I recall the advert as if it had been yesterday. The Ithaca Magazine-10 10 gauge; what a gun. The 32-inch barrel may knock the best goose from the sky. I believed I had discovered the sting for squirrel searching within the tall hickory timber. I clipped the advert from an out of doors journal and carried it folded in my again pocket for weeks displaying anybody who held nonetheless for 5 minutes. I may hardly wait to point out my grandpa.
Grandpa was no nonsense and survived the Despair whereas elevating 11 children. He knew the worth of a buck and didn’t want some authorities bureaucrat telling him if one thing was wasteful. Grandpa was a gun man. Having owned dozens of weapons, he’d attempt one out and if it didn’t match his wants, he’d promote it. On the subsequent go to I hurriedly pulled the advert from my again pocket and unfolded it for him to see. Grandpa had a number of questions for me.
“The place are you going to search out shells?” he requested.
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He had a degree I had by no means seen an actual field of 10 gauge shells, let alone shoot one. Not so with grandpa. He had owned a behemoth 10 gauge shotgun and shortly traded it off.
“They’ve far more kick than they’re price,” he added.
I used to be dejected, nonetheless, I nonetheless longed for a 10 gauge.
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10 Gauge 3½ inch
The ten gauge 3 ½ inch as we all know it at this time took place in 1932 when John Olin of Winchester fame partnered with Ithaca. The outcome being a New Ithaca Double (NID) chambered for the three ½ inch 10 gauge. Earlier than this the usual 10 gauge was chambered for 2 7/8 inches. The Ithaca NID was produced for about 10 years and the ten gauge fell into close to obscurity save for the Harrington & Richadson single barrel and a number of imported aspect by sides.
In 1975, the Ithaca Magazine-10 hit the shops. Designed with the CounterCoil system within the journal tube and tipping the scales at 11.5 kilos this mixture helped preserve heavy recoil from the ten gauge in examine. To not be overlooked within the chilly, Marlin launched a 10 gauge primarily based on their bolt motion providing known as the 5510 SuperGoose in 1976. It was produced till 1985.
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When Ithaca was offered in 1989 the new house owners offered the patent for the semi-auto to Remington. A revamp of the gun produced the Remington SP-10 that very same 12 months. A few years later,Browning launched their BPS 10 and Gold 10. Each fashions being extra sturdy than their 12 gauge counterparts.
Finish Of The ten Gauge?
A push to ban the use of lead for waterfowl was imminent; this push had begun for the 1987-1988 waterfowl season. By 1991 using non-toxic shot solely was the legislation of the land. The 10 gauge was capable of ship extra pellets of the brand new non-toxic pellets than the 12 gauge 3 inch shells.
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Nobody instructed the ten gauge that its days had been to be numbered with the introduction of the collaboration between Mossberg and Federal within the Ulti-Magazine 835. The 835 was chambered in 12 gauge and will deal with not solely 2 ¾ and 3 inch shells however additionally the newly developed 3 ½ inch cartridge.
The Mossberg 835 and its 3 ½ chambering was selecting up traction however the underside dropped out when Benelli launched their semi auto, the Tremendous Black Eagle chambered in 3 ½ inch. Different producers adopted Benelli’s lead by introducing a 3 ½ inch fashions of their very own.
Instantly, the payload of the ten gauge might be had in a 12 gauge with shotguns weighing a number of kilos much less. And let’s face it, you carry them a lot greater than you shoot them.
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Then Why?
Testing has proven that the ten gauge with its bigger bore diameter produces a denser sample with a dose of bigger shot than its barely smaller brother, the 12 gauge. For this purpose, many waterfowlers, particularly goose hunters, shoot 10 gauges. The benefit is misplaced when smaller shot sizes is used after which the sample share of the 12 gauge 3 ½ inch matches the ten gauge.
Will The ten Gauge Go Away?
It’s a tough query. As we speak, no producer is producing a ten gauge. Browning has dropped each the Gold 10 and the BPS from their lineup.
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The 10 gauge was close to extinction after World Battle II, but shells continued to be produced for it. As we speak, almost each producer produces 10 gauge shells, in addition to, most of the smaller corporations who customized load shells for the area of interest market of waterfowlers and turkey hunters. Even Federal’s humongous 10 gauge rifled slug which hurls a whopping 1 ¾ oz pumpkin ball of lead is nonetheless being produced at this writing. Due to this fact, if you’re a 10 gauge aficionado don’t fear about not discovering shells anytime quickly.
However, what about the 10 gauge shotgun itself? The value of 10 gauge shotguns has skyrocketed since manufacturing stopped. Nevertheless, a fast take a look at the firearm public sale websites exhibits many weapons on the market with a whole lot of tire kickers, however few precise bidders. Even the Ithaca Magazine-10 and the Remington SP-10 are nicely represented within the secondhand market. I lastly bought the ten gauge out of my system once I purchased a used Gold 10 a number of years again and like my granddad it went down the street when somebody supplied me twice what I had in it.
I don’t foresee any main producer selecting up the ten gauge anytime quickly, however I doubt the ten gauge goes away a minimum of not for some time.
