How bad is the big 10 Gauge, Really???

[TheShootist1894]

How bad is the recoil, in all honesty, compared to 12 gauge Turkey loads.

For some reason my mind says GO FOR IT!!, but my body says YOU CAN'T BE SERIOUS!!!!


What to do . . . . .


Thanks
karl

[SilentHitz]

I shot my father's AYA 10 ga. double the 1st time as a youngster...it smarted!

That said, as I got older I loved to shoot it once in a while. I would hunt with one, but you don't wanna shoot a round of skeet with it...at least I don't LOL :D

[Ruger4570]

I went Goose hunting last year with a buddy of mine that brought along his 10 guage and steel shot. I was using a Berreta 3" and steel . When you touch off a 10 guage, you KNOW you pulled the trigger, no question about that. In retrospect, it really wasn't any worse than my 3 "shells...at least not any I can remember, remember, remember...Hmmmm maybe it did hit me harder than I thought..

[Swampghost]

I have an old one in SXS and it's a handful. Think Weatherby 300 Mag.

As a kid I got excited and managed to pull both triggers, I never did that again! Recovered 11 Quail though and some others dropped into the palmettos. We don't go into the palmetto heads due to rattlesnakes.

[mikenbarb]

I have an Ithaca Mag10 and its the cannon I take out for goose hunting when their up 70yds. and wont come in to the spreads. I use it once and awhile for our deer drives just to get a workout and shake the branches off the trees when I touch one off. If your gonna get one look at the Ithaca mag10 and the Remington SP-10. Their both good and recoil only rattles your back teeth loose instead of them all like the doubles do.:D

[Scattergun Bob]

I have to agree with Mike B., Ithaca Mag10 is one hell of a shotgun. We had the roadblocker variant in my department and though they were HEAVY, they were very good lead slingers. The recoil on these guns in muted a bit by their weight.

The Remington SP-10 is a gun that I have no experience with, guess I'll have to rectify that.

Buy a 10 guage, it's a great E ticket ride.

Good Luck & Be Safe

[mikenbarb]

I know the Gander by me had a few SP-10's last time I was there selling for around 600.00-700.00. If your gonna get, get it soon because little by little their starting to get recognized again with steel shot regulations. And they DO make a difference over the 12's. I just wish I could find lead shot for it locally.:(

[mossberg500]

As a kid I got excited and managed to pull both triggers, I never did that again!
I saw a guy do that one time with one. Made me never want to shoot one myself ;)

[Swampghost]

It didn't knock me down but I think that I was about 3 feet beyond where I had started. Think .600 Nitro Express, maybe a little worse.

[.351winchester]

Other than a .22's, my dad's antique Spanish SxS 10 ga. was the first firearm I fired, age 11 or so. I don't remember it being very jarring. Less so than a 12 gauge riot with slugs. I recall a huge slow push, kinda lifted me. But this thing had to weight 15+ lbs. and was taller than me. 30 inchers at least.

[Sgt.Fathead]

I bought a NEF single shot 10 gauge last year, the turkey model in Realtree camo. I had to have a big ten, just cause. I have yet to use it for turkey season (have the same gun in 12) but it's great for taking down small trees and wowing 'em down at the range. Does it hurt to shoot? Well, I'm not pumping boxes of shells through it!

[Mavrik]

Another happy owner of a Mag 10 here. I've had both a singleshot in 10ga but I sold that when I got ahold of the mag 10. In my opinion the Ithaca doesn't really kick any more than other 12ga I've shot. A couple of weeks ago I was able to get out and put about 20 rounds through mine including firing off 3 just as fast as I could for fun. I could only feel it slightly in my shoulder the next day.

The caveat to that is that in addition to alot of the recoil being soaked up by the auto mechanism, it's heavy as hell. Never put it on a scale but I wouldn't be shocked if it weighed somewhere in the 10-13 pound range. Not good for carrying through the woods all day (the 32in barrel, 54in overall length doesn't help either) but fine for a short walk in and to sit with.

Anyway here's mine.

http://img292.imageshack.us/img292/2403/1262699smallresizeqs8.jpg

[Freakdaddy]

I have a Browning BPS 10 with a 30" barrel. The gun weighs in at around 9-10 lbs. I would say the recoil is equivalent to a .300 Win Mag, maybe a little more. It gets a little cumbersome toting around in the turkey woods but works really well in making them "shock" gobble LOL!

