eklarsen
Well-Known Member
10 gauge Browning gold here. I will tell you I can shoot my 10 all day long when people shooting 3 1/2 12 gauges start whining way early. I shoot ducks, geese and turkey. Wouldnt trade it for anything.
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Anyone use a 10 gauge?
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M1A1ABRAMS
Well-Known Member
Had one as well and one of the advantages was that big barrel was bored to .775. 10 gauge diameter so it could handle larger shot and pattern well. That gun had the handling characteristics of a 4 x 4 but if you got it pointed and swinging it would kill. And you could leave it in the boat all duck season and it would shoot. The 24" barrel on my BPS handled better than the standard 30 but it was loud as hell. The BPS pump worked a little slicker than the Mossberg and i have always liked bottom ejection guns. I shot an Ithaca 37 lightweight with the corncob forend growing up so bottom eject was nothing new. That 37 didn't need big shells to make your shoulder turn blue.
I'm with turpentine. Love the 10, especially when we had to start shooting large steel - and when I used buckshot for deer in SC.
The new tungsten shot variables pretty much made the 10 unnecessary - but they do kill well and decisively. With the new shot, i rarely shoot more than 2.75 or 3" 12 ga guns now. The 10's pattern incredibly well, and recoil is more a shove than a kick. I'm down to 1 10ga (from 3).
The new tungsten shot variables pretty much made the 10 unnecessary - but they do kill well and decisively. With the new shot, i rarely shoot more than 2.75 or 3" 12 ga guns now. The 10's pattern incredibly well, and recoil is more a shove than a kick. I'm down to 1 10ga (from 3).
I actually shot 3.5" 12 gauge loads from various autos for years. Walked into a friends shop that had a BPS used in great shape and reasonable. He handed me some shells and said "Go shoot it, if it kicks too bad don't buy it". I was actually surprised. It wasn't bad at all.
I use a Browning Gold 10, shooting BBB shot it drops swans and big Canada geese at some pretty amazing distances. It's heavy but the recoil is more of a push. It's the only gun I own that can shoot steel shot, so it's my waterfowl gun and it shines with big shot.
Best one I had was a Browning Gold 10 and I piled up birds with it, but it was heavy so I started using a 3.5" SX2 in 12. Way easier to get to the hunting and back, I used to do a lot of walk in hunts and field hunts where I would need to cover 1-3 maybe 4 miles with ALL of my gear on my back. The decoy bag alone was almost as tall and 4 times the diameter of me LOL. I shoot the SX2 very well, saw little to no difference between it and the 10 so I sold my 10's. I had a BPS 10 for a while before the Gold, also very heavy but rock solid and shot well. Bought the Gold because I couldn't find a Mag10 and wanted a little softer shooting 10 for when the birds got in close. My hunting partner way back had a Mag10 and it was also very heavy but ran good and piled up birds. Love the 10 personally but don't find a lot of advantage to it over a good backbored 3.5" 12 and good chokes. It patterns better than a 12 and you get a little more reach because of that but I didn't do a lot of 60+ yard shooting so the long 12 worked really well.
One of my dislikes with the 12 was that I never could find a 12 ga auto that would hold up to a steady diet of 3.5" shells over a long term. Numerous gas piston springs broke in my SX2 and several friends sx3s. Then the finish gummed up to pine rosin consistency So I sold it to a kid that wanted it much worse than me for a very low price. My Gold 12 got to where it wouldn't run reliably after breaking its first piston spring after 3 seasons. I gave up on it after several trips back to Browning. I Only used factory loads In any of these and no hypersonic steel which is an auto killer. I never could find a Benelli that would run in cold weather reliably. I didn't care for inertia anyway, or the fit, and if I'm gonna have to deal with the recoil I'd rather shoot a pump.
I've had better luck with Berettas but shot very few 3.5s through them as I backed up to 3" and 2 3/4. The best for me was the Extrema 2. Which I actually prefer to the a400. I have 9 different Berettas at last count from the 390 to the present day a400. I was a dealer and kept some of the retired rental guns from the sporting clays range I ran. They get used today more as trial and training guns for kids or folks I do lessons for or for people considering buying a certain model. They just keep running With a little maintenance. 4 of those have very high round counts.
