What happened to the 10 gauge?

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Big Boomer

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Got a lot of responses on the 16 and some good ones at that.

I have always yearned for a 10 gauge! It seems it has also gone the way of the dinosaurs, even possibly more than the 16. Ammo is even harder to find for the big 10 than anything else.

I know we now have the "super magnum's" in the 12 with 3 1/2" shells and I think I have even heard of a 4" but I could be wrong.

I thought the 10 gauge operated at higher pressures with more velocity than the 12? 10's used to be for hunting geese flying overhead at really ridiculous ranges.

It seems to me that a "super mag 12" just aint the same thing. Add more shot gets more lead out there but at lower velocities and less range? With all the advancements in recoil reduction and powders I think an advanced 10 would be an amazing piece in today's "modern" world.

Does anyone make a new production 10 gauge?
 
Remington makes/made the SP-10, a 10 gauge semi-auto. Seen it at Gander Mountain a few times
 
10 gauge is alive and well, and not just for waterfowl and turkey hunters.

Just with new folks coming up, and marketing pushing the 12 ga 3.5" , there are more folks buying the 12 ga with 3.5".

Truth is, most of them don't need a shotgun that will take a 3 1/2" shell.
For some, they shoot one long shell , maybe a 5 pack and that is it.

No offense, still this Non-Tox shot is a bunch of BS and the timing was such with new shooters coming up, marketing and even those that tried to pass forward, deaf ears on what is the deal and opened eyes and wallets with credit cards for the new guns.


10 gauge is unique, it shares some similarities to the 28 gauge such as:
It is more effective than it is supposed to be, due to the ratio of payload to bore, and short shot strings.

10 ga have for the most part the Rule of 96 [Weight of gun to recoil curve produced by shells ratio] down pat, where the 12 ga with 3 1/2" shell does not.

Rem semi auto 10 ga s a heavy gun to wade out to a duck blind or goose pit.
Darn near 11 pounds IIRC.
Still a smaller person can shoot this gun, and not be affected by the recoil, make effective hits and limit out firing fewer shells.

Marlin Goose Guns ( these are neat) easier to tote and handle even if the barrel is 34" or is it 36", forget.

Now I know a few seasoned shooters, and they run Mossberg, plain vanilla , no camo, 835's.
Rarely will they shoot a 3.5" shell.
They won these guns, and one fella bought one just for fun.
These guys and gals were felling ducks with the .410 and 28 ga back in the day.

These guys and gals <chuckle> will run straights in skeet, trap, 5 stand, with these guns as the can...having fun.
They hunt with 2 3/4" loads, most times.
See, they may have money for each duck, geese felled.
Folks see them 3.5" chambered 835s, a few 3.5" shells...and while they are getting beaten to death shooting these shells , and losing bets, my friends are felling ducks and geese with 2 3/4' shells...

Or a...10 ga single shot. *lol*
That duck was only worth $300 , so laugh if you want.

There is a gal about 5'2 and 125 pound sopping wet, that will run a 10g pump that fits her, like something else, with full 10 ga loads!

She also has a 10 ga single shot, and can do the same.

She also has some downloaded 10 ga loads, about 1 oz, fun loads, still these really pattern nice.

She was goofing off , being a "dumb girl" that does not know anything, and she got into a game of skeet.
She beat everyone with a 10 ga single shot rat egular skeet, and getting the doubles.

I would rather have a 10 ga than a 3.5" 12 gauge.

It gets back to how folks were raised ( or not) marketing, and supply and demand.




Shells are more expensive , simple because of supply and demand, which is the same reason 12 and 20 ga 2 3/4' shells are more affordable.
 
The 10 and the 16 are in decline for similar reasons. The 10 gauge was hurt by the increase in 3" and now 3-1/2" 12 gauge shells and the 16 leapt a few notches on the redundancy scale with the introduction of the 20 gauge in 3" shells.

The 10 gauge suffers from a lack of new guns and shells are hard to find. That's too bad because the first thing I thought when I saw a Beretta Extrema was how nice this gun would be in 10 gauge.
 