My friend never shot one before so I took it out last year when we went shooting clays. I had a couple of boxes of shells that I've had for a while and wanted to blow through them. He shot it a couple of times and that was enough for him. He's not one who enjoys getting kicked around. No one else with us wanted to shoot it so I ended up shooting up the shells myself. Man, I love hearing that gun rumble. I'll be honest, blowing through that many shells in a relatively quick amount of time, you'll gonna feel it. I would much rather shoot this though than a light weight 3 1/2" 12 with full powered loads.

On a lighter note, probably 15 years ago I was in a goose blind with it. This was an in-the-ground blind with three lids for cover that you'd push up to open and shoot from. The frame of the lids was made of rebar with woven wire fencing to attach grass, etc. I had a Canadian flying overhead and I pushed open the lid to try my luck. When I shot, the goose was directly overhead. The recoil drove the back of my head into that rebar frame splitting it open. I didn't need any stitches but I was bleeding pretty good for a while. The guys I was hunting with sure got a good laugh from it. Oh, and I missed the goose. Good times.

[mikenbarb]

Mavrik, Nice mag10, Got the same one but the bandolier is a little much. Dont think I would want to shoot mine that much and is takes away from the beauty of the gun. Dont think many people want to tac out a big 10. :D

[GA Limited GM]

The 10 is a hoss, but usually weighs heavier so is about a wash IMO.

Now the 5.25lb 3.5" 12 gauge I have kills on both ends. I've won money when people thought they could hang onto it with their left hand upon firing. You gotta consider its pushing the same pay load through a tighter hole...and a lighter weight.

I've doubled three times on turkeys with one shot each time. Love the gun.

[BigJimP]

I had a BPS in 10ga years ago / 32" barrel I think - and it was a lot of gun to handle ( and I'm 6' 5" and 280 lbs ) ...... and I sold it after a couple of seasons and went back to a 12ga - frankly with a lot better results.

Recoil is tolerable......but honestly, it becomes a mental thing if you're doing a lot of pass shooting for geese or ducks.....and I think it's counter productive to good shooting or at least good follow thru on passing shots which is critical. The experts talk about recoil being cumulative - so it just keeps adding up over the day - and I got worse as the day went on with mine.

I know its a macho thing to just have a 10ga and use it once in a while / and if you really want one - go for it. Balistically, I don't think there is much a 10ga can do that a 12 can't do especially with a 3 1/2" chamber - but even a 3" chamber on a 12ga gives you a lot of options these days.

[Rampant_Colt]

My friend's Browning autoloader is a freakin cannon! 3-1/2" magnum 00 buckshot carry 18 pellets, 54 number 4 buckshot, ~2-1/4 ounce turkey loads, or a 1-3/4 ounce slug @ 1400-1500 FPS - LoL

For breaking things and blowing [color=#FF0000]█[/color][color=#FF0000]█[/color][color=#FF0000]█[/color][color=#FF0000]█[/color][color=#FF0000]█[/color] up, the Browning is without equal - and the 'cool factor' is way up there :cool:

[Brad Clodfelter]

The 10GA will flat shoot the larger size shot for geese and ducks with its larger .775 backbore barrel. If I were you, I would just buy a Mossberg 835 12GA. It has the same .775 backbore barrel and will shoot just has heavy of loads up to production 3.5" 2 and 1/4oz turkey loads. I have one. It's my favorite shooting turkey gun. I had a Browning Gold 3.5" auto I bought strictly for turkey hunting. I later got turned on to a 835 by a buddy of mine shooting #4 shot heavy turkey loads. Needless to say I sold the Browning and strictly turkey hunt with the 835. I like shooting heavy #4 loads for turkey. The 835 seems to shoot them better than any shotgun I have seen or tested.

[bgoldhunter]

The 10ga isn't as bad as many would make it seem. I've shot a box through my BPS wearing a T shirt and had no problems. The heavier weight of the 10ga soaks up felt recoil quite a bit. I always thought my 870 12ga with field loads felt like it kicked more than my 10 does.

[Mavrik]

Mavrik, Nice mag10, Got the same one but the bandolier is a little much. Dont think I would want to shoot mine that much and is takes away from the beauty of the gun. Dont think many people want to tac out a big 10.

Yeah you're right I took that picture a couple of years ago and was the only one accessible for posting from the computer I was on yesterday.

Mavrik