10 gauge loads

[llwsgn]

greetings from colorado! i was hoping that some one could help me with tips, tricks, or possibly caveats. i'm wanting to load a few 10 gauge steel waterfowl loads. i'll soon have a lee loader,(the 60's type hand tool, courtesy of thr trading post). i bought some winchester w209 primers at wallymart this afternoon. a buddy says he has some new hulls, (remington) and possibly wads, all of which are probably 25-30 years old & at a bargain to me. does anyone have any experience with this animal?? shot or powder suggestions. i had one in the early 80's and it seems like we loaded #3 buck back then, used the same lee tool. all i remember is that i made effective shells. the rest is a fog to me....we were in our twenties, my pal had a marlin bolt goose gun along with some #3 buck homebrew loads. we were on the dike at the lake, a strong winter wind was coming off of the lake. the small flock of geese aproaching seemed to be suspended in one spot as they fought the wind to get in to the lake then land. it may not have been prudent but it was certainly effective, he stood up and fired a double. two geese fell like rocks. 150 paces away we picked them up stone dead. i bought an h&r single shot a week or two later. quite the guns really...anyway nuff rambling, but i'm getting back in and has hoping for some input....love the thr forums!
thanks

 

[chas08]

Just make sure they are steel shot wads, lead wads are to thin and barrel damage may ocurr.

I shared the use of a MEC Steelmaster for a couple of seasons with a buddy producing loads for our pair of 10ga.guns. T-Shot worked pretty good but you had to load it by pellet count, and I think it was around 85 pellets per shell.

Anything larger than #2 didn't feed reliably through the shot bar. We made a dipper out of an empty primer card that held the proper number of pellets and poured them into each hull with a funnel.

 

[llwsgn]

thanks chas, i'm glad to hear about the T steel shot, i had picked up a 10lb bag earlier today before i came home. what powder do you guys usually use??

 

[Gordon]

I have a 10ga Mec and a .410 one.
I have a huge stash of 10 gauge Ballistic Pattern Steel Driver wads and new Alcan shells. I currently use Blue Dot and 1 5/8 Oz of steel BBs. I shoot them in my BPS 30" with mostly an Improved Cylinder aftermarket tube. They work well in my 34" Marlin Super Goose back up too. I am not popular in duck clubs I get invited too with 10 Gauges!
A good varmint D) load is 2 1/4 oz of lead #1 buckshot which I use the same wad and powder for BTW. I keep this in my AyA SxS 20" coach gun which has a huge thick breech and the space between the barrels exposed by the trimming filled with molten lead!

 

[llwsgn]

appreciate that Gordon. i'll look for balistic products steel pattern driver wads

 

[Gordon]

I went out in my "room" this AM. The shot bar is set for 1 3/8 oz of steel BBs. Blue Dot is the powder (not telling how much) , Alcan 3 .5" hulls and this wad which I use for all shot
http://www.ballisticproducts.com/MM1035-10ga-3-1_2-preslit-wad-100_bag/productinfo/3221035/


BTW a Dove/wild pigeon awesome load in the BPS ,now that Monterey County is an unleaded county for the condors sake :banghead: , is #7 Steel shot instead of BBs and I use a Modified choke tube in the BPS. I been experimenting with 1 1/4 .oz and a Blue dot load supposed to break 1500 fps. We shoot out over trees along canyon walls at the flights and 40 yards is a close shot and the birds are moving very fast. The huge cloud of #7 fast steel was da bomb last year. In prior years I used my Browning 12 ga. BPS with heavy #6 lead and a modified and full choke.The 10ga with steel #7 in a faster load seemed about as good. People using the Winchester #7 field loads in 12ga were curseing!

 

[llwsgn]

hey Gordon thanks for the link!! say, i fully understand why you can't mention how much bluedot is going into those loads, but.....is there a load book, or source for data and load combinations that you could recommend?

sounds like you use that bps for about everything, that's the same weapon that i recently picked up for myself....mines wood stocked, think it would work for doves? or be little sluggish handling perhaps?
appreciate it!
btw the montery county politics really don't regard hunters do they?

 

[Gordon]

The Ballistic Products has a $1.99 brochure on reloading their 10ga products I used.

 

[oneounceload]

Both Alliant and Hodgdon have recipes for reloading - follow a published recipe t avoid potential danger

 

[Sunray]

What waterfowl are you shooting in Colorado that needs a 10 gauge? Just curious.
Buckshot for geese was likely illegal. Most places have and had a max shot size.

 

[llwsgn]

Sunray i appreciate your inquiries, hmmm, it's been 32 plus years ago...and as i remember buckshot was talked about among local hunters at the time as being effective, and i'd bet anything that we researched the legality of it, (we were in our twenties, and yayhoos, but law abiding), so i would comment that i seriously would doubt that buckshot was illegal here at the time. culture used to be more primitive then as i remember it. as far as what particular colorado waterfowl requires a 10 gauge to bring it down....that's kind of like "what breed of deer must be shot with a 45-70". that would be the hunters choice as i see it. from what i understand a 10 gauge is great for turkey, and there is no harm in getting double duty out of a new weapon that shipped with turkey loads as part of the package.
only goose i ever shot was with a 20 gauge BTW, a S&W pump, (i was goose hunting at the time), it tasted like a rubber tire. i'm by no means a true waterfowl hunter
thanks