Hey guys

I’ve accumulated some 10mm reloading goodies over the last couple of months and I wanted to run some things by folks who might already load this caliber. What I’m working with are new Sig nickel 10mm cases and new 180 grain HST bullets from an overrun.

I have Lee 40/(10mm) 3 die set w/a separate 10mm Lee FCD. I’ve adjusted all of my dies taking in consideration I’m essentially loading a 40 magnum. The sizing die I backed out about 2 turns so I can size with the Ram going all the way. I’ve got the expander die dialed with the flare to my liking (no shaving the jacket when seating). The bullets do have two cannelures but it’s my understanding that these aren’t crimp reference points and actually are used to retain the jacket during expansion?

I wouldn’t want to seat these bullets at the cannelure anyways because according to my manuals and notes, I’m looking for about 1.260” OAL and I also looked at the factory 40 HST load and the case mouth almost reaches the hollow point slits.

After mocking up a round with no primer or powder I feel good about all of my setup. Now to the powder. I have 3. Ram Zip, I don’t believe this is the right application for this powder as I’ve found no data for it. HP38, which I’ve found data for but frankly the min/max charge delta is not much and I’m just not comfortable using it with this test load. And I have HS6, which shows 7.4-9.4 grains for a 180 grain jacketed bullet with min OAL of 1.260”. Unless someone hits the brakes for me with conclusive evidence that HS6 starting at 7.5 grains is a bad idea for my Glock 20, that’s what I’m going with for my first 50 rounds.

I’ll chrono them and take notes, with my goal to get to about 1050-1100 fps out of my Glock 40 long slide with red dot setup. Lucky gunner data shows about 18” of penetration, good expansion with this bullet at about 950fps. I don’t want to push it too far and have the bullet come apart as I would like to use this for deer (doe) management at my farm.

So, to cliff note.
New Sig Nickel 10mm Case
180 Grain HST
CCI 300 LPP
7.5 grains HS6
1.260”
Light Taper Crimp
Glock 20/40 test guns

Thanks in advance everyone

SVT28

I have been shooting and hand loading the 10MM Auto cartridge since 1989, however I have many more powders on hand. I have gone through many tens of thousands of rounds of 10MM Auto ammunition. However much of that is through SMGs and Carbines

The three powders that you have are not well suited for the 10MM Auto (not really sure about ZIP). Velocity wise, you are barely exceeding 40S&W levels of performance with your stated goals

From a 5" barrel I would be looking to push that projectile between 1200 and 1300 FPS. Especially since Deer are one of your intended targets. With deer, I would be looking toward getting as close to 357 Magnum energy as I can

This projectile is of modern construction and should not be coming apart at 1300 FPS

AA#7 was the first powder that I chose for the 10MM Auto. Today I also load Power Pistol in that cartridge.

I have no personal experience with the ZIP. I know ZIP is a fast burning powder so I never tried it

The HP38 is going to yield way too slow of a muzzle velocity. It too is a fast burning powder

So if buying a new powder is out of the question I would be loading the HS6. But not at the starting level. I would be starting my ammunition at 8.5 grains and working up toward MAX.

Even loads at 9 grains, you are only breaking 1100 FPS. As you approach the max load of 9.8 grains, you will break the 1200 FPS mark from a 5" barrel.

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"Acta non verba"

Your velocity expectation of 1100 FPS is quite low and can be achieved with the .40 S&W. Just the other day I shot the factory loaded .40 165 gr. HST into wet newspaper and expansion was perfect, like you'd expect to see in a magazine ad. I would aspire to shoot the 180 gr. bullet at 1300 FPS and I think it would still stay together. I have done a small amount of loading of the 10mm and I think I used Longshot.

7.5 grs. may not cycle the gun .
When dealing with semi-auto's I have discovered many minimum or near minimum loads wont get the job done . I spent too much time pulling bullets and realized if I started with a mid-range load , chances were much better that the semi-auto would function .

My advice is to start in the middle 7.4 + 9.4 = 16.8 divide by 2 = 8.4 Start with 8.4 grs. HS6 and do not load more than 20 - 25 for testing .
Once you have ensured this load will cycle the pistol , or wont cycle the pistol ... you can adjust the load up or down to fine tune it .

If you start at the minimum end of the load data ... get an inertia bullet puller . You can break down the rounds that wont function and use the components to "try again " ... trust me on the need of a bullet puller , sooner or later you going to want one .
Gary

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Certified Cajun
NRA Member

Factory Fereral HST 180gr 40 S&W velocities are 1010fps. In the 10mm their 200gr HST is 1130...

