Any 10MM deer hunter out there?

Just got myself an early Christmas present to myself, a Glock 40 MOS with Vortex Venom 3 MOA red dot, with threaded Lone Wolf Barrel, and a Alpha Wolf Compensator, I have every intention to shoot a deer with it this year, just wondering if anyone out there has a similar set up for deer? I haven’t chose my hunting load yet, but the Underwood 155gr XTP pushing at 1500+ FPS has the highest ft/lb that I can find. There are alot of the 180-220 gr loads out there that are a lot slower which results in less ft/lb of kinetic energy….Would like to hear what other are using for a deer hunting load. Thanks

I’ve been hunting deer with a handgun for over a decade now, but I found straight case handgun chamberings too limiting in terms of performance and bullet selection.

Best advice I can give you is know your yardages and the bullet drop. Handgun hunting is a lot more like archery than it is rifle hunting. Most straight case handgun cartridges start running out of gas FAST beyond 50. A rangefinder and knowing drop is essential.

After trying .44 and .357 Rem Max, I finally settled on a T/C Contender in 7 MM Waters. Obviously, this is not for the off-the-shelf ammo buyer, but the performance is awesome.

Good luck out there.

Groes

I have a 357 and have taken a buck with it. The 10mm has slightly better ballistics. Both are probably only to be used at bow range. My 44 was much better but still inferior to rifles and slug guns. This year I am using a t/c encore pistol in 7mm-08. It’s a real hoot to shoot. If you are accurate with the 10mm by all means use it. I enjoy the challenge of handgun hunting.
Mwal

If season was longer and deer more plentiful I would use a pistol too.

I own a Glock 20 with a 6″ KKM barrel. I have used it deer hunting, but have yet to take a deer with it. I use 180 gr. Hornady XTP bullets handloaded to produce about 1350 fps. Keep in mind that your 6″ barrel will produce about 50-80 fps more velocity than what Underwood advertises. This will especially be true with the heavier bullets (180 and 200) as they use a slower powder than what they use in their 155’s. Slower powders really shine in longer barrels.

With that said, the 155 grain XTP may over expand at those velocities. Its my belief that for deer hunting, a combination of expansion and penetration is optimal. I’d prefer a round that increased the likelihood of creating an exit wound. The 180 or 200 grain XTP bullets will still provide good expansion, but will also penetrate better than the 155’s. Of course, a deer is fairly thin skinned, so they will all certainly provide clean kills with a well placed shot.

Congrats on your G40 purchase. It is on my wishlist and hope to have one in the near future. Let me know how you like your Vortex sight. I have eyed the Burris Fast Fire 3 as a companion to my future G40.

Well, I took it out in the woods on my chest in case a close shot presented itself, but no luck, seen a few does that were out of comfortable pistol range that I passed on. I got fairly good groups out to 50 yards with my current set-up, I think I will pick up some underwood 180 xtp and give them a try. here is my current set up, really liking it so far.

Attachments:

1. 

   IMG_1508.jpg
   

2. 

   IMG_1507.jpg
   

I carry likewise when hunting. No shots inside my comfort zone, so the shotgun has seen all the action. Nice looking set up! Now I hope Santa Wife delivers me a new G40 for Christmas!

Another good place to buy 10mm ammo is at http://www.pbrammo.com
They make good ammo that cost less than Underwood. Their premium line ammo is close to Underwood’s performance and much better than the watered down stuff you find on store shelves. No hunting loads, but great for practice. The negative on PBR is they don’t keep things in stock very well. I have used both Underwood and PBR. Both make good ammo and if you can keep shipping costs down, they both beat the pants off of store offerings in both price and performance.

IF you shoot 10mm a lot, you will eventually want to look into reloading. If you have no interest in reloading…save your cases. I’d be more than happy to take them off your hands. I am reloading 180 grain rounds for around 15-17 cents per round. Even the PBR ammo is about 48 cents per round without adding shipping costs.

Someone’s not here to make friends…