180 XTP's For Black Bears?

[K10]

I was going to use my Kimber 10 for deer hunting with this load. Since we are also getting a lot of black bears here in southwest Virginia and the bear season is usually open at the same time as deer season, do you think the 180 XTP would be enough bullet? Would the 200 XTP or 200 hard cast be better? Most of our bear seems to be in the 150 to 300lb range.

[nickE10mm]

I, PERSONALLY, would go with a 200gr WFN hardcast bullet at 1250+fps.... I would wanna make sure that bullet has a big entrance hole AND an exit hole.  You could probably get away with a 180-200gr XTP but, honestly, I wouldn't push either past 1200fps or even that bullet will open up too fast for a larger creature like a bear.

Just my guess since I've never hunted bear with 10mm (or any caliber, for that matter) so I don't have any firsthand experience.  10mm deer, yes.  Bear, no.

[sqlbullet]

I also vote 200-210 hard cast.



That is from a mountain mold.  NOE stocks a similar design.  I have both.

[nickE10mm]

Beautiful mould / bullet you have there. I'll be picking up one of the NOE's when I start casting, that's for sure. I didn't even know about MM's offering. Nice.

[sqlbullet]

The mountain mold is a custom design.  I actually got it in trade for some lead.  The guy who bought from them wanted a 38-40 mold, but was never happy with it for 38-40 and had trouble getting them to feed in his Delta Elite.

His issue was, I think, that he was loading them to the crimp groove.  Made them way too long.  I just load them 1.260 and all is fine.  Crimp groove become lube groove two.

[nickE10mm]

Ahh... So you just taper crimp up above the crimp groove... Nice.

Btw Is that a .401" or .402"? I think I'd probably get a .402"+ so that I could load for my stock G20 barrel if needed. I could always size down if needed but I'd want a tight fit in a poly barrel.

[sqlbullet]

They drop from the mold cast from isotope lead at .403".

[Pinsnscrews]

In reply to OP

The problem is the limited availability of suitable ammunition for the 10mm Auto cartridge. Remington does not offer any 10mm hunting ammo and Federal has only a single 10mm Light (FBI type) load. The Winchester 10mm factory load with a 175 grain Silvertip JHP bullet has an advertised muzzle velocity (MV) of 1290 fps and muzzle energy (ME) of 649 ft. lbs. This is a potent anti-personnel load, but the Silvertip JHP handgun bullet is known more for rapid expansion than deep penetration. Hornady offers a 10mm factory load using their 200 grain jacketed hollow point XTP bullet (MV 1050 fps, ME 490 ft. lbs.). Hornady recommends this bullet for "medium game" (Class 2), which would presumably include wolf, cougar and possibly black bear, but not grizzly, brown and polar bear.

The stand out 10mm loads are from Cor-Bon and they are probably superior to anything you can handload. Cor-Bon offers a 10mm load in their Hunter line that drives a 200 grain (SD .179) Penetrator round-nose (RNPN) bullet at 1125 fps and 562 ft. lbs. The Cor-Bon Hunter line also includes a 180 grain (SD .161) bonded core soft point (BCSP) bullet at a MV of 1300 fps and ME of 676 ft. lbs. Although inferior in sectional density, the best 10mm Auto loads are otherwise about equivalent to the best .357 Magnum revolver loads.

You want penetration more than expansion. A Bear may only weight 200-300lbs, but, that is of a different muscular density than a deer.

[nickE10mm]

Pinanscrews, did you just quote a 20 year old Chuck Hawks article on the 10mm claiming weak ballistics as being the "best"?

[sqlbullet]

I think he was saying sectional density is not a characteristic to be overlooked when going after game with heavy bones and musculature.  If you get the best penetration in a round with inferior external ballistics, then that would be the option to go with.

[nickE10mm]

I think he was saying sectional density is not a characteristic to be overlooked when going after game with heavy bones and musculature.  If you get the best penetration in a round with inferior external ballistics, then that would be the option to go with.

If so, then he would be correct! Carry on!

[Pinsnscrews]

It may be 20 years old, but the data is still valid. You don't want a self defense type of bullet for a bear, you want a deep penetrating bullet for a bear.

[DEGOLDCUP]

I have killed one black bear with the 10mm. I would not hesitate for a moment to use the 180gr XTP.

[Dave84]

Late to the game here but I would use UW 220 grain hardcast and federals bonded jsp staggered.