10ga restocking the ammo box

baltz526 · April 10, 2010, 01:29 PM

Reloading 10ga pass shooting shells for the 2010/2011 season. It surprised me how many empty boxs need refilling. But the freezer has several geese still, so the job is worth the effort. first post here so here is a little story from last season: local deputy sherriff shows up at my house at 3:00 am, starts pulling gun out of vehical, a 12ga of some type. Then the dog and rest of gear gets shifted to my rig. Truck is ready and we make the 1 1/2hr drive to summer lake. It is peak of the snowgoose migration and the wind is wipping the alkali dust into a sandblasters fog. We hit a new spot i scouted a few days earlier. Both packing 10ga's i brought for the day. sherriff has the 30" BPS and i'm using the browning gold 30". Shells for the day are reloads made for these guns 1 3/8oz of BBB near 1600fps. Wind is kicking up to the 40 plus steady range with gusts to 70 on a guess. Perfect 10ga weather. We are set up in a place where the geese are driven by the wind to cross the desert before dumping back into the refuge. Sherriff is a 10ga virgin and has been very unfullfilled shooting his off the shelf 12ga steel ammo. As the birds start flying he starts killing his limit of ducks a mixed bag, manages a couple snowgeese before the flight slows for the morning. Afternoon hunt is slow but we end the day with about 1 dozen ducks 6 snows and short mid day walk produced a few pheasant points. Sherriffs comment at end of morning hunt, I need to get me one of these. Some my think unkindly of the 10ga, But if you have the right hunting conditions. Mixed with effective modern nontoxic shotshells. There is no better shotgun for the job.

hogdogs · April 10, 2010, 01:59 PM

WELCOME ABOARD THE BOARD!!!!

Cool story! I have never even held a 10 let alone fired one! Sounds like you know what yer doin' with the beasts! 1,600 of 1 3/8ths is a ton of speed and payload and I would hope i was holding 15 pounds of gun if I lit off the fuse on that

Brent

zippy13 · April 10, 2010, 02:03 PM

Greetings baltz536 and welcome aboard

Thanks for your 10-ga tale, it serves to reinforce what I've been saying all along: select your gun and ammo according to the shooting conditions. On a different day, the deputy's 12-ga and off the shelf ammo might have been the correct choice.

baltz526 · April 10, 2010, 03:48 PM

As some know the browning gold 10ga will not give noticable kick untill you load lead turkey loads. It shoots 1 3/8oz steel loads like your 12ga 870 pump with dove loads. The BPS 10ga is a bit more robust, Also why it is my loaner.

300magman · April 12, 2010, 01:12 PM

I'm a total virgin to 10ga myself, but I've been considering one lately. I used to hunt waterfowl with lead and a 2 3/4 rem wingmaster and it worked Great! Since switching to steel I haven't killed a thing...save for one duck in 2 seasons.
Most of my shooting is very long range, it might sound odd but there are two ways to hunt around here. People with lots of time and too much money buy dozens of decoys and expensive calls and hunt ALL day until something comes in.
But a lot of others, like me, spot and stock...if you see geese in a field or ducks in a pond you use what terrain there is to conceal your approach and often belly crawl as close as you can, when they finally spook you jerk to your knees and fire....the first shot is generally long, the third one is loooonger.

I have my dealer bringing in a 3.5" 12ga but I'm on the fence about a 10ga as well. If I knew more about them I might be able to justify the imense price. Do they offer significant advantages over a 12 for distance shooting waterfowl?

Just looking at federal ammo (turkey & waterfowl) I see that they offer 12ga loads every bit as heavy as 10ga loads and generally at equal or higher velocity....so unless there is an advantage that isn't apparent on paper (better pattern perhaps) I'm not sure why a $1700 10ga would work better than an $800 12ga.

jbaham · April 12, 2010, 01:58 PM

the difference is that the 10 ga gun generally way more and knock the recoil down on those big loads. I personally have a browning bps pump gun in 10 ga and a remington sp-10 turkey gun and I love them both. The lighter 12 with the same size load will really knock you. I have 12 ga 3.5 inch guns as well and I would rather shoot the 10 ga guns I have anytime over the 12 ga 3.5 inch guns. My 10 ga guns with winchester 2 1/4 oz #5 turkey loads will outpattern anyone of my 3.5 inch 12 's. Look into maybe a browning bps 10 ga this is the pump gun. I paid 1589.00 fo my remington sp-10 turkey model with the thumbhole stock but this is strictly my tukey gun. My advice find someone who will let you shoot a 10 ga and then decide. I have a friend who can hit birds while waterfowl hunting at 70 yards with his sp-10 it all depends on your abilities as well.

Sorry for the long post

Old Grump · April 12, 2010, 05:35 PM

Been fooling around with mine lately and have finally settled on #3 steel shot as my go to load for that gun. Single shot, full choke 36" barrel H&R throws a fairly tight evenly spread group even at 59 yards. Love it.

