New to Forum With First 10mm

[wingspar]

Joined this site a little while ago, but have not posted until now.  Picking up my first 10mm was almost an impulse buy after running into a few very big black bears this summer and feeling a little underpowered with my 9mm should I need it, so in less than two weeks, I had done my research, and purchased a brand new Glock 20 Gen 4.  I knew before I started the research that it would be a Glock, but just which one is what took time.  The gun arrived before the ammo (no ammo at the LGS) and the ammo arrived the same time as the first rain of the season.  Almost 5 inches in the last 12 hours, so I have not shot it yet.  It's looking like enough of a break to get out and shoot it this afternoon.  We shall see.

So far I have 210 rounds of various rounds as shown in the photo below with 200 rounds of Georgia Arms on the way.  Most of it is 180 grain and 40 rounds of 200 grain.  Once I figure out what I want to carry in the woods, I'll probably buy a bunch of the cheapest ammo I can find for the range.  I do wonder why Buffalo Bore packs their ammo in boxes that must be 3 times the size needed.

[sqlbullet]

Welcome to the forum.  Looks like you have a good start.

[wingspar]

Thank you.  I have never shot any of the brands of ammo you see in the photo, tho I have some Underwood in .357 that I have not shot yet.  Looking for some hot loads for woods carry, hence the selection you see in the photo.  Don't know much about 10mm yet, so I'm open to suggestions.  I do not reload.  I started to research it last year, and chose all the reloading equipment I was going to buy, then found out powder was nonexistent, so no reloading.  Hopefully it is still in my future.  I was planning on starting with .357, then .45 ACP, but if I do get in to reloading, 10mm will have to be added to the mix.  So much one can do with it if they reload.

[sqlbullet]

I do love me some reloading.  I don't buy more than about 200 rounds of factory ammo a year.

But, I am impressed with the number of good boutique suppliers for 10mm auto now.  In reality, if you have the pockets, there isn't much in the 10mm performance envelope you can't buy.  It might be spendy, but Underwood, Buffalo, Bore, Winchester, Hornady, PBR, Georgia Arms and a bunch of others you can really get a bunch of options.

Certainly handloading expands the options and reduces the costs.

[Pinsnscrews]

Get your reloading gear anyways. That way when powder is available you will be able to start right away. All of your reloading gear, with the exception of the caliber specific dies with also work with rifles. So this is an excuse to expand your horizons with that Long Gun you have been wanting "But Honey, I have this reloading gear that I need to put to use, a good .308 is a good all around rifle, and reloading for it will be so much cheaper" 

Welcome to the Addiction

[The_Shadow]

wingspar, Welcome to the forum and congrats with your new Glock 20 Gen 4.

Good luck and enjoy the forum! 

[wingspar]

There is a lot of options for factory loaded 10mm, but not the options if one reloaded, but that option isn't really there for me now.  What got me started on reloading was the purchase of a Marlin 1894 in .357 Magnum.  Before that, my only .357 was a S&W Model 19 that I never shot much.  A few months ago I added a Ruger Blackhawk in .357 which I do shoot a lot.  There is a lot of factory options out there, but with the 1894 came the desire to be able to load light and real hot .357 loads.  In the meantime, I've been trying lots of different .357 loads to find a hot factory load.  So far it's the American Eagle that is loaded the hottest that I've been able to find, but I have a couple of boxes of Underwood .357 that I haven't had the chance to shoot yet.

That's what I'm doing from the get go with 10mm, hence the small amounts of different ammo you see in my photo.  The weather broke long enough today (4.65 inches of rain overnight) for me to get the G20 out to the range.  I put 85 rounds thru it today.  Most of the 200 grain ammo and a good chunk of the 180 grain ammo.  The 180 grain ammo seemed to be the most accurate by giving me the best groups.  The 220 grain Buffalo Bore was the only round I hit the bull with at 25 feet, but the spread was the largest.  The 180 Grain Underwood seemed to be the warmest with a decent group and one flyer that wasn't even on the paper.  Some of the poor shots were because of a very sore trigger finger.  Not from the trigger, but a just healed claw hole received when I put my hand where it shouldn't have been while playing with my cat the other day.  The finger was still sore, but after a few rounds, the trigger of the G20 had opened the wound again.  I'm not the most accurate person with a handgun, but that's my excuse, and I'm sticking with it.

I have some 180 grain Georgia Arms ammo on the way and will be ordering some 180 grain 10mm from Freedom Munitions as soon as they fix a problem they have with ordering.  I'm thinking one of those two, probably FM cause their shipping is a lot cheaper, will be my range ammo that I buy a lot of.  This is to be a woods gun.  Something to stop a black bear if needed.  (I've worked and recreated in these hills since 1974, have run into dozens of bear, with and without cubs, and have never needed to fire a shot.  Bear around here are not used to humans, and their natural instincts to be afraid of man are in tact), but I've seen more bear this year than normal, so I just felt like I needed to start carrying something in the woods other than my G17.  Right now, it looks like the 180 grain Underwood might be the best ticket for that closely followed by the 220 grain Buffalo Bore, tho I still have a lot to learn about 10mm before I make a final decision on the best round to carry.  I'm open to suggestions.

I found the recoil of 10mm in the G20 to be exactly what I was expecting.  The G20 handles recoil very well.  It probably punches my hand softer than my Ruger Blackhawk in .357, which I love to shoot.  If there is any interest in seeing my targets from today, I can take a photo of them and post it.