Hard core waterfowl shotguns

beefman said:
Around my area, you are describing only one gun............a Remington SP10.

$$$$ to feed...but it has the "whuuump" to gettr done. ;)
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Been there done that,just sold the sp10.
Great gun but ammo is to pricey,hard to find sometimes and i have found no signifigant advantages to it over the 12 in factory offerings,handloading however opens up a whole new can of worms and then the 10 can shine head and shoulders over any 12.
I dont think i will ever go back to the 10 gauge.
 
sherlockbonez said:
I don't know anyone who identifies themselves as a waterfowl hunter that still shoots are pump.
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I guess you don't know many waterfowlers then. I hunt with a group that is out every possible day, we hunted something like 39 days last season all but one of use shoot pumps and even the guy who doesn't used his 870 when his Benelli SBE II conked out. I often think that the guys dressed like the duck commander all packing Benellis and Beretta just bought what they see in videos or on TV.
 
Turkeyslayer 1300 said:
I guess you don't know many waterfowlers then. I hunt with a group that is out every possible day, we hunted something like 39 days last season all but one of use shoot pumps and even the guy who doesn't used his 870 when his Benelli SBE II conked out. I often think that the guys dressed like the duck commander all packing Benellis and Beretta just bought what they see in videos or on TV.
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I was out of work last year and hunted over 80 days. The only days I wasn't hunting were weekends as one of my buddy is a guide and that's when the clients come. The autos I speak of includes vintage 1100 and A-5s as well as newer offering from the B guns. All except one are wood stocked. My friends wear whatever they like, from Purdy jackets to Goretex.

My statement reads no one that "I" know shoots a pump, I didn't say anything about who you hunt with and what you use.
 
Voxx Boxx said:
Sorry for the hijack, but aside from gun lust and a desire to slow down the ammo consumption, why not the Maxus? What do you like/not like about it compared to your other shotguns?
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Not a thing wrong with the Maxus,i love the gun and hunted it most of last season.
As stated in the opening post it will again see its time for waterfowl for years to come.
I am really just trying to justify another waterfowl gun to add to the stable.
As i used to hunt pump and dont have a pump at this time suitable for the job i am leaning heavily in that direction.
Who knows i may just end up getting a silver instead as i used to hunt with one of those as well and find myself missing it.
I dont have one bad thing to say about the maxus,its a great gun.
 
Was not until 20 years or so that semi's took centre stage for waterfowling here in Canada. With the ban on lead shot some dozen years ago a lot of hunters had to "re-tool" their arsenal as the guns of yesteryear were unsuitable for steel shot. Most chose auto's IMO. Many older hunters, my dad included, simply retired from duck hunting. Statistics show this drastic decline.

With the heavy influx of hunters from south of the 49th where auto's always ruled and a small group of new generation Canadian hunters that likely have never fired a lead shot charge at a duck, thus it stands to reason... that the auto has become the most popular fowling piece.

I have been told by old timers that at one time autos were deemed illegal for waterfowling across the Prairie Provinces...unless they were plugged off to only hold one round in the mag putting them on par with doubles.

This might be one of the reasons why the auto was somewhat unpopular, coupled with the fact that todays automatics are much lighter in comparrison to the ones of the past.

I for one will stick to my pump guns...and continue to smirk each time I hear that characteristic WHUMP-WHUMP-WHUMP of the auto boys in action. They so loyally keep the ammo companies in the black! :)))
 
sherlockbonez said:
I was out of work last year and hunted over 80 days. The only days I wasn't hunting were weekends as one of my buddy is a guide and that's when the clients come. The autos I speak of includes vintage 1100 and A-5s as well as newer offering from the B guns. All except one are wood stocked. My friends wear whatever they like, from Purdy jackets to Goretex.