I thought the 10 gauge operated at higher pressures with more velocity than the 12? 10's used to be for hunting geese flying overhead at really ridiculous ranges.
Click to expand...
You are only half right it does have higher velocity but with less pressure with the same 2-1/4 payload It also handles big shot sizes better than any other gauge imho
I would rather have a 10 ga than a 3.5" 12 gauge.
Click to expand...
Steve
You and me, we think alot a like :D
 
The ten was nearly dead, gone with the 2 gauge, history. Then, the steel shot laws came along in the early 80s and all of a sudden, with the really big shot, the 10 was the answer for geese. The 12 gauge is still a lot more versatile. The guns tend to be much lighter and more shootable on birds like dove, quail, and such, yet a 3" chamber, or even 3.5", gives them the ability to go goose hunting, especially with the advent of hevi shot. The advent of hevi shot has taken some of the advantage back away from the big 10 in the waterfowl marsh. I know very few that hunt with the 10, just too mission specific IMHO for goose hunters. You don't need it for ducks. Heck, over deeks, I've been hunting with a 20 gauge lately using hi velocity Xperts in 3". There's nothing a ten can do that a 12 can't do better except shoot steel T shot at geese. The 3.5" gives the 12 gauge toter a gun that's close to the 10 for that and still light enough to use with dove loads on doves. Add to that the fact that 10 gauge is expensive and there's not the variety of loads available as with 12, and, well, it's a mission specific gauge.

I know this is blasphemy, but if there was only one gauge, the 12 would be THE one that could do it all and, frankly, I've gotten along with the 12 for a lot of years. I just got another 20 last year and just because I wanted it, no real NEED, no other reason. I'm a rabid duck and goose hunter, but I've never really had the urge for a 10. The 3" 12 can get it done, especially now that we have better performing shot with tungsten alloys. Unfortunately, the price of those alloys is going up, so there is still room for the 10 and big steel and, heck, if I were primarily a goose hunter rather than just an occasional goose hunter and primarily a duck hunter, I could see owning a 10. For geese, the 10 is better and what with the price of hevi shot going up, steel Ts in 10 are cheaper.

BTW, the Marlin 12 gauge goose gun had a 36" full choked barrel. The "super goose" 10 had a 34" barrel. I had a friend with a 12 when I was a kid and a hunting buddy with a super goose that I've fired. He didn't hunt with it, fixed full choke, but it was kinda neat.
 
I own two 10 ga.guns. a BPS Stalker that I bought the first year they were introduced. and a Remington SP-10 that I aquired last year after my shooting shoulder started to go south on me. I owned a benelli SBE 1 for about five years In the persuit of "My one gun to do it all" fantasy. The 3.5 12's, are a nice compromise but they are not a 10. Aside from my benelli being persnickety with 2 3/4' loads, It had a tendancy to break firing pins with the 3.5's. Two in five years. I believe that what the 10 offers over the 3.5 12's is best described as "Pattern Superiorty" Here in Texas we mostly use them to hunt Snow geese and by the time they get this far south, they are well educated. 1000 rag/block decoy spreads are almost the norm. It's not uncommon to have 60 yard + shots on birds landing in or on the edge of your spread. This is where the 10 ga. shines. with almost identical payloads, the shot string is shorter with the larger bored 10 so more pellets arrive at the same time. As for ammo availability, it can be bought online at countless locations. My personal favorite waterfowl outfitter is Macks Prairie Wings. But even the Wal- Marts in goose country stock it by the pallet load during hunting season. As for "What happened to to the 10 gauge?"....It's alive and well and living in south Texas.
 
I'm a rabid duck and goose hunter
Click to expand...

That made me laugh! I just got a picture of a duck hunter foaming at the mouth with a shotgun, bloodshot eyes, madder than Hillary at an NRA convention!

I know what you mean, but for future reference it's "avid". ;)
 
I own two 10 ga.guns. a BPS Stalker that I bought the first year they were introduced. and a Remington SP-10 that I aquired last year after my shooting shoulder started to go south on me. I owned a benelli SBE 1 for about five years In the persuit of "My one gun to do it all" fantasy. The 3.5 12's, are a nice compromise but they are not a 10. Aside from my benelli being persnickety with 2 3/4' loads, It had a tendancy to break firing pins with the 3.5's. Two in five years. I believe that what the 10 offers over the 3.5 12's is best described as "Pattern Superiorty" Here in Texas we mostly use them to hunt Snow geese and by the time they get this far south, they are well educated. 1000 rag/block decoy spreads are almost the norm. It's not uncommon to have 60 yard + shots on birds landing in or on the edge of your spread. This is where the 10 ga. shines. with almost identical payloads, the shot string is shorter with the larger bored 10 so more pellets arrive at the same time. As for ammo availability, it can be bought online at countless locations. My personal favorite waterfowl outfitter is Macks Prairie Wings. But even the Wal- Marts in goose country stock it by the pallet load during hunting season. As for "What happened to to the 10 gauge?"....It's alive and well and living in south Texas.
 