Speer lists a 180gr GDHP with 9.1gr HS-6 for almost 1100.

Nosler has a 180gr HP over 8.8gr at 1148.

Hornady shows up to 11.2gr HS-6 with a 155gr XTP & 8.3gr with a 200gr.

Hodgdon's 7.4gr of HS-6 with a 180gr SIERRA bullet in 10mm is estimated at 940fps : that's 1000fps LESS than the same amount of powder in 40 S&W using a plated BERRY'S flat point. There is also a lone 40 S&W ZIP load data for the 180gr XTP showing 4.4gr at 970fps: one would suppose a safe 10mm load can be easily developed from there...?

Why not just load 2 of your HSTs with 8.0 of HS-6, two with 8.5 and see how they fire and save oneself some major developmental time (and possibly having to dismantle 46 bullets that are barely in the 10mm ballpark velocity-wise)...?

Cheers!

P.S. Or, in the alternative, $plurge on a box of their Fusion product for your doe control? Or a pound of Longshot or CFE-Pistol?

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Sit Reloader Sentiret

I swung by my local shop today and procured some more powder options as I don’t think having a bigger selection of powders on hand as a new reloader is a bad thing.

They had Longshot for $34 a pound and VV N105 for $45 a pound, so I got one of each. The N105 has favorable feedback on the Glock forums and it should serve me well with 10mm, 38 super, 44 mag. Longshot also seems to have a lot of great feedback out there.

I’ll load up 10 with HS6, N105, Longshot with middle ground loads, and get the chrono and Glock 20/40 out and put 5 through each gun to see what kind of report, velocity and recoil I get with them. Then go from there!

Thanks everyone for the feedback so far.

SVT28

I love Longshot and it is a fine powder for loading the 10mm cartridge. I have found many great uses for Hodgdon Longshot. I would have to say that although there are many powders I really like, Longshot is one of those that I gotta pack with me if I'm gonna be stuck on an island! So many good places to use this powder in handguns.

The trouble with N105 is they quit making it

8.4gr of hs-6 gave me 1175fps out of my 5" 1911 with a 180gr bullet. Thats the average over a 10 shot string. Its worth a try. Were it me Id be hunting up a pound of blue dot. Thats an awesome 10mm powder. My personal gavorite is 800x but since thats no more you will have an easier time finding BD. A9 is another good powder as is A7. Of the powders you have hs-6 would be your best bet, though not optimal.

BTW, 9gr of 800x and a 180gr HST gives me 1315fps, pretty potent. 11.7gr A7 and a 180gr GoldDot gave 1275fps.

Your Sig brass though is about the best you can use for 10mm, you just cant wear it out, it, s&b and ☆- is about all I use but mostly s&b.

I've never used HS-6 & haven't done a lot of 10AUTO testing with 180gr bullets, prefer 165gr.

I do like Power Pistol & Long Shot, in the 10AUTO, and I consider them almost interchangeable.

AA#7 is almost too slow at standard charge weights, in my chrono testing, but is tops at above standard charge weights.
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*** NOTE these charge weights may be higher than commonly published weights.
Use at your own risk & only in fully supported chambers. ***

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Firearm......Ctg......bbl"...Ammo-Wt-Type...Powder..grs....COAL"....FPS....ft/lbs
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S&W 1006....10 Auto....5....Zero 165 JHP....P-P....10.0....1.257....1359....675
S&W 1006....10 Auto....5....Zero 165 JHP....L-S....10.0....1.260....1391....708

S&W 1006....10 Auto....5....Zero 165 JHP....AA#7...12.5....1.260....1344....661
S&W 1006....10 Auto....5....Zero 165 JHP....AA#7...13.5....1.260....1433....752

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Waiting for the break of day

I have loaded many, many rounds of 180gr 10mm rounds for bowling pin shoots. I use 6.5 grs of HP38 with 38/40 cal lead bullets which have a crimping groove allowing me to roll crimp for my 6 1/2" revolver. The lead bullets stay together but mushroom when entering the target departing all there energy at that point and not fragmenting upon impact. On deer, you must shoot through the rib cage to enter the chest cavity. If your bullets fragment on contact, how many of these fragments enter the chest cavity? A lead bullet stays together and pushes through the chest cavity hitting organs and maybe exiting out the other side leaving a hole for blood to drain out!
But, that's a revolver and I don't know much about the autos for hunting!
jcelect

I use AA #7 and BE 86 in the 10mm.