doublegunshop.com - home Forums General Discussion DoubleGun BBS @ doublegunshop.com 10 bore quail gun

That would be a dandy to swing around in a duck blind or duck boat.

Francis, I'd like to have had Nash on a dove shoot. I think I could have caused him to rethink his blanket statement about .410s on some small gamebirds, like doves. Not bragging, just saying what I have found to be true over the last 8-10 years. I can name many men who are adept enough, and mature enough, to use a .410 wisely on a dove field, and in the quail woods .............. two or three of them on this forum.

SRH

Your self included in that Trio. Late POTUS Eisenhower used M42's for quail- also some other American all stars. How about I modify my remarks to exclude the .410 from waterfowl hunting. My post might have been a bit "self-serving", as due to settlement of a Super Bowl bet years ago, I have a well-worn M12 28 gauge that I'd love to use on some Dixie bobs and doves someday. My dentist uses his 28 ga. O/U on preserve pheasants and also on SC.

My late father started me with a 20 gauge- at 11 yrs. I was gifted with a Savage/Stevens 20 bore single shot, mod. choke, and when I reached 14- he gave me his 20 bore M12-also mod. choked. I have never owned or even shot a .410-- guess I am a chronic cheap-skate, as the high price of the .410 ammo would keep me "outta da loop"-- By the way, I have some greenbacks ahead of SB 54-- My beloved Packers against the KC Chiefs- we shall see. RWTF

Stan I also agree with Nash...I really think your statement is bass akereds.

Should read...I know many men that go through a second childhood and are immature enough to hunt with a foe tin.

The only 10 gauge I have ever owned is a 32" barreled 10 lb Lefever E grade. I have shot a Spanish made 3�" 10 gauge magnum that belonged to my Father-in-law & killed a Canada goose with it.

Some ys back when the TN Gun Collectors put on a decent show in Nashville I met & became friends with another Lefever fan. He had a 10 gauge L Barber (AKA Barber & Lefever) hammer gun. I did not weigh it nor measure the barrel length. My best guess was the barrels were 28" & weight closer to 7 lb than to 7� lbs. I could very easily see myself walking up beside a good pointing dog to flush a covey of quail. I considered this to be an Upland gun & not a waterfowl one.

I would, of course, want to use a load suitable for quail, such as a 3� dram -1 1/8 oz shot or no more than a 3� dram-1� oz shot load. One would not see a nickel's worth of difference in the pattern than equivalent loads from a 12. The thought that just because it is a 10 that it will throw a pattern as wide as Barn Door & Slay everything therein is simply LUDICROUS. With the same amount of shot a barrel with a bigger hole May, or May Not, throw a more uniform pattern, but seldom a wider one with equivalent chokes.

5 drams of powder behind a light shot charge is also Ludicrous. W W Greener pointed this out at least as early as 1910.

"Use Enough Gun" Robert Ruark

In my previously posted list of light ten bores, I neglected to mention my 28" Lefever F Grade steel barrel ten that weighs just 7 1/4 pounds and is a delight to carry in the fields. I still own all the guns I mentioned in my post, as well as a very lightweight DH Grade Parker 30" 8 gauge that barely makes ten pounds.

8-bore;
That sounds like a most delightful 10 to me. I would have loved to have been able to find one that light, but all I ever managed to encounter were the heavy ones. The frame on my E grade 10 is larger than on any of my 12s. Although I have not had the good fortune to check it out, I highly suspect it is the same frame they used for the 8 gauge guns they built.

Do you have a Lefever among your 8 gauge guns?

The Lefever forum had a discussion about frame sizes, especially the different 10 gauge frame sizes. I have Lefever tens from over ten pounds down to my steel barrel 7 1/4 pound gun, in half pound increments. I would love to see the order sheets for all of those guns. When the Lefever site updated their forum, we brought the old discussion of frame sizes to the new forum. As far as I know, it is still available for research.

Miller, as much as I respect your opinions I cannot understand how you think a 1 1/8 to 1 1/4 oz. load of lead shot is "suitable" to kill a six ounce bird, when the same loads will absolutely kill two and a half pound ducks, with larger shot size for penetration. I well remember what an awesome load 1 1/4 oz. of lead shot was for "big ducks" and how many woodies I killed with that 3 1/4 - 1 1/8 lead load. IMO using anything over 1 oz. for a little quail is just meat damaging, and 7/8 oz. is aplenty 90% of the time. I favor quail above every other meat I have ever eaten, and I don't want them all bloodshot and damaged from excessive loads.

A good shot can hold his own quite well on quail, woodcock and yes, even doves, with a 3/4 to 7/8 oz. load of the appropriate size shot. And, big loads won't make a good shot out of a poor one.

SRH

Stan, I agree completely with you. We are a society of overachievers and if 1 is good then 2 must be great!