10mm Ammo Choices

[Bedpan Bandit]

Just put together a Glock 20L and was looking through the Underwood Ammo site and was curious with what would be a better choice for hunting ammo...

Heavy
Bullet Weight: 220 Grains
Bullet Style: Hardcast Flat Nose
Case Type: Brass
Muzzle Velocity: 1200 fps
Muzzle Energy: 703 ft. lbs

Medium
Bullet Weight: 165 Grains
Bullet Style: Speer Total Metal Jacket
Muzzle Velocity: 1400 fps
Muzzle Energy: 718 ft. lbs

Light
Bullet Weight: 155 Grains
Bullet Style: Speer Total Metal Jacket
Case Type: Brass
Muzzle Velocity: 1500 fps
Muzzle Energy: 775 ft. lbs

What's more important for hunting/four-legged protection, muzzle energy or projectile weight? I noticed the lighter weight bullets yield more foot lbs of energy than the heavy ones. It seems as if everyone says go with heavy hard cast. Just curious if the lighter faster rounds would do the same job.

Thoughts?

[NytWolf]

Just remember that the energy is calculated from the given velocity. A higher velocity is going to yield a higher energy rating given the same specifications of the bullet.

I haven't hunted with it, but I do carry the Underwood 180 grain Gold Dots or Buffalo Bore 180 grain hollow points as a backup sidearm.

[Bedpan Bandit]

So in theory, would a lighter projectile with higher velocity and more energy penetrate deeper than a heavy, slower projectile?

[2nd Shot]

I believe that the heavier, slower projectiles are the uncontested penetration king in 10mm. My standard "Heavy/woods" load is the 200gn XTP over 800x at about 1150 FPS out of the Glock 29. I'd bet that an even heavier hard cast bullet at an even higher speed out of a G20 would an "in one side and out the other going the long way" kind of deal on just about any animal you'll find in this state..

In comparison, there's the also notorious 135 grain bullet over 800x load at 1500-1600 FPS... Penetrates about 10 inches of gel in the real world, due to violent expansion at such high velocities. Aside from the deafening muzzle blast and stiff recoil, this one isn't a bad choice for self defense where overpenetration is a consideration and there's no likelihood of running into big fat guys in heavy winter clothing... Ted Nugent has supposedly killed some pretty big animals with this load (or a variation of it), but judging by the shallow penetration, it's probably not a wise choice for hunting.

[EL_NinO619]

165gr or 200. FMJ

[Dark Mod]

I'd go heavier honestly. Especially with a hard cast round, should hold its momentum better when going through tissue and possibly penetrate deeper. There's a lot of debate on the topic and I haven't done enough research to make a firm opinion

Either way 700 ft lbs is a ton of energy being dumped into an animal, right around a light 44 mag load. It's gonna make an impression

[stilly]

Just put together a Glock 20L and was looking through the Underwood Ammo site and was curious with what would be a better choice for hunting ammo...

Heavy
Bullet Weight: 220 Grains
Bullet Style: Hardcast Flat Nose
Case Type: Brass
Muzzle Velocity: 1200 fps
Muzzle Energy: 703 ft. lbs

Medium
Bullet Weight: 165 Grains
Bullet Style: Speer Total Metal Jacket
Muzzle Velocity: 1400 fps
Muzzle Energy: 718 ft. lbs

Light
Bullet Weight: 155 Grains
Bullet Style: Speer Total Metal Jacket
Case Type: Brass
Muzzle Velocity: 1500 fps
Muzzle Energy: 775 ft. lbs

What's more important for hunting/four-legged protection, muzzle energy or projectile weight? I noticed the lighter weight bullets yield more foot lbs of energy than the heavy ones. It seems as if everyone says go with heavy hard cast. Just curious if the lighter faster rounds would do the same job.

Thoughts?

Honestly? Go to Precision Delta and order their 180GR 10mm ammo EVAL pack. They were like $104 shipped to you for 250 rounds. Shoot them, and reload them OR, pull them and replace the powder with a nice charge of longshot. I might do that to a few of them.

[Bedpan Bandit]

Honestly? Go to Precision Delta and order their 180GR 10mm ammo EVAL pack. They were like $104 shipped to you for 250 rounds. Shoot them, and reload them OR, pull them and replace the powder with a nice charge of longshot. I might do that to a few of them.

Thanks for the suggestion. I checked their site and it looks like they're out of stock.

[stilly]

Thanks for the suggestion. I checked their site and it looks like they're out of stock.

Oh wow. I thought they would never run out of 10mm.

Send them an e-mail or call them. The lady is pretty nice over the phone and in e-mail.

[NytWolf]

So in theory, would a lighter projectile with higher velocity and more energy penetrate deeper than a heavy, slower projectile?

The heavier bullet would have a higher ballistic coefficient, so no, not necessarily.

[Bedpan Bandit]

Oh wow. I thought they would never run out of 10mm.

Send them an e-mail or call them. The lady is pretty nice over the phone and in e-mail.

Hey Stilly, do you know what the stats are on their 10mm offerings? I'll be emailing them too.

[stilly]

Hey Stilly, do you know what the stats are on their 10mm offerings? I'll be emailing them too.

All I know from what I had were 180gr 10mm with mixed brass. I did not chrony, no wait, I DID chrony, I think I saw it chrony at around 1200 fps, maybe 1184 fps. I was like, DAMN. That is some good ****... I was hitting near where I aimed at about 90+ yards out. For what it is worth though I also chronoed the Wind at 95 fps... Dunno how that happened, but it was when the chrony tipped over on the tripod.