BigJimP · April 12, 2010, 06:31 PM

Just my opinion boys .....but I don't think a 10ga gives you anything a 12ga won't do ...( but you should all go out and buy one or two / and let us know what you think ) !

I had a 10ga Browning BPS ....and it was the dumbest ....( well, maybe one of the dumbest things I ever did )....

1 5/8 oz of shot ( out of a 10ga or a 12ga ) at 1250 fps -- hits with exactly the same amount of force, at any distance .....it doesn't make any difference if it is coming out a 12ga or a 10ga ....

baltz526 · April 12, 2010, 07:58 PM

Reloading for the 10ga is the way to get the performace up and cost down. right now you can buy 10ga remington HD 1 3/4oz ammo from cheaper than dirt for about $2.70 per shell. Not a bad price. BUT i can reload a 1 3/8oz BBB steel load for about $0.45 each, which will kill any large goose within resonable range. Factory 10ga ammo is wimpy stuff, The best steel shot i have found is federal, currently loaded at 1 1/2oz 1450fps. The 10ga will pattern large high velocity steel shot better than a 12ga, just physics at work. Another thing to consider with steel shot and modern guns designed for steel shot Like a BPS, SP10, Browning gold, They will allow a reloader to get full potential out of the 10ga, Where the factory 3 1/2" 12ga is alreaded loaded to max performance. Crawling through fields to jump shoot, I would just buy hevi-shot for the 12ga. But the more hunters packing the 10ga, the better the supply of ammo and components will be for me. Might even get cheaper, but that is wishful thinking.

baltz526 · April 12, 2010, 08:04 PM

could use some 10ga hulls if you are saving them. Hunting out of the boat or knee deep in the marsh, the gold causes a lot of lost hulls. Where shooting the bps i lost a lot less.

April 10, 2010, 01:29 PM	#1
baltz526 Member Join Date: April 10, 2010 Location: lapine oregon Posts: 66	10ga restocking the ammo box Reloading 10ga pass shooting shells for the 2010/2011 season. It surprised me how many empty boxs need refilling. But the freezer has several geese still, so the job is worth the effort. first post here so here is a little story from last season: local deputy sherriff shows up at my house at 3:00 am, starts pulling gun out of vehical, a 12ga of some type. Then the dog and rest of gear gets shifted to my rig. Truck is ready and we make the 1 1/2hr drive to summer lake. It is peak of the snowgoose migration and the wind is wipping the alkali dust into a sandblasters fog. We hit a new spot i scouted a few days earlier. Both packing 10ga's i brought for the day. sherriff has the 30" BPS and i'm using the browning gold 30". Shells for the day are reloads made for these guns 1 3/8oz of BBB near 1600fps. Wind is kicking up to the 40 plus steady range with gusts to 70 on a guess. Perfect 10ga weather. We are set up in a place where the geese are driven by the wind to cross the desert before dumping back into the refuge. Sherriff is a 10ga virgin and has been very unfullfilled shooting his off the shelf 12ga steel ammo. As the birds start flying he starts killing his limit of ducks a mixed bag, manages a couple snowgeese before the flight slows for the morning. Afternoon hunt is slow but we end the day with about 1 dozen ducks 6 snows and short mid day walk produced a few pheasant points. Sherriffs comment at end of morning hunt, I need to get me one of these. Some my think unkindly of the 10ga, But if you have the right hunting conditions. Mixed with effective modern nontoxic shotshells. There is no better shotgun for the job. __________________ 10ga shooters anonymous member in good standing. reloader of steelshot goose loads for modern shotguns

April 10, 2010, 03:48 PM	#4
baltz526 Member Join Date: April 10, 2010 Location: lapine oregon Posts: 66	As some know the browning gold 10ga will not give noticable kick untill you load lead turkey loads. It shoots 1 3/8oz steel loads like your 12ga 870 pump with dove loads. The BPS 10ga is a bit more robust, Also why it is my loaner. __________________ 10ga shooters anonymous member in good standing. reloader of steelshot goose loads for modern shotguns

April 12, 2010, 05:35 PM	#7
Old Grump Member in memoriam Join Date: April 9, 2009 Location: Blue River Wisconsin, in Posts: 3,144	Been fooling around with mine lately and have finally settled on #3 steel shot as my go to load for that gun. Single shot, full choke 36" barrel H&R throws a fairly tight evenly spread group even at 59 yards. Love it. __________________ Good intentions will always be pleaded for any assumption of power. The Constitution was made to guard the people against the dangers of good intentions. There are men in all ages who mean to govern will, but they mean to govern. They promise to be good masters, but they mean to be masters. --Daniel Webster--

