10mm or 45 Super for hunting and a hiking, backpacking gun

[bdicki]

Underwood makes some full power loads as well.

[Texas by God]

On my walks, I carry an 18" H&R Topper 20 gauge. Very light, very effective come what may.

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[Texas by God]

Ok, I would choose the .45 with a flat point FMJ.

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[huntersdog]

And just to confuse you a little more

Very interesting. Thanks for sharing it..

[lefty o]

most 10mm ammo is just a duplicate of the 40s&w loads. loaded up to the top of its potential, and the 10mm is a different animal.

[fivefang]

Artful, thank's for posting , look back at the .44rem.GC. factory loading of the late 50's, ( speaking of downloading), Fivefang

[725]

It's personal, to a point, but I'd opt for a 10. Loaded to it's potential, it's wicked. My story is only anecdotal, but while hunting and tracking a wounded hog (300# or so )<wounded by a poor shot with a .44 mag>, I was charged - straight on - and two hits from my 10 mm crumpled the hog into summersaults right at me. Anecdotal - yep - but I like the 10.

[Ramjet-SS]

Well when you ask for opinions you will get opinions.

My choice was based on many high stress drills with a number of weapons.

I cannot run the Ruger RedHawk Back Packer in 44 mag very well in double action near as fast on target as I can a long slide 10mm or my G40 with the 7" KKM barrel. A plus give me 14 rounds of 10 over 6 of 44 any day of the week. With that said a 45 Super would also out perform the 44 mag snubby with 240 grain or higher weight full load projectiles.

I am a 10mm fanboy....full disclosure

[yeahbub]

Either one loaded to potential seems a good choice. I was running 200gr XTP out of a 5" 1911 .45 acp at 1200fps (with an 18 lb. spring, two buffers and a buffer washer to take the pounding). The .45 Super exceeds that and is a cracking beasty when loaded full steam. And you can go back to standard ammo should the need arise. I suppose the same is true of 10mm, but .45 is available anywhere.

A friend and I played with .400 CorBon and it is very potent, but there are teething troubles. The dies didn't want to shrink the neck enough to prevent set-back when fed through the action, which will drive pressures way up there. It headspaces on the shoulder, so shoulder position is critical to long case life, as is chamber and size die match-up. The cases were showing separation cracks on the third firing, sometimes second, so a neck sizer is on order as is a cannelure tool for proper crimp groove position. For personal defense, bottleneck cases may not be the way to go until the details are ironed out.

[MT Chambers]

None of the above....in my experience a big cal. levergun (45/70) or revolver in .45 Colt's or .44 Mag. or larger is required for large Cdn. moose or bears that have already launched themselves at you.

[Lloyd Smale]

I voted 10mm for a couple reasons. First is brass is easier to come by. Second is that my 29 and 20 when loaded with top end ammo have more snort then a 40 or 45acp. That said if I'm walking in the woods where big bear or moose sized game could be involved my choice of guns is going to start with a 44mag and go up from there. Now around here the most dangerous and largest thing your going to see in the woods is a black bear and if your afraid of black bear attacks then you've been reading to many storys on the internet. What a 10mm is good for is up to deer sized game and self defense as is the 45super. I would not hunt even deer with a 45acp or 40sw.

[Mr_Sheesh]

Family member (being an idiot) went out woods walking sans a weapon & a black bear treed him. Sometimes a black bear wakes up in a BAD mood & you don't want to let them gnaw on you... Humans're more likely a threat here tho.

[lefty o]

very close encounters do happen with black bears, though you are more likely to get your butt whuppped by a whitetailed deer.

[pmer]

Are the slides hollowed-out more for the 45 super cartridge. Because shouldn't one rely on more than just the 45 super brass to contain the pressures of the higher pressure cartridge. Just wondering are the barrels and Chambers for the 45 Super's thicker? Or does it use better Steel?

[NWPilgrim]

Family member (being an idiot) went out woods walking sans a weapon & a black bear treed him. Sometimes a black bear wakes up in a BAD mood & you don't want to let them gnaw on you... Humans're more likely a threat here tho.

That is the key thing. While "most" black bear will avoid humans (try hunting them without bait or dogs!), sometimes the circumstances are just wrong and one will attack (mother, ill mannered teenage boar, etc.). I hiked along Copper Ridge in the North Cascades and there was a teenage boar lurking around a pass waiting for tired hikers to stop so it could get their backpacks and goodies inside. There was a couple of rangers manning the fire lookout and warning hikers about it (armed with .357 it looked like). We encountered a bedraggled fellow stumbling down from the pass who had been treed the previous night by the bear while it tore apart his camp, pack, tent. He was skedaddling with the shirt on his back in the early morning. So a bear that has learned to forage off people in a high traffic area can be dangerous, just like the proverbial momma bear with cubs. The few black bears I've seen are relatively small (150-250#). But some like around Mt Rainier in the fall are huge, more like 350-500#.

I generally carry a G23 in .40 because human riffraff are much more likely. But if I go to areas I know have larger bears I am taking my S&W 29 Mountain Gun. Been thinking of a G20 with Underwood ammo though.

[Josh Smith]

Are the slides hollowed-out more for the 45 super cartridge. Because shouldn't one rely on more than just the 45 super brass to contain the pressures of the higher pressure cartridge. Just wondering are the barrels and Chambers for the 45 Super's thicker? Or does it use better Steel?

The steel is plenty thick.

Ramped barrels are generally recommended.

Regards,

Josh

[sawinredneck]

Given what the OP asked for I’ll say a 44mag!
Before burning me at the stake let me explain please. I love the 10mm and have for years, it’s a great cartridge, but while the ammo isn’t as scarce as it once was, it’s still not that readily available at your average gun shop. 45 Super, I cant honestly say I’ve ever seen a box of factory ammo! If the OP was looking to reload I think either would be great, but limiting themselves to only off the shelf ammo I’m afraid they may end up in a situation without any ammo.
Just my $.02, it’s worth what you paid.

[Mr_Sheesh]

If in areas where 2-legged wolves aren't expected there's nothing wrong with 44 Mag. Not as fast for reloads if you meet a crowd of wannabe criminals, is all. Powerful enough for my AO though.

[Lloyd Smale]

We have lots of bear up here. Ive shot them off my back porch coming in to eat apples and have chased them right off that back porch, a sow and two cubs and that mother sure didn't stick around to protect her cubs. She was gone in a flash and the two little ones were trailing behind. that said out in the woods ive seen exactly one bear that I walked up on in the wild. 99.99 percent of the time there gone when they hear you long before you get up to where you can see them. I'm not saying nobody has ever been killed by a black bear but id be much more conserned with wolves or rabbid animals up here then black bear. Also contrary to what some walter middy types will tell you black bear are not hard to kill. No harder then a whitetail to put down and they usually don't run near as far when hit. ANY gun that's powerful enough to kill a deer will do the same to a black bear. Lived up here all my life and have never heard a single story of a bear attacking anyone in the area. I have to chuckle on the internet fourms when guys start thinking there hunting dangerous game when there hunting a black bear. You have to really be asking for it to get attacked by one and that's only if you spend every hour of every day out in the woods so you actually have a chance of an encounter to begin with.

[richhodg66]

No real advice here as I have very little experience with 10mm and none with the .45 Mag, but it seems to me that the advice to be more concerned about two legged varmints than bears and such is sound. Carry what you shoot best, the .45 ACP has a good reputation in this regard.

If I were really concerned about it, I'd carry some kind of a rifle or shotgun. But I don't live in bear country, so all this is just opinion.