The BPS 10 has just rolled along and kept shooting. It was good in the salt marsh and cold weather. I never used it in walk in situations. Or in tight shooting areas where a quicker gun was preferred. I used a 20 or 12 for that.
I'm with you on the 60 plus shots. Never did a lot of that, just saw more solid kills within reasonable range with the 10. But it did extend my killing range a bit.
My favorite duck gun of all time was a used 2 3/4" 12 gauge Wingmaster with a 28" modified barrel. It was a small step up from the 16ga Wingmaster I started with. Most of the bluing was worn off of the 12 and I still have both. That was way before steel and the need for heavier loads. I'd still run 2 3/4" lead vs 3.5" steel if I had my way.
Still use my BPS several times a year. They are killing machines and agree with others they DO hit harder and better than the big 12s. Up until the big BS storm shells were way more for one but now not that much different.
I have an Ithaca Mag 10. It rains death from the heavens and rolls coyotes like a mofo.
It feels more like a piece of artillery than a shotgun.
It feels more like a piece of artillery than a shotgun.
I just bought a 10 ga. last year. Got the bug after goose hunting with a friend and he had one. Didn't set well with me that he had one and I didn't so I forund one with the help of one of the great members on here. Bought a Remington SP-10. Kicks light a pack of mules but I love shooting it. I haven't had it out yet other than to pattern turkey and goose loads. Eventually I will get out and have a go with it! We apply every year for Swan tags here in Montana and the ten will definitely see action if I get one of those tags for sure. Shells are available here in Montana as well but they are spendy. The way it kicks limits how much you will shoot it, at least for me. I figure the six boxes of Goose loads and seven boxes of Turkey loads I have will last the rest of my life time and my grandsons as well. 
A 10 or a 12 is rough at the pattern board. Especially with turkey shells. But in the blind you don't notice. I had a Patternmaster choke for my BPS and it honestly patterned too tight for my shooting ability. But it had reach.I just bought a 10 ga. last year. Got the bug after goose hunting with a friend and he had one. Didn't set well with me that he had one and I didn't so I forund one with the help of one of the great members on here. Bought a Remington SP-10. Kicks light a pack of mules but I love shooting it. I haven't had it out yet other than to pattern turkey and goose loads. Eventually I will get out and have a go with it! We apply every year for Swan tags here in Montana and the ten will definitely see action if I get one of those tags for sure. Shells are available here in Montana as well but they are spendy. The way it kicks limits how much you will shoot it, at least for me. I figure the six boxes of Goose loads and seven boxes of Turkey loads I have will last the rest of my life time and my grandsons as well.
We had a major flood on the river I live on 7 years ago and had water flowing though my second story. The water came up so fast I couldn't possibly move everything. It wrecked my supply of 10 gauge ammo and hulls. Plus got a lot of 45 and 308.
20 gauge loads for target or hunting are scarce here in South Carolina and are no bargain at the register. I'm not sure there will be much change until we see what's going to happen in the political arena.
I noticed a few mentioning swan hunting with the 10 which should work wonderfully. I've never hunted swans and I don't think I am anywhere near their flyway but out of curiosity do you have to use steel shot?I just bought a 10 ga. last year. Got the bug after goose hunting with a friend and he had one. Didn't set well with me that he had one and I didn't so I forund one with the help of one of the great members on here. Bought a Remington SP-10. Kicks light a pack of mules but I love shooting it. I haven't had it out yet other than to pattern turkey and goose loads. Eventually I will get out and have a go with it! We apply every year for Swan tags here in Montana and the ten will definitely see action if I get one of those tags for sure. Shells are available here in Montana as well but they are spendy. The way it kicks limits how much you will shoot it, at least for me. I figure the six boxes of Goose loads and seven boxes of Turkey loads I have will last the rest of my life time and my grandsons as well.
I repaired and cleaned up a Mag 10 last year for a kid that received it when his dad was killed way too early in life. It meant a lot to him to get it up and running because it brought back a lot of good memories And he wanted to turkey hunt with it. They are certainly a robust gun and pretty simple inside.
