i shoot both 12 and ten gauges ,i have for my goose arsenal a 10 sxs and a browning gold 10 auto,had a 10 gauge rem sp10 but it just weighed too much,the ten out does the 12 with the large shot shooting bbb and ts and high birds we get if im going to know im shooting low birds i still take the 10 in the gold,ive had to finish a few of friends birds that were shot with 3.5 twelves,if you think the ten is better with steel wait till you try the heavie shot with a ten,sure twelves point better but when your in a blind or pit and the ten roares it does knock them down,by the way i do shoot skeet with a ten for practice and the kick is less than a 3.5 twelve,im in markham ontarioand if you want to try out just let me know we can arange a skeet session haha
10ga. Waterfowling Guns? Opinions?
- Thread starter 12Ga.Messiah
- Start date
Johnn Peterson
CGN Ultra frequent flyer
- Location
- Chemainus B.C.
At one point in time I was thinking I'd get the chokes opened up on my AYA and use steel. However, as it patterens so nice and tight I'm not going to touch the chokes and I'll go the Bismuth route instead.
I shoot both 10's and 12's in SxS's. I love my 10, however I'm not a big fan of steel, as much as anything I'm now biased as my SxS's won't handle steel, so I break down and shoot bismuth. If going to the 10 it makes sense to me to also add the extra cost of bismuth or in new guns the heavy shot anyway. In fact I'd recommend the same in a 12. The 10 is a blast to shoot and my greener has chokes that pattern tighter then most turkey chokes, so you don't want to shoot them inside 20 yards if you want anything to eat. If you reload you can load up 1 1/2oz trap loads for playing around.
That said they don't handle like the 12's, if your getting ducks in over the dekes too you may wish for the 12. It's tough to get a 10 1/2 pound gun swinging like you can a 7 pounder so for fast crossing ducks you better be able to put a lot of force into your swing (don't have to worry much about following through though, not a lot of option but to).
Basically it's a personal choice I'd say picking good ammo is the biggest thing, either the fast steels are apparently good or go to bismuth or heavy shot, even in the 12. I shoot 12 gauge 2 3/4" bismuth and take geese fine, but I still like my 10, and it has a bit more reach, especially with the really tight chokes it happens to have. I use both depending on the day, if you want a 10 buy one, but I wouldn't say buy it cuz it's necessary, unless thats the story for the wife
That said they don't handle like the 12's, if your getting ducks in over the dekes too you may wish for the 12. It's tough to get a 10 1/2 pound gun swinging like you can a 7 pounder so for fast crossing ducks you better be able to put a lot of force into your swing (don't have to worry much about following through though, not a lot of option but to).
Basically it's a personal choice I'd say picking good ammo is the biggest thing, either the fast steels are apparently good or go to bismuth or heavy shot, even in the 12. I shoot 12 gauge 2 3/4" bismuth and take geese fine, but I still like my 10, and it has a bit more reach, especially with the really tight chokes it happens to have. I use both depending on the day, if you want a 10 buy one, but I wouldn't say buy it cuz it's necessary, unless thats the story for the wife
I love my SP10. Its been caked in #### on many weekends and the only time I ever had a problem with it is when I didnt tighten the mag tube up properly after a cleaning and it went into one shot mode. That was my malfunction. (similar to prob I just had with a 7600) 
The SP10 is a dependable workhorse, but its heavy and the forestock is large. The Gold light 10 gauge, is a good bit lighter, has the same percieved recoil (percieved by me) but has a longer length of pull. Theres also a bit more to the gas system on the Gold when you figure them both out. Says me who can't tighten his mag/action tubes.
Do you need a 10 gauge? NO.
Are they more fun to shoot and will they do more than a 12 gauge under some circumstances? OF Course.
The SP10 is a dependable workhorse, but its heavy and the forestock is large. The Gold light 10 gauge, is a good bit lighter
, has the same percieved recoil (percieved by me) but has a longer length of pull. Theres also a bit more to the gas system on the Gold when you figure them both out. Says me who can't tighten his mag/action tubes. Do you need a 10 gauge? NO.
Are they more fun to shoot and will they do more than a 12 gauge under some circumstances? OF Course.