Besides Remington's Mag 10, Browning still makes its BPS in 10 gauge and the Gold auto also.

Beretta's SxS 10 is not catalogued in the US but can be ordered, I understand.

And there's a mess of Spanish 10s on the used racks, quality varies from near trash to treasure. Kick is uniformly heavy.

The 10 really shines at long range goose shooting. A 3" 12 is plenty in trained hands over decoys with the better non toxic loads. Same for turkeys.

Every once in a while I run across an old 10, made for the 2 7/8" case, for the most part. These are usually English made SxSs weighing around 8 lbs. I shot a Greener like that at PGC, the owner had worked up 1 1/4 oz loads of 8s for clays. While a little slow for skeet, it did well at wobble and I had fun shooting the old soldier.

I see the 10 as a niche shotgun, not a general purpose tool. Still fun though, excepting the singles. Those just kick too $%^&*(ing much for me.
 
Sorry for the double post. I don't know how that happened so there will probably be more. i got a chuckle out of the "rabid duck hunter" also. I'm sure at some point I've resembled that remark.
 
The 10 Gauge is not going anywhere, since it does offer functional advantages over the 12. You just don't see too many for a number of reasons.

Some game refuges have a 12 Gauge max.

10 Gauge has a reputation for serious recoil.

10 Gauge guns tend to be pretty heavy (a good thing to tame recoil, but this prevents them from being general-purpose shotguns).

10 Gauges tend to be expensive and harder to find on shelves -- this of course helps to keep them that way.

10 Gauge ammo is expensive. Again, this is not a big deal if you're using the gun for a specific purpose, but people don't usually take 10 Gauges out to the trap or skeet range for some casual shooting.

10 Gauge requires an actual commitment to using different ammo and another gun. Plenty of guys seem to buy a 3.5" 12 Gauge "just in case I ever want to use super magnums", then they never use 3.5" shells in the gun. But if you buy a 10, you have to use 10 Gauge shells.:)

So, with most people acquiring a 12 Gauge first, in order to sell someone a 10 Gauge you have to convince an existing 12 Gauge owner that:

It will do a lot better than the 12 where, what and how he hunts.

It's worth the extra money.

It won't blow his shoulder off (many people don't want to try).

It's allowed where he hunts.

This limits the number of 10s you see around. But they can do what a 3.5" 12 doesn't, so they're not gone or going away.
 
The 10 gauge used to be quite the thing back in black powder days. A lot of the old original 'coach guns' or messenger guns were 10 gauges. The double that 'Doc' Holliday used at the 1881 OK Corral fight was a 10 gauge, as was the Stevens-made Wells Fargo coach gun Wyatt Earp used at the Iron Springs fight that followed in 1882. That same gun (serial number 927) was used in 1896 by veteran lawman Heck Thomas in a gunfight that cost Oklahoma outlaw Bill Doolin his life.

The lever action Winchester Model 1887 was made in both 10 and 12 gauge models, and the big 10s were popular messenger and law enforcement guns as well. When the 'new model' 1901 lever guns made to stand up to the new smokeless powder came out, they were produced in 10 gauge only. The Model 1901 was made in a Riot Gun version from the factory,interestingly enough. The Model 1901 ceased production in 1920. Outlaw Clyde Barrow favored a Model 1901 in 10 gauge (serial number 72767, perhaps a factory riot gun) as well as cut-down Browning Auto 5 shotguns and BARs.

'Till the big Ithaca Mag 10 'Road Blocker' came out (in the 1970s IIRC), no other factory fighting repeaters were made in 10 gauge. Lots of sporting doubles and single shots along the way of course- and then came the BPS...

lpl/nc (thanks again to Swearengen's World's Fighting Shotguns for some of the details above)
 
big boomer,,,i have a 10ga double and i can tell you that the 12-3 1/2 is not in the same league,,,my boy has one of those sledge hammers and it will get your attention when you touch her off!!!!! i will take my 10 anytime

they are heavy,,,,but it don't seem to bother me too much

i got this one for turkey hunting and i can tell ya it will giterdone

there is definitely magic in it,,because it never fails to amaze me

ymmv

ocharry
 
I see a limited range in ammo, mostly for waterfowl and long range. Does anyone make buckshot or slugs for the 10?
 
