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 ….. 147-gr. Hornady XTP JHP ….. 0.167 1,004 329
.38 Super ….. 147-gr. Hornady XTP JHP ….. 0.167 1,119 409
.357 SIG ….. 147-gr. Hornady XTP JHP ….. 0.167 1,254 513
.40 S&W ….. 180-gr. Hornady XTP JHP …. 0.161 1,159 537
10mm Aut ….. 200-gr. Hornady XTP JHP …. 0.179 1,172 610
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 ….. 125-gr. Sierra FMJ ….. 0.142 1,353 508
.38 Super ….. 125-gr. Hornady HAP ….. 0.142 1,399 543
.357 SIG ….. 115-gr. Hornady XTP JHP ….. 0.130 1,497 572
.357 SIG ….. 124-gr. Hornady XTP JHP….. 0.130 1,429 562
.40 S&W ….. 135-gr. Nosler JHP ….. 0.121 1,434 616
.40 S&W ….. 140-gr. Barnes TAC-XP JHP ….. 0.121 1,185 437
.40 S&W ….. 150-gr. Nosler JHP ….. 0.134 1,320 580
.40 S&W ….. 155-gr. Hornady XTP JHP ….. 0.138 1,283 567
.40 S&W ….. 165-gr. Sierra JHP ….. 0.147 1,185 514
10mm Auto ….. 180-gr. Sierra JHP 0.161 1,287 662
.45 ACP ….. 185-gr. Hornady JSWC ….. 0.140 1,044 448
.45 ACP ….. 200-gr. Speer Gold Dot JHP….. 0.140 1,013 456
