Hand-loading 10mm Auto using shotgun powder
Hodgdon Longshot powder was developed primarily for waterfowl hunters who needed to propel heavy shot charges at really high velocities. It accomplishes that task well, but has been largely overlooked by handgunners, especially handgun hunters who need all the velocity they can get with heavy-for-caliber bullets.

I favor bullets with high sectional densities—that is, heavy for caliber—for both hunting and personal defense. A bullet’s sectional density (SD) is its weight in pounds divided by its diameter squared. Therefore a 200-grain 10mm bullet has an SD of 0.179. Because the bore diameter is fixed, a bullet can only get heavier by making it longer. So the longer the bullet, the higher the SD.
High-SD bullets have a much greater probability of fully penetrating deer, black bear and other medium game (and don’t forget bad guys), typically making a caliber-size entrance wound and a fist-size exit wound. An X-ring hit with a high-SD bullet traveling at maximum velocity has a much higher probability of creating a wound that will cause the animal to bleed out quickly (and it virtually guarantees the terrorist bastard an express ride to paradise). Even if you miss the X-ring area, a full-penetration wound may still put meat on the table (or on the flight to paradise).
Longshot is the handgun velocity champ when loaded with high-SD bullets in the following cartridges, whether used for hunting or personal defense. Data in the two charts below shows the velocities/energies for Hodgdon’s published maximum charge weights for each cartridge/bullet combination. The first chart shows the highest SD bullets generally available for each cartridge.

                                                   Muzzle      Muzzle
                                                   Velocity    Energy
Cartridge        Bullet                    SD           (f.p.s)     (ft. lbs.)
9mm Luger ….. Â Â 147-gr. Hornady XTP JHP ….. Â Â 0.167 Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â 1,004 Â Â Â Â 329
.38 Super ….. Â Â Â Â 147-gr. Hornady XTP JHP ….. Â Â 0.167 Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â 1,119 Â Â Â Â 409
.357 SIG ….. Â Â Â Â 147-gr. Hornady XTP JHP ….. Â Â 0.167 Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â 1,254 Â Â Â Â 513
.40 S&W ….. Â Â Â Â 180-gr. Hornady XTP JHP …. Â Â Â 0.161 Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â 1,159 Â Â Â Â Â 537
10mm Aut ….. Â Â Â 200-gr. Hornady XTP JHP …. Â Â Â 0.179 Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â 1,172 Â Â Â Â Â 610
This chart shows defensive pistol cartridges for which Longshot produces the highest velocities with lighter, lower SD bullets.
                                                     Muzzle    Muzzle                                                        Velocity   Energy
Cartridge       Bullet                     SD            (f.p.s)    (ft. lbs.)
.38 Super ….. Â Â Â 125-gr. Sierra FMJ ….. Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â 0.142 Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â 1,353 Â Â Â Â Â 508
.38 Super ….. Â Â Â 125-gr. Hornady HAP ….. Â Â Â Â Â Â 0.142 Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â 1,399 Â Â Â Â Â 543
.357 SIG ….. Â Â Â 115-gr. Hornady XTP JHP ….. Â Â Â 0.130 Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â 1,497 Â Â Â Â Â 572
.357 SIG ….. Â Â Â 124-gr. Hornady XTP JHP….. Â Â Â 0.130 Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â 1,429 Â Â Â Â Â 562
.40 S&W ….. Â Â Â 135-gr. Nosler JHP ….. Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â 0.121 Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â 1,434Â Â Â Â Â Â 616
.40 S&W ….. Â Â Â 140-gr. Barnes TAC-XP JHP ….. Â 0.121 Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â 1,185 Â Â Â Â Â 437
.40 S&W ….. Â Â Â 150-gr. Nosler JHP ….. Â Â Â Â Â Â Â 0.134 Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â 1,320 Â Â Â Â Â 580
.40 S&W ….. Â Â Â 155-gr. Hornady XTP JHP ….. Â Â Â 0.138 Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â 1,283 Â Â Â Â Â 567
.40 S&W ….. Â Â Â 165-gr. Sierra JHP ….. Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â 0.147 Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â 1,185Â Â Â Â Â Â 514
10mm Auto ….. Â 180-gr. Sierra JHP Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â 0.161 Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â 1,287 Â Â Â Â Â 662
.45 ACP ….. Â Â Â Â 185-gr. Hornady JSWC ….. Â Â Â Â Â 0.140 Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â 1,044 Â Â Â Â Â 448
.45 ACP ….. Â Â Â Â 200-gr. Speer Gold Dot JHP….. Â Â 0.140 Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â 1,013 Â Â Â Â Â 456