Advice on full power defense load

[DiveDog525]

My duty ammo is Federal's LE only barrier anmo in .45 which is not available for officer purchase and I'm not even sure is loaded in 10mm.  Looking for opinions on defensive loads with good clothing penetration but not necessarily barrier penetration as it will be the "bedside" gun.  FULL LOADS, not "I'm just a larger .40."   Probably 180 or 200 grains with at least 500 foot pounds, preferably 600.  Gun is a 5" 1911 Kimber

[01deuce]

Underwood or Double tap.

Underwood's 180 gr is listed at 1300 fps and 676 ft lbs. You can get bonded gold dots or XTP's

[Rojo27]

Welcome DiveDog,
You've come to the right place.  You'll find a wealth of information on this site on that and many other 10mm topics.  I'd point you to the Factory Ammo Section on the home page; in particular the Factory Ammo Master Sheet.

As you asked for opinions; here are some of my personal favorite commercial SD loads to get you started:
Underwood 165gr Gold Dot JHP
Underwood 180gr Gold Dot JHP
Buffalo Bore 155gr Tac-xp HP
Sig Sauer 180gr JHP
Underwood 180gr XTP JHP

[4949shooter]

My vote is for the Underwood 165 grain Gold dot.

Also, the Hornady 155 grain XTP factory load is still a 600 ft/lb load, and will easily do 600+ from a 5" 1911.

[ZanderMan]

Humans or bears?

[jeffreybehr]

My duty ammo is Federal's LE only barrier ammo in .45 which is not available for officer purchase and I'm not even sure is loaded in 10mm. 
...

Could we have a more-specific name for this Federal 'barrier' ammo?

[jeffreybehr]

See http://10mm-firearms.com/reloading-10mm-ammo/new-10mm-pd-reloads-using-federal-hst180s-and-hornady-flexlock-175s/
...for some results of 10mm ammo testing.

[climb14er]

OP... you're  familiar with .45ACP and looking for 'full power' 10mm.

I've  tried a bunch of different ammo choices depending on my 'situation' in my 20SF. By this I mean, home defense, back country carry... and I mean... deep back country carry, and traveling.

I came up with the following...

Deep back country,  black and brown bear country...  DT 200 gr Hard Cast... with bear spray.

Back up mag for back country... Underwood 165gr Gold Dot JHP.

Home defense  and traveling...  Hornady  175gr Critical Duty JHP.

I personally don't  want MAXIMUM  hand cannon blasting in my brick home. Yes, in the back country, fine. In my house, I want reliable feeding and expansion with very good energy and penetration.

Everyone's  different, you know... YMMV.

I think a good Silvertip 175gr JHP  or a Hornady 175gr Flex Lock JHP, are excellent for carry and home defense.

[jeffreybehr]

My duty ammo is Federal's LE only barrier ammo in .45 which is not available for officer purchase and I'm not even sure is loaded in 10mm. 
...

Could we have a more-specific name for this Federal 'barrier' ammo?

Could we have a more-specific name for this 'LE-only' Federal 'barrier' ammo?

[Rojo27]

My duty ammo is Federal's LE only barrier ammo in .45 which is not available for officer purchase and I'm not even sure is loaded in 10mm. 
...

Could we have a more-specific name for this Federal 'barrier' ammo?

Most likely candidate.... 45acp 230 gr. Federal LE Tactical Bonded LE45TI

[Smokey613]

This is what I carry in my DE off duty. DT 165 gr BJHP.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ofCgLKpqt7c

[Olgo]

Climb14er has it right, the Hornady 10mm 175 FlexLock but not the Cabelas exclusive crap, the 1150 fps one. Easier to shoot but still more powerful than the 40sw. This is the medium load.

[45BBH]

Don't overlook factory Hornady 180gr and 155gr XTP loads.  Both are well over 500 ft-lbs and shoot excellent.  They aren't "FULL POWER" like Underwood is but something to consider here, if you have to wake up in the middle of the night do you really want absolute max (extra recoil and sound) or powerful enough and easier to control?  Just a thought because if you're woken up you probably aren't going to be on your A-game. 

[mt10mm]

UW 200gr XTP

[Dave84]

Uw 180 grain gold dot would be a champion.