The old standard for black bear and hog class animals has been .40 caliber, 200 grains, and 1000 FPS.  That's been repeated by many of the old school gun rag authors whom I respect a lot.  It also seems reasonable to me.  That said, with ammo technology, I don't think the 200 grain minimum applies anymore.  Bullets perform so much better than they did even 10 years ago and retain almost all their weight.  That said, weight (momentum) is what gets that bullet where it needs to go.

I'm a new 10mm shooter and after much thought, went with the UW 180 TMJ.  It's easy to shoot fast and accurately from my G29, which IMHO are two of the most important characteristics of a defense load of any kind.  Even though it's FMJ, it's totally encapsulated and looks like it will hold together very well.  It also has a nice flat meplat for tissue damage, unlike almost all FMJ's with their round noses.  It may not be the best load for the woods, but I can't imagine it being a poor choice.  If you've already got some, then I'd say carry it with confidence.  I read on an Alaska forum that more than a few residents there carry that load.  Those guys can get mauled taking out the garbage .

BTW, I changed the title to sound less critical of UW.  The price, fast shipping, over quality, accuracy, and variety of the rounds is awesome.  I do not wish to malign the company as it has a long and solid reputation among 10 mm shooters.  Besides, this issue could be me or the gun, and maybe just a break in thing.  Who knows, but I'm giving UW the benefit of the doubt at this point.  And if an occasional hard primer does slip in, it's no different than any big name ammo company anyway.  Be safe.

I appreciate all the responses and assistance gents.  I performed a pretty detailed exam and everything in the pistol appears perfect.  The FP is undamaged and centered, but seems to leave a slightly deeper indentation on one side of a strike.  The 9 mm cases we looked at fired from Glocks  seemed to have a similar strike.  All I can do is watch it and be mindful of the suggestions given here.

I've been a lurker, but joined up for some help.  That's exactly what I got and it's appreciated.  I have to say I'm really glad I finally got into the 10 mm club.  I shoot Glocks regularly, but didn't have one I felt was fit for critter protection.  I have a beautiful Dave Clements custom Redhawk, but shooting it is not instinctive anymore after constant Glock use (and it weighs almost 50 oz. before being stuffed with 320 grain slugs ).  The G29 solved this problem very well.  I must also give props to the Lone Wolf .40 conversion barrel.  It shoots great, and easy, and makes the Glock 10 mm's just about the most versatile handgun around.

I'll keep y'all posted if anything developments with the ammo.  Until then, I do think the UW 180 TMJ is an ideal woods round and is nice shooting, considering the power, in even the G29.  Take care and thanks again everyone.

I was at the range and was able to get 30-40 rounds of UW through the G29 without any issues.  I really can't say what happened with those two FTF rounds.  Comparing the firing pin marks, the problem round I kept sure looks like it took a lighter hit than the rest.  But, the off-center hit appears normal.  The FP hits deepest off-center.  The FP and channel are GTG.  As well, the breech face and all is good.  There's not anything mechanically which would appear to cause a light hit.  I'm not sure what to think.  Nothing changed except the rounds.  Maybe it was a couple of fluke hard primers.  It happens.  I'll continue to monitor things and if it happens again, I'll let everyone know.  Unfortunately, there is a question mark hanging over this ammo in my mind.  As well, the lack of CS response is disappointing.

I really appreciate all the replies gents.  For clarification, the LW barrel is a .40 S&W conversion and is great.  The 10 barrel is stock G29.  This is a lot of very good info and it may very well be me.  I'm used to shooting Glock 9s and my grip doesn't shift.  I also shoot thumbs forward, with my slide rarely locking back on an empty mag.  This together could be doing exactly what y'all suspect.  I'm going to check on that as soon as I get on the range.  Thanks again guys.  This makes me feel better as I really wanted that ammo to work.  I'll update as soon as I get it figured out.

Interesting. Could that cause the off center hit?  Thanks again for the help.

I noticed the off center hit as well. I can't say I paid attention to the rest of the brass, which I gave to a friend who loads 10. Does the hit mean anything to you guys?  It seems no one else, so far anyway, has had the problem which indicates either my gun is the problem or its isolated to a small batch of ammo. Since my gun handled the other brands well, I have to suspect the ammo.

Sorry for the gigantic size .  Opinions are welcome, so please let me know what you think.  Thanks.

Shadow, thanks for the explanation.  I thought your post was positive, that's why I was confused.  My agency experienced failures to fire with 9mm a few years ago.  We, the FI's, assumed it was an issue with the guns (G26's) at first.  We were checking the things you mentioned.  Then we saw it happening with MP5's and knew there was an issue.  It turned out to be a bad production run by a big name manufacturer.  On my issue, I ran more Fed. .40 through the gun than 10mm, and it was flawless.  I'll try to post a pic and see what you guys think of the primer hit.  I'd much rather it be a bit of debris than bad ammo.  That stuff isn't cheap!  Thanks again and glad we got things cleared up.

The gun has less than 150 rounds.  The primer hits look really good.  They're not shallow at all.  UW was the only brand out of three to FTF.  It's puzzling since I hear so much good about the company and the rounds looked high quality in every way.  I'm guessing it was just a bad batch of primers.  I know it's a primer issue, not something UW did.  I do hate that I now have $60 of questionable ammo though.  Plus, I'll have to get some trigger time with a number of flawless UW rounds to build confidence in the brand.  I wish they would've contacted me.  As it is, I'm left with the impression they're not too concerned.

Shadow, I've seen light strikes, that's why I explained in the OP that these primers took solid hits.  BTW, not sure why the rolling eyes emoji was used.  I've been shooting for a very long time.  I'm also a Glock armorer.

Thanks guys.

Has anyone here experienced hard primers/failures to fire with Underwood ammo?  I have a new Gen. 4 Glock 29.  I ordered 3 boxes of the UW 180 TMJ believing it would be great for paper and woodland carry.  The ammo was shipped within about 30 minutes of ordering and I was stoked.

When I received it, it looked high quality from the box to the individual rounds.  When I went to the range, I shot a partial box since I didn't have much time.  I also fired some very old Winchester Silver Tips and some Federal .40 through a Lone Wolf conversion barrel.  I had one UW round take a good primer hit but FTF.  Knowing this can happen and that most will go a second time, I ran it again and it went off.  Everything else worked flawlessly.

The second time at the range, the same thing happened.  Two failures to fire in total, each with a good primer hit, within 40 rounds!  Less than one box of ammo and two malfunctions.  I took photos of that round and put it away.  I have been shooting for a long time and have seen hard/bad primers with the big name manufacturers, so I know it can happen.  But to have it happen twice in 40 rounds is unacceptable.

On Sept. 12 (I know, it was a Saturday), I sent UW an email through their website explaining the situation and that I could no longer trust that ammo for anything except plinking.  Since there was no option to attach a pic in their system, I told them to contact me if they wanted the pics.

I've heard nothing from UW.  I expected them to want to know batch info.  I thought they may even offer to replace the left over two boxes (honestly, that's the least I would expect), but I've heard nothing.

I'm pretty upset because I really thought I'd found the company and the round to feed my G29.  Has anyone else experienced this before?  I hate for my first post to be negative, but I've been a lurker and 1) wanted to know if this is common with them, and 2) wanted to let people know what I experienced in case it happens to them.  If I can, I'll try to post some pics soon, though I may be unable for a while.

PS. The gun shoots great.  I'm also extremely pleased with the LW .40 barrel.  $89 on sale and it is beautiful (with the small logo) and shoots great.