Waterfowl gun

cam1936

cam1936

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Central Alberta
If you're talking about a rifle I can tell you exactly what features I like and which I hate. Shotguns I'm totally clueless.

I've done a bit of waterfowl hunting, but really I'm was just along for the ride. My buddies have always had the decoys, did the calling ect. I just shoot. However, the girlfriend wants a lab and I would love to train it to hunt waterfowl and get a little more serious about it.

I currently own a Mossberg 500 with a 28" barrel. The gun works fine for killing clays, but does not pattern near as well with steel as it does with lead. The ported barrel is also a piss off to me and my buddies so I want something new.

Has to be a Browning (I get a very good deal on them) I need some guidance on whether I should go pump vs. semi. If semi whether a maxus vs. silver and whether I should get a 3" or a 3.5" chamber.

Having shoot my pump at flaring ducks and geese I could see a semi being useful, are they worth the extra dough? Never used 3.5" is it worth the extra cost and recoil?
 
cam1936 said:
If you're talking about a rifle I can tell you exactly what features I like and which I hate. Shotguns I'm totally clueless.

I've done a bit of waterfowl hunting, but really I'm was just along for the ride. My buddies have always had the decoys, did the calling ect. I just shoot. However, the girlfriend wants a lab and I would love to train it to hunt waterfowl and get a little more serious about it.

I currently own a Mossberg 500 with a 28" barrel. The gun works fine for killing clays, but does not pattern near as well with steel as it does with lead. The ported barrel is also a piss off to me and my buddies so I want something new.

Has to be a Browning (I get a very good deal on them) I need some guidance on whether I should go pump vs. semi. If semi whether a maxus vs. silver and whether I should get a 3" or a 3.5" chamber.

Having shoot my pump at flaring ducks and geese I could see a semi being useful, are they worth the extra dough? Never used 3.5" is it worth the extra cost and recoil?
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Semi 3 1/2" in camo, then you have all of the bases covered and if you ever want to sell it they hold their value and sell quickly.
 
If it were me I'd buy the browning 10ga pump. I don't believe you need a 3.5" gun at all. I have them and use them but I can tolerate a lot of recoil. My guns pattern 3" sHells better then the larger. Pumps are more reliable in ####ty weather and if using steel shoot anything past 40yards is just a wounding shot. I can't afford to experiment with other non toxics. Fit and balance are the most important things over action type
 
brybenn said:
If it were me I'd buy the browning 10ga pump. I don't believe you need a 3.5" gun at all. I have them and use them but I can tolerate a lot of recoil. My guns pattern 3" sHells better then the larger. Pumps are more reliable in s**tty weather and if using steel shoot anything past 40yards is just a wounding shot. I can't afford to experiment with other non toxics. Fit and balance are the most important things over action type
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You best be a big dude to properly handle a BPS 10ga, the 3 1/2 12ga semi's are pussy cats to that gun. I had one for over 20 years and am close to 300 pounds and still flinched shooting it. After a box of shells in a goose blind I would have a nice purple shoulder even with the heavy winter coat on.
Got the 10ga gold semi and never looked back, also have a remington sp-10 which works flawless and has been in more crapy weather than it should have been.
Also 10ga unless you reload are not as easy to resell compared to a 3 1/2" 12ga. My high speed 3 1/2" 12ga reloads have no problem killing at 60 plus yards. The steel today is not the crap that 1st came out. It kills just fime if you can hit the bird
 
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i think any of the brownings are pretty good.. but as for action, its all about what you prefer (i tend to like pumps )
-the sp10 is nice rem.. i'm with you on that.. didn't find its was too bad on recoil at all.. (but then, i didn't fire a box through it in a sitting ...just tested with a friends gun )

tried steel when it first came out, and they forced us to change.. after a couple $20 ducks i gave up... even let the ducks go and decoy, and still couldn't bang them down... i can't see it being better now a days..?
 
I'm 5'10" and a 150lbs with my hunting coat on recoil isn't bad. I personally use a 10ga sxs for later season waterfowling now. As for the steel shot I shoot mostly kent fast steel and mostly at ruddies and bluebills and teal with my 12ga. I use the 10ga later in the season when mallards blacks and geese don't want to decoy. Federal premium 1 5/8oz bb works just fine out to 60 yards. But I hunt from a boat and on a windy day its hard to hit anything 50+yards out when bouncing around in the bow. The 10ga will really shine if taken and hunted over a corn field or pond. Another good point is since the op hunts with others the pump is a bottom eject so he's not throwing spent hulls at his buddies. ( I don't believe the semi is bottom eject)
 
brybenn said:
I'm 5'10" and a 150lbs with my hunting coat on recoil isn't bad. I personally use a 10ga sxs for later season waterfowling now. As for the steel shot I shoot mostly kent fast steel and mostly at ruddies and bluebills and teal with my 12ga. I use the 10ga later in the season when mallards blacks and geese don't want to decoy. Federal premium 1 5/8oz bb works just fine out to 60 yards. But I hunt from a boat and on a windy day its hard to hit anything 50+yards out when bouncing around in the bow. The 10ga will really shine if taken and hunted over a corn field or pond. Another good point is since the op hunts with others the pump is a bottom eject so he's not throwing spent hulls at his buddies. ( I don't believe the semi is bottom eject)
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My old 10ga SXS never kicked like the 10ga bps did. The boys called her the MULE.At 150 pounds be prepared to take a beating if you get one of those. You want the best 10ga out there buy a browning gold semi. I have a few 1000 rounds through mine and never misfired once.I keep it very clean also.You hunt with buddies get to the far right of the blind and hulls flying are a non issue. 10ga is too expensive now to shoot for ducks which is why I am back using the 12ga gold and X2's I have. 10g geese only now for me.Take care
 
I've shot a browning pump and at 9.5lbs loaded with 1 5/8oz loads I found it to recoil less then my 535ats with 3.5" loaded with 1.5oz black cloud. Recoil is subjective. Gun fit plays into effect as well. The best thing to do is handle as many as you can and find the one that best suits you whether its a 20ga or a 10ga. The best option is to find ppl that own the guns and ask if they'll let you fire them. I pattern test all my buddies turkey loads thru there various chokes as they are quick to get that flinch when aiming at paper. I almost bought a browning pump 10ga but I found a sxs I love and it patterns great. A heavy gun isn't for everyone tho. I'm not a fan of semis I have 2 rem 1100s that just collect dust save a round or 2 of skeet. 3mac1 what make is your sxs if you don't mind me asking? I spend more time deer hunting and rabbit hunting then duck hunting so I don't mind the extra few bucks a box to shoot the 10ga
 
The BPS 10 gauge pump is very light. You will feel it when shooting it. The browning gold Light 10 gauge on the other hand is very light and soaks up recoil like you would not believe. It feels much lighter handling than my SP10 but percieved recoil is about equal. I don't know how they did that.

For a general purpose waterfowl gun I would get a 12 gauge 3 inch and not 3 1/2 inch. Whether you choose pump or semi is up to you. Browning make nice shotguns. However, I do not own a single Browning.
 
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