtech FMJ 180 Grain in my Gen 4 Glock 20. It seems hotter than Federal and Remington brands of 10 mm target ammo.

Thanks for the feedback and suggestions, guys!

Still got to get the new pistol to the range. I'm a bit out of practice, so I'm doing a bunch of dry-firing with a laser to get my mojo back, first

My shooting buddy and his 3 sons all use and like the Armscor 180 gn in their 10 mm Glocks at the range.

quote:

Originally posted by ensigmatic:
What's the skinny on Armscor? I see a lot of that on-line. One of my LGS' has it on the shelf. Prices are good, but is the ammo?

Armscor is loaded locally to me. It's garbage. The owner of the company used to own BVAC (Bitterroot Valley Ammunition Company), which was also garbage.

To parrot what others have said, S&B is good to go for range ammo.

Hornady makes their Critical Defense in 175gr 10mm. I think any hollow-point from a reputable manufacturer (Speer, Federal, Hornady, etc) would be fine for 2-legged threats.

I like Buffalo Bore and Underwood for 4-legged threats. Double Tap's velocities are as reliable as a politician's promises.

My CMMG Banshee AR pistol in 10mm has the "medium" buffer installed. I was advised to try to stick to 1200 FPS or swap-out with the low power buffer (for those 10mm rounds with close to 40S&W FS)> Fiocci FMJ is listed 1200 FPS and is close. That's the range ammo I feed my AR pistol.

The 10MM is replacing the .44 Mag. in many Wyoming camps. It has a good reputation for taking down Old Grizz. I test may handguns as a hobby. I currently have 8 different Mdls. of 10MM Semi-auto. I have found the Arms-Corp 10MM to be very good range ammo. The 180Grs Arms-Corp is a medium heavy load accurate and the brass is very good at $18.75 for 50 rds.
As for the 8 10MM pistol in my gun corral they are RI 1911, Ruger SR 1911, SIG 1911 TACOP, R1 Remington 6" Hunter 1911, Grand Power P40L, SPFLD Mdl. 4.5 SIG Elite Hunter. I buy 10MM bullets 1,000 per test run. To be Brief the SIQ Elite Hunter wins all the Roses. He is a Thoroughbred horse.

Sgammo has 1000 rds of Fmj for $299 shipped.

Something to keep in mind is that most range ammo has relatively light recoil compared to a "full" 10mm load.

I've always used Georgia Arms canned heat for the range. Not my usual carry gun so haven't looked too much into SD ammo. Here in Alabama, in the woods I carry Underwood 180 XTPs as we must use "mushrooming" ammunition.

Also, this may not apply anymore, but DT has been shown many times to come well under advertised velocities in the past.