Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Handguns 10mm 180 FMJ for woods protection

I dug this 200gr XTP out of a 54" bull moose....


I walked in on him, thinking he was already dead. Nope!

I shot him several times at less than 20 yards. Trust me; it sounds like a lot more fun than actually was.

The 200gr XTPs were propelled by 12.5gr of AA #9, and launched out of 5.25" XDm, for 1200+ fps. This bullet was recovered from the near side lung, not much penetration. I didn't dig around for any of the other 10mm bullets, but based on the condition of the far-side lung, it's safe to say that none of the other bullets made it that far.

Use whatever bullet/ammunition/handgun combination you'd like, but I don't plan to carry any more hollow points in my handgun, when I'm venturing into the woods with big critters.

By the way, here is a 168gr T-TSX that I pulled out of the same moose. It was a 140yd, broadside shot, out of .300 Win Mag. The bullet went through the shoulder, a couple of ribs, and came to rest on the far-side shoulder blade. It lost a couple of pedals, but otherwise opened up nicely.


Here is the offending moose, fat guy added for scale: