doublegunshop.com - home Forums General Discussion DoubleGun BBS @ doublegunshop.com What's the story behind the 3 1/2" 10 gauge?

Because the 12ga 3 1/2" single barrel H & R kicks you into next week, especially with the 22" barrel it comes with; the 10ga might be fatal in both directions. This is not speculation on my part...Geo

Awesome! Thanks for all the info, guys. Researcher -- great post.

BTW: are there any articles/books out there about the 10 gauge? I would love to learn more.

Thanks again,

OWD

In the sixties, one of the importers marketed original Model 1900 H&Rs bored to 3 1/2" ten gauge. I have one of these, still in mint condition. I talked someone into firing it with 3 1/2" ammunition once on a duck hunt and the gun opened by itself every time it was fired. Being in such high condition, I have no idea what the problem is.

When I first tried turkey hunting, back in the late 70's, I borrowed a friend's Spanish 10ga mag sxs. Don't remember the maker. Choked F/F. Picked up some 2 oz loads of 4's and some BB's. I figured the latter would serve as antiaircraft loads, assuming the bird didn't die on the ground. (That was before Iowa restricted shot size for turkeys.) I recall patterning the 4's at 35 yards. Determined that I would not want to eat a mallard centered at that range.

10ga sxs figured prominently in the line of V. Sarasqueta guns imported by Stoeger in the 60's. Thunderbird, Double 10, or Honker if you wanted a single shot. Both the doubles had 32" barrels. The Thunderbird weighed 12#, the Double 10 10#. I remember the one I fooled with was also a beast in the weight department, but needed to be with the recoil.

Shotguns by Keith. He has praises for both the Super Ten and Magnum Ten. Realize though that it is typical Keith speak, with lots of grammatical error. In his book the word "us" usually means "me".

Good articles on the Magnum-Ten are Elmer Keith's "Long Shots and Far Away!" in the December 1965 issue of Guns & Ammo;





Col. George W. Busbey's "Magnumitis" in the 11th Edition, 1957, Gun Digest; and Charles Askins' announces the big gun and shell in the February 1932 issue of The American Rifleman, reviews all "magnum" shotguns in the July 1932 issue of The American Rifleman.

Certainly more myth then fact there.

Other than that (a UK guy describing relatively-obscure goings-on over in the USA), some nice scholarship in the rest of this thread.