doublegunshop.com - home Forums General Discussion DoubleGun BBS @ doublegunshop.com 10ga vs 12

I've never owned a 10ga, but I'm intrigued by them, and there is one I kind of have my eye on. I like the idea [in the abstract] of owning one as a heavy field and waterfowl gun, considering they were commonly in use at the turn of the century, but the cost of no tox ammo is prohibitive. Do most 10ga owners reload? Are the performance advantages of a 10 vs a 12 significant?

Mark,
I had a 10 gauge 1878 Colt a few years back. For hunting I�d reload 10 gauge shells with black powder. It was simple to do, needing no special tools (I adapted reloading tools from my Craftsman socket wrench set), and gave me all the hunting loads I needed for the season in a few hours reloading. For clays I used 10-12 Gaugemates and 12 gauge Winchester AA Xtra-lites (1 ounce loads).
I�m sure you�re aware that older 10 gauge guns had 2-7/8� chambers.
I hope this helps with your decision.
Steve
PS I reloaded for upland hunting, so I kept my 10 gauge reloads on the light side.

Mark, my experiences have been that the 10 gauge will throw better patterns then a 12 gauge regardless of load. They have stretched and twisted the 12 gauge's chamber to its maximum in an effort to keep up with the 10 gauge as they have with the 20 gauge in their efforts to keep up with the 16 gauge, thinking that a bigger chamber is all they need in order to get equal patterns from a smaller gauge. However, does the better pattern thrown by the 10 equal or exceed the huge price difference of shells between the 10 and 12 gauge or does the better pattern thrown equal or exceed the inconvenience of finding suitable shells when up in a remote area of Canada waterfowl hunting. No!! They�re neat for occasional hunting, though.

Treblig has some good points. A vintage 10g is ideal for high flying western grouse as well. It surprises me that people focus on waterfowl with 10 bores when they are so well suited for prairie chickens, sharp tailed grouse and sage grouse.

The main difference between the two is weight. Most 10 ga. guns are 8 1/2 lbs and up, and also with 30" or 32" barrels. You have to take into consideration, do you want to carry a 9 lb. gun upland hunting all day, I know I don't. But they are nice to own and with reloading your own, you get many choices of loads that you wouldl not get in a factory shell.
Good luck in choosing one.

David...,but, but.

You can get 10g guns as light as 12 gauge guns. The 2-7/8" shells aren't horrible for recoil and they pattern better than a 12 due to their larger diameter.

You are not getting many choices of vintage 10 ga. American guns
weighing close to the average 12 ga. guns of 7 1/2 lbs.

The OP says he found one he likes, so we don't really have to discuss weight. He must like the weight. I wonder what he has found? What about that, Mark? US made light tens are scarce but not unheard of. I just sold a 28" 7 3/4 pound Parker ten. Nice gun.

Mark since you mentioned field I thought you might mean pheasant hunting with dogs. I have a ten pound ten gauge and it is unpleasant to carry all day behind my dogs while chasing pheasant.

Now if you were blocking while the line walked toward you ten pounds wouldn't be so bad.

Best,


Mike

I shoot a Lefever E grade 10 a LOT. Mr.Wood loaded me up some stuff for it in #5 shot and I bought a bunch from RST as well. The old girl is heavy, but, as i have said here before, it forces me to slow down my shots and my kill ratio is higher. I killed a rooster at 85 yards, laser measured..a couple of years back, and replicated peformance on stationary clays...I think I posted those pictures as well. The big 10's are a joy to shoot...I just passed that gun, along with cartridges to my boy Tom, in Iowa..Joe Wood shot a 10 Parker last year with great sucess, and had a big ol Texas grin on his face every time it went bang....You will love it..