"Will they pattern better?"
Not necessarily, I've had better and worse patterns than my 870 for the same factory chokes depending on what shells I used in either. eg, my best 12g patterns are better than my worst 10g patterns using say mod factory chokes.
From memory - with wadwizzzard chokes I think I got 100% pattern in under 24 inch circle at 35 yards. most of the pattern was in a 16 inch circle. Thats a tight pattern to me.
The 870 is good with the wadwizzard but not that good.
They are heavy so that little guys like me don't fly away when we shoot them.
Not necessarily, I've had better and worse patterns than my 870 for the same factory chokes depending on what shells I used in either. eg, my best 12g patterns are better than my worst 10g patterns using say mod factory chokes.
From memory - with wadwizzzard chokes I think I got 100% pattern in under 24 inch circle at 35 yards. most of the pattern was in a 16 inch circle. Thats a tight pattern to me.
The 870 is good with the wadwizzard but not that good.
They are heavy so that little guys like me don't fly away when we shoot them.
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- Location
- Saskatchewan
If pass shooting geese, a 10 gauge is superior to a 12, no doubt about it. But if shooting over decoys, I'd say a 12 gauge is superior. My reason is fit and swing. I found the 10's I've tried were just too big and unbalanced for me. I used to think big shells and big shot were required for all geese, even over decoys. Now I have even quit buying 3" shells and shoot all my geese with good 2-3/4" Faststeel 1-1/16 oz #1's. I shoot between 50 and 100 birds each season with that load, and it kills them very efficiently to about 45 yards. I just don't shoot if I think they are farther. If you pass shoot or just want a 10 ga. by all means go ahead and buy one, but for shooting over decoys a lighter, well fitted and balanced gun may actually be better.
I do alot of pass shootin today i made a shot i;d never consider with a 12 ive used a 3 1/2 12 for years but to me the 10 holds its pattern together further than most 12's.The only 12 that holds its pattern further with a factory choke is a 935 because the barrel is overbored out to a 10 guage.I never used the super x 3 but thats overbored as well so i would think it could hold its pattern .From my experiance the 10 is a better goose gun espeacialy when you reload your own shells i use a 1 3/4 ounce hevi load and a 1 1/2 steel load .Any way the only way i use a 12 again on geese is if the 10 breaks down lol...
Johnn Peterson
CGN Ultra frequent flyer
- Location
- Chemainus B.C.
I know what you mean. Along similar lines, I have an AYA 10ga SxS and it's a keeper.
The performance I was talking about was payload and velocity and I think the question of pattern has a lot more influences than just the size of the bore. You might be able to convince me that as a generalization the 10 patterns a bit tighter with larger shot sizes but is it enough to make a real world difference?
The 10 gauge has been hampered since day one by Sammi pressure ratings and when the pressure ratings were increaded for the 12 guage with the introduction of the 3.5" shell, it put the 12 gauge in the same performance arena as the 10 gauge, basically making the 10 gauge obsolete. Sure handloaders can circumvent the pressure ratings but as this is a factory load driven market, it didn't leave much room for the old 10 gauge. The slight, if any any pattern improvement with most factory loads certainly wasn't enough to ensure a long life for it!
Same reason that a 12 gauge will pattern better than 20 gauge with the same weight of shot. The old standby ideal was a square charge, with the height of shot column being equal to bore diameter. Simply piling it higher may work with bull####, but quickly finds a point of diminishing returns with a scattergun.
There is also the effect of the larger bores tending toward short shot strings; the dirty secret that pattern boards don't tell.
Same reason that a 12 gauge will pattern better than 20 gauge with the same weight of shot. The old standby ideal was a square charge, with the height of shot column being equal to bore diameter. Simply piling it higher may work with bulls**t, but quickly finds a point of diminishing returns with a scattergun.
There is also the effect of the larger bores tending toward short shot strings; the dirty secret that pattern boards don't tell.
All good in theory but it's never seems to bear out in practical application....how much better does that slight increase in bore size pattern....is it enough to matter at practical steel shot ranges??? How much shorter is the shot string? As steel already boasts considerably shorter shot strings than lead....again is there a real world difference at ethical steel shot ranges????
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