My statement reads no one that "I" know shoots a pump, I didn't say anything about who you hunt with and what you use.
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It's unfortunate that you were out of work, I would kill to hunt 80 days. I did not mean to say you or anyone you know dresses up like the Duck commander, it just seems that everyone is on the Benelli or Beretta Bandwagon sometimes for the wrong reasons. I am sure somewhere out there someone is shaking their heads at us and thinking that Over/Unders are the only choice for a Waterfowl gun. If you are in Eastern Ontario maybe we need to put my Pump beside your auto in a blind some time:D.
 
A while back I was looking for the perfect goose gun - I found the Browning Gold 10 (10ga. semi). But then I backed out after deciding I did not want to defeather, gut, clean, etc. a bunch of birds.

For geese I would always prefer a 10 gauge - if someone says "my 3.5" 12ga load is close to if not as good as a 10ga", they just admitted that a 10ga is the gold standard to which everything else is measured.

In my books a semi auto will always beat a pump action; obviously it is faster (I don't care how quick you are with a pump it is still faster, even if only a little), and the semi automatic action seems to dampen the felt recoil. As for reliability, I have had more trouble with a Remington 870 than any semi automatic firearm - but even if semi autos are slightly more prone to mechanical failure, would it really matter if at sometime during your life you have a malfunction, need to recycle the action, and it results in you missing a goose?

I could never understand why someone would subject themselves to the torture of a side by side or over under; you add twice the barrel bulk and limit your magazine capacity.

But I know that everyone has their own ideas and preferences, and I don't try to convert anyone to my way of thinking. As you may have guessed I am all about the modern and hold no value in 'tradition'.
 
LloydM said:
For geese I would always prefer a 10 gauge - if someone says "my 3.5" 12ga load is close to if not as good as a 10ga", they just admitted that a 10ga is the gold standard to which everything else is measured.
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The 10 gauge offers nothing over a 12gauge with 31/2 chambers and overbored barrel, except slightly less recoil. In most cases the loads are identical with the 12 giving higher velocities in most cases. As far as I know no-one offers a true High velocity 10 gauge load, the 12 costs less in both guns and ammo. Most of the perceived benefits are in peoples minds when it comes to 10 gauges, that being said I would still like to experiment with one.
 
Turkeyslayer 1300 said:
It's unfortunate that you were out of work, I would kill to hunt 80 days. I did not mean to say you or anyone you know dresses up like the Duck commander, it just seems that everyone is on the Benelli or Beretta Bandwagon sometimes for the wrong reasons. I am sure somewhere out there someone is shaking their heads at us and thinking that Over/Unders are the only choice for a Waterfowl gun. If you are in Eastern Ontario maybe we need to put my Pump beside your auto in a blind some time:D.
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I'll be out around Carlton? area in a few weeks for turkey, I also stop by a few hunts in the fall. I will keep you in mine. :D
 
I use both pumps and semis, and switch as I feel like it. You'll really appreciate a semi when you're laying on your back in a field, and shoot upwards from a sitting position.
 
I am a bit of a hippocrete. I do own a black semi, SX3. and yes I do enjoy it. But my go to gun is an 870 Wingmaster 2 3/4 in. Here in SE Ontario there are many opertunities to use the old standard on waterfowl... and yes, it's a pump.....
 
I'm not sure if I qualify as a hardcore waterfowler but I like to hunt waterfowl on occasion and most of the time I shoot either a SBEII or Xtrema2. When the mood hits me right I will haul out an O/U for field shooting mallards or SXS when layout hunting divers. But under no circumstance do I ever grab either of the 870's or the model 12 that sits in the back corner of my safe. While functionally the pumps will keep up to my autoloaders, which I maintain properly so neither fails me, they are as fun to shoot as a kick in the nutz. Compared to an autoloader the recoil on the pumps is brutal. Similarily I'm not aware of a single pump that comes with sim kits unlike every mid to upper end autoloader has which allows for proper fit/POA. The only advantage I see a pump has is it's cheap and when I loan one out I don't cringe/care when it's banged on the boat gunnel or buried in the mud on a spring snow shoot.
 
shellriv said:
torture you got to be kidding have you ever shot a quality over/ under?
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Like I said - everyone has their own tastes. "Torture" is an exageration, but I do feel that they are inferior to a pump, which is in turn inferior to an autoloader. To me hunting with a break action shotgun is a step beyond hunting with a blackpowder firearm.
 