Sorry guys I have to disagree on some things! 1. recoil is NOT that bad! 2. The shell are only a couple bucks more! 3. I see lots of it on the shelfs at 3 different store I buy my ammo from! True it is hard to find a good dove load for and is heavier than sin!
Yes you can find slugs and buck shot!
 
A tale from my checkered past.....

A local gunsmith had a thing for big bore arms. He used a 375 H&H for deer, his carry gun was a Model 29 4" and when he wanted a shotgun for defensive use.....

He traded into a roached Greener SxS in 10 gauge. He redid the metal after bobbing the barrels to 18-19". He did the wood over to his specs and added a good pad. Loading it up with brass cases,black powder and round balls meant for 36 caliber cap and ball revolvers, he added a new level of meaning to the term, "Overkill". Call it Double 00.

We had fun with it at a shooting pit near Jessup. Using a couple gallon jugs filled with water and capped, a fast right and left had the berm well irrigated and us moistened. Repeats on silohuettes had the targets looking like we had opened up with full auto Uzis.

While a bit stout, recoil was bearable. Fyn Factor was rather high....
 
With factory 12 gauge 3.5" loads that have identical make-up to a 10 gauge, it really doesn't make sense for ammo makers to re-tool for a different casing.
 
I've always wanted a 10ga for Geese. But, I hunt flooded timber 95% of the time for ducks and it requires a pretty decent amount of wading through the water and timber. The lighter 12's are just more appealing in that reqard. Hunting Greater Candians out in the fields or over big decoy spreads in the lakes are where I would like to have a 10ga. I just don't do enough of that kind of hunting.
 
I own a 10 GA BPS and a Benelli SBE.

IMHO, the 10 GA is more effective than the 12GA with similar loadings as the other guys point out. Recoil never bothered me either way as the 10 is a heavy gun and other than a couple really good snow goose hunts, it's not exactly high volume shooting.

I shoot the SBE 99% of the time and the BPS sits in my gun-safe or comes as a back-up on goose hunts. The reason lies in the guns themselves, while the 10 gives and advantage in range, the lighter SBE is way more maneuverable. By switching to the SBE my double counts went way up, it's a much quicker gun. Almost all of my goose hunting is done over decoys, so the 10s extra range isn't needed most of the time. I carry some Heavy Shot for those days when the birds are skirting the spread.

Since I do 90% of my goose hunting out of layout blinds, the lighter SBE is much easier to shoot sitting up. In fact, it's easier just sitting up, although IF I did stick with the 10 I could probably skip my "Abs of steel" workout.

Chuck
 
I have owned four 10 gauges. I own none now. I bought the first one when steel shot became law, and I sold them all after trying tungsten matrix and Hevi-Shot.
Reason; I can't speak for anyone else, but if I can shoot 1-7/8 ounces of shot (the old 12 ga. lead load) with a 7lb 4 oz. gun (early '70s 870 3" Magnum), then damned if I need 11 pounds plus to shoot 2-1/4 ounces of lead shot, or 1-3/4 ounces of non-tox shot. If they had build a stretched 870 as light as possible, and equipped it with the old vari-weight style plugs for magazine and stock, I would likely own one now, but they decided we didn't need any choices. Big brother knew what was required. That has killed more than one gun and political candidate.
I am 6'-2" tall, and have worn a size 52 coat since 1978, and the Ithaca/Remington semi-auto handles like a treated 5' 4" x 4". I don't care who else can shoot it. I don't even want to carry it. I have seen Tom Knapp shoot wild ducks behind his back. Does that mean his gun fits right and handles like a dream, or that Tom is a hellava shot?
The old AYA Matador 10 ga. doubles handled the best because at least most of the weight was centered. The Browning BPS was manageable - barely. But it was far too heavy to practice with on anything else. Or to enjoy shooting or lugging. I used to dove hunt with that old 870 because it was good practice.
So if you ask me, the gun manufacturers killed the 10 because some bean counter figured it would make them more profitable, or because they were too dumb to know it.
 
The 10ga of a century ago was not chambered for the modern 3 1/2" magnum. If I am not mistaken the shells were 2 7/8" and were no where near as powerfull as todays big boomers. They were more practical for general use and it is a shame that the non magnum 10 is gone.
 
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