Unfortunately, a lot of the stuff we used to have available as reloaders, simply isn't anymore. 800x has been discontinued and most Speer products are now in the "unobtainium" column! I've been hoping to get my sweaty paws on some 10mm 165 gr Gold Dots for over 2 years now and haven't seen a single one for sale! I will admit, I fear that bullet was, like most other 165 gr bullets in 40 cal, designed for the 40 Short & Weak and may not be able to withstand full 10mm loads. The Hornady 155 and 180's work well but the 155 is severely limited in penetration! At least the jacket and core don't seperate, like the 9mm, 45 and 44 bullets do! BTW, the best source for Speer products these days is on the Speer website since they have taken to selling direct these days. Still, in going thru their products, most are listed as "currently unavailable." Personally, I think they've laid everyone but one guy off and he can only operate one machine at a time!
My carry ammo, for all of my handguns no matter what caliber, is the Underwood loading of the Lehigh Xtreme Defender bullets. In 10mm, that means I have a very small but precious stash of the 100gr XD bullet, which my Glock 29 shoots especially well but Lehigh is no longer making. In my Glock 40, I shoot the 115 gr. It is my opinion that the XD bullet is the best possible bullet anyone can get for SD/HD with a handgun, bar none! To top things off, while they are loud (but flash supressed) the recoil is extremely mild, while the velocities are sometimes hard to believe! These bullets have a round nose profile for feed reliability, are totally barrier blind and create wounds that out class every hollow point on the market. Unfortunately, while I have loaded for most of the bullets Lehigh makes in way of 10mm, I have been unable to match any of their factory velocities with available powders to reloaders (the only powders I have not tried are the VV powders which are pretty high priced around here!).
The only bullet that may (I say may because he hasn't finished development just yet) equal the Lehigh XD is Peter Pi jr.'s Defiant 10mm load. His other calibers come as close to the Lehigh's as any other bullet available, although his prices are downright scary! That should change as he ramps up production. I would not hesitate to carry any of his ammo line.
As a backup to the expensive Lehigh bullets/ammo (Lehigh is still making and selling ammo but you must go to the Wilson Combat website to find it! Other than they use plain brass cases instead of Underwoods nickel plated - both are Starline - the velocities are the same & costs similar) I much prefer to use Speer Gold Dots, but so far Speer hasn't sold anything other than the 200 gr GDHP that I'm aware of. Boo, hiss, Speer! Since I have not been able to find any other 165 gr. bullets that will withstand 10mm velocities I am forced into the 180 gr. XTP, which works ok, although they are not the most fun to shoot out of my G29. They're fine out of the G40, which seems to tame even the heaviest loads down to .45 ACP levels. Both of these pistols wear Holosun 508T series red dot sights, even though I recently had cataract surgery in both eyes and now can see without the glasses I've been wearing for for almost 60 years! But I still can't see the front sight clearly (my up close eyesight wasn't very good before the surgery but it's even worse now! I still need reading glasses but it's a small price to pay!) and I find I like the precision of the RDS over irons anyway, so the one thing I said I would never ever put on any of my guns (anything that takes a battery) are there to stay!
So far the best velocities I've been able to get without exceeding all the book numbers have been AA#9, BE-86, & Power Pistol (keep in mind I load mostly lighter weight bullets, with just a few 180's in the mix). The most disappointing powders have been Blue Dot and HS6 which have come in way under published velocity numbers, without far exceeding the published maximums. The use of magnum primers does help but they also play hob with the extreme spreads and standard deviation numbers. AA#9 seems to give the best velocities so far. I no longer shoot any plain lead bullets, except for the relatively small stash I have for 357 and 44 mags) and exclusively use Missouri Bullet Co.'s coated bullets. I hate lead bullets although I loved the price! I may yet sell my casting equipment!
While I have by no means forsaken my .45 ACP, the 10mm is my new love and I wish I'd of made the change 30 some years ago when Uncle Jeff said to. I could just never get the money together for a Delta Elite. I should have sacrificed more back then so I wouldn't be swimming in 45 brass and bullets while wishing I had more 10mm now! Ah well, better late than never, right?
Cheers,
crkckr