For shotguns I've always been somewhat partial to doubles, especially SxS's. For waterfowl, an AYA 10ga mag.

AYA10gaMag.jpg
 
LloydM said:
A while back I was looking for the perfect goose gun - I found the Browning Gold 10 (10ga. semi). But then I backed out after deciding I did not want to defeather, gut, clean, etc. a bunch of birds.

For geese I would always prefer a 10 gauge - if someone says "my 3.5" 12ga load is close to if not as good as a 10ga", they just admitted that a 10ga is the gold standard to which everything else is measured.

In my books a semi auto will always beat a pump action; obviously it is faster (I don't care how quick you are with a pump it is still faster, even if only a little), and the semi automatic action seems to dampen the felt recoil. As for reliability, I have had more trouble with a Remington 870 than any semi automatic firearm - but even if semi autos are slightly more prone to mechanical failure, would it really matter if at sometime during your life you have a malfunction, need to recycle the action, and it results in you missing a goose?

I could never understand why someone would subject themselves to the torture of a side by side or over under; you add twice the barrel bulk and limit your magazine capacity.

But I know that everyone has their own ideas and preferences, and I don't try to convert anyone to my way of thinking. As you may have guessed I am all about the modern and hold no value in 'tradition'.
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You can't understand why someone would hunt with a SXS or O/U, but you use a 10??!!:eek: Talk about torture!!
Hunting with a SXS or O/U has little tom do with tradition for me, I kill more birds and use less ammo when using them, simple as that.
I use sub gauge guns because of long term nerve damage in my right arm that limits the weight I can use with it, so do my serious waterfowl hunting with a 20 gauge.
Cat
 
IMHO you use what ever you shoot the best.

But really unless you are passshooting I just can't for the life of me see why you guys are using 3 1/2" and 10 guage guns. My hunts are all over decoys, and if you know what you are about at least 90% your shots will be within 30 yards max.

I am out alot, 65+ outings during the season and I use either 870 expresses or recently I picked a Nova but only used it a few times. While most guns out there now are pretty much bullet proof I find the pumps are just a little more so than the semis. For chokes and loads I use an I/C choke with Kent or remington 3" BB's 1/8oz @1140-1550 fps.
 
Done my share of waterfowling I suppose .... half a dozen provinces, several states, three countries. Tried it with Model 12's (back in the day with lead), Rem. 31's and
870's, Rem. 58, 1100, 11-87, Win 101, SX-1, Browning O/U, Beretta O/U's, SxS's and semi's. With lead (when & where it was legal) witrh steel & with Tungsten Matrix.

My "go-to" duck & goose stick is a 3" Rem. 870 with an aftermarket Max 4HD stock and forend. Hasn't missed a beat, ever ! Ontario loon-s**t marshes, Caribbean mangoves, Nova Scotia & Maine sal####er, Saskatchewan pit blinds, late season froze-up Canadas you name it ... ultra reliable and near indestructible. And it has been used as a pushpole, paddle and retriever corrector on more than one occassion !
 
my take for all its worth : o/u vs pump=reload faster less recoil faster 2nd shot,third shot on the pump is a hail Mary most of the time
o/u vs auto = more reliable,faster reload,not fussy with reloaded shells,less cleaning care. did I mention bomb proof? vs jamomatic
I agree its up to personnel preference in fact I own all three actions but the o/u always jumps out of the safe ahead of the others.
the over under gets you more birds don't believe? try this shooting trap with your buds, shoot a box of shells out of each action throwing doubles for the o/u and triples for the pump and semi bet the double breaks more total targets!!:nest::D:D
 
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