April 12, 2010, 07:58 PM	#9
baltz526 Member Join Date: April 10, 2010 Location: lapine oregon Posts: 66	Reloading for the 10ga is the way to get the performace up and cost down. right now you can buy 10ga remington HD 1 3/4oz ammo from cheaper than dirt for about $2.70 per shell. Not a bad price. BUT i can reload a 1 3/8oz BBB steel load for about $0.45 each, which will kill any large goose within resonable range. Factory 10ga ammo is wimpy stuff, The best steel shot i have found is federal, currently loaded at 1 1/2oz 1450fps. The 10ga will pattern large high velocity steel shot better than a 12ga, just physics at work. Another thing to consider with steel shot and modern guns designed for steel shot Like a BPS, SP10, Browning gold, They will allow a reloader to get full potential out of the 10ga, Where the factory 3 1/2" 12ga is alreaded loaded to max performance. Crawling through fields to jump shoot, I would just buy hevi-shot for the 12ga. But the more hunters packing the 10ga, the better the supply of ammo and components will be for me. Might even get cheaper, but that is wishful thinking. __________________ 10ga shooters anonymous member in good standing. reloader of steelshot goose loads for modern shotguns

April 12, 2010, 08:04 PM	#10
baltz526 Member Join Date: April 10, 2010 Location: lapine oregon Posts: 66	could use some 10ga hulls if you are saving them. Hunting out of the boat or knee deep in the marsh, the gold causes a lot of lost hulls. Where shooting the bps i lost a lot less. __________________ 10ga shooters anonymous member in good standing. reloader of steelshot goose loads for modern shotguns

April 10, 2010, 01:59 PM	#2
hogdogs Staff In Memoriam Join Date: October 31, 2007 Location: Western Florida panhandle Posts: 11,069	WELCOME ABOARD THE BOARD!!!! Cool story! I have never even held a 10 let alone fired one! Sounds like you know what yer doin' with the beasts! 1,600 of 1 3/8ths is a ton of speed and payload and I would hope i was holding 15 pounds of gun if I lit off the fuse on that Brent

April 10, 2010, 02:03 PM	#3
zippy13 Senior Member Join Date: August 23, 2008 Location: SoCal Posts: 6,442	Greetings baltz536 and welcome aboard Thanks for your 10-ga tale, it serves to reinforce what I've been saying all along: select your gun and ammo according to the shooting conditions. On a different day, the deputy's 12-ga and off the shelf ammo might have been the correct choice.

April 12, 2010, 01:12 PM	#5
300magman Senior Member Join Date: September 12, 2008 Posts: 714	I'm a total virgin to 10ga myself, but I've been considering one lately. I used to hunt waterfowl with lead and a 2 3/4 rem wingmaster and it worked Great! Since switching to steel I haven't killed a thing...save for one duck in 2 seasons. Most of my shooting is very long range, it might sound odd but there are two ways to hunt around here. People with lots of time and too much money buy dozens of decoys and expensive calls and hunt ALL day until something comes in. But a lot of others, like me, spot and stock...if you see geese in a field or ducks in a pond you use what terrain there is to conceal your approach and often belly crawl as close as you can, when they finally spook you jerk to your knees and fire....the first shot is generally long, the third one is loooonger. I have my dealer bringing in a 3.5" 12ga but I'm on the fence about a 10ga as well. If I knew more about them I might be able to justify the imense price. Do they offer significant advantages over a 12 for distance shooting waterfowl? Just looking at federal ammo (turkey & waterfowl) I see that they offer 12ga loads every bit as heavy as 10ga loads and generally at equal or higher velocity....so unless there is an advantage that isn't apparent on paper (better pattern perhaps) I'm not sure why a $1700 10ga would work better than an $800 12ga.

April 12, 2010, 01:58 PM	#6
jbaham Junior member Join Date: March 13, 2010 Posts: 34	the difference is that the 10 ga gun generally way more and knock the recoil down on those big loads. I personally have a browning bps pump gun in 10 ga and a remington sp-10 turkey gun and I love them both. The lighter 12 with the same size load will really knock you. I have 12 ga 3.5 inch guns as well and I would rather shoot the 10 ga guns I have anytime over the 12 ga 3.5 inch guns. My 10 ga guns with winchester 2 1/4 oz #5 turkey loads will outpattern anyone of my 3.5 inch 12 's. Look into maybe a browning bps 10 ga this is the pump gun. I paid 1589.00 fo my remington sp-10 turkey model with the thumbhole stock but this is strictly my tukey gun. My advice find someone who will let you shoot a 10 ga and then decide. I have a friend who can hit birds while waterfowl hunting at 70 yards with his sp-10 it all depends on your abilities as well. Sorry for the long post

April 12, 2010, 06:31 PM	#8
BigJimP Senior Member Join Date: February 23, 2005 Posts: 13,195	Just my opinion boys .....but I don't think a 10ga gives you anything a 12ga won't do ...( but you should all go out and buy one or two / and let us know what you think ) ! I had a 10ga Browning BPS ....and it was the dumbest ....( well, maybe one of the dumbest things I ever did ).... 1 5/8 oz of shot ( out of a 10ga or a 12ga ) at 1250 fps -- hits with exactly the same amount of force, at any distance .....it doesn't make any difference if it is coming out a 12ga or a 10ga ....