Thanks Brad, for another choice. I don't shoot .40 but I do shoot a fair amount of 10mm.
Mike, I was an "early adopter" of the "Mighty 10" (tm) myself. I bought a Delta Elite right after they came out ('85?) and reloading components were few and far between, let alone load data. PMC had a display card thing with 200 10mm brass in it at my local gunstore for a ridiculous price and I bought it. I bought 175 grain SWC Lane Bullets (made in Kansas City, Kansas by the late Larry Clay, owner, who inspired my own business, 20 years later.) The only load data I had was a fax from Hornady, who made XTP's for the caliber, and the preponderance of their data used AA #5 and #7, along with Blue Dot. I didn't have any luck with the AA's, so I went (and stayed with) Blue Dot.) I used to load up to 12.7 grains of it behind Larry's 175 grain LSWC. I do not recommend that load to anyone, as it is an earthshaker. I remember someone bragging about his hot .357 Magnum loads. I told him that I used those myself, but as primers for my Mighty 10(tm.)
I used to shoot pins every week with 10.7 grains Blue Dot and those babies would just blast the pins off the table. Heck, the muzzle blast alone would have done it if I'd missed; a huge orange and blue color explosion that reverberated around the basement range at the club.
I had a lot of work done to the gun. Ed Smith, S&A, McCormick, Wilson, Wichita. Titanium, extended mag well, Bar-Sto barrel fitted personally by Irv. 3.5 lb. trigger pull that breaks like glass, Rosewood grips, et al. What a gun! Eventually the frame cracked after maybe 10k rounds and Colt replaced it, right down to etching the same serial number on it. Then the slide cracked and they replaced it, too. So then I had to do a lot of the same stuff to it over again. I couldn't stand being without it while it was in the shop so I bought another one, in Bright Stainless. Then I had one at all times and I had the same things done to the new one. So now I have two.
Unfortunately I am too busy making bullets to shoot the darn things anymore.
Life is strange.
