The 10ga Magnum - Article
 

The hunters super gun..... I found this article today and thought others might like it as well.

ftp://ftp.fwpubs.com/Outbound/Direct...13_10GAUGE.pdf

Good article but I don't agree with this statement.

The chamber of the big gun at
first was not the 3½-inch length of today,
but rather a short 2 7/ 8 inches. Aside
from that difference, the big .775-inchbore size has always been the standard
and, being the largest bore diameter of
all American shotguns, it has long been
known for its massive firepower.

What about the big eight, I think he forgot about them.
Can't wait to try my new to me 3 1/2" Beretta Silver Pigeon SxS this fall.

I had similiar thoughts as well Bob. He never mentioned the development of the 3 1/2 10ga shell and the first gun to shoot it, the Ithaca NID 10ga Mag either.

Just goes to show gun writers are not always experts, I thought it was still an interesting read.

for some reason i never could pull up the article...sure wanted to read it..i never tire of reading about the big bores.... charlie

And apparently the author had no idea that most of the 19th century, 10 gauge Parkers had bore diameters of .780-.800.

And yes, what about the 8 gauges and larger shotguns. Those are only illegal for waterfowl, but can still be used in most places for other game.

a 8 ga is good medicene for about anything ...and the big ten is also a awsome gun...my dad hunted with a ten ga lefever back in the 1950 s i was in awe of these old guns then and still am...these guns will kill at ranges beyond the normal shooters ability...the guns are usally heavy and not all people can shoot a 10 ga or 8 ga well on acount of there weight and size. but if a person can handle and shoot the big guns well then hes got a winner... charlie

Forrest,

I was looking at my Parker 1885 hammer 10 ga the other night when I put in one of those flat choke gauges and it indicated improved cylinder in both barrels. I got thinking "What kind of shooting did the guy who ordered that gun do with 30" barrels, 3" chambers and improved cylinder chokes?" The barrels are not cut as you can see the keels in the end of the barrels and it has the proper matting and line at the end of the rib. I had forgotten about the larger bore diameter (.780" - .800") and how that would impact choke diameter. I need to get someone who has the correct tools measure the bore diameter.

Jack Kuzepski

Jack,

Yes, it can be very difficult to determine choke on these early Parkers without first determining the bore diameter. The two most recent ones I have examined have identical bore and choke configurations. Both have .793 bores and .040 of choke. They are about 20,000 apart in serial # range. There has been a lot of discussion of the variations in 12 gauge bore sizes from Parker, I think the 10 gauges are probably just as diverse over their manufacturing period. They probably don't get as much attention or study due to the fact they are not as popular with today's shooters.