10 guage vs 12 guage for geese...
 

Whats everyones thoughts?

I love my Ithica Mag 10 for geese. Call it the death ray. 12ga 3.5 bb blindside does a pretty good number on them though.

I personally think a 10ga is over kill that means you have the tendency to skybust which involves more cripples. If the shots are out of range i just pass on them. I've killed more geese with 12ga full choke with #1's than anything else.

Not necessary. They are fun to shoot though.

I've never noticed any significant difference. I've seen a crippled speck shot on the ground at 35 yards with a 10 gauge (that's a lot of prepositions) and it didn't even give it a headache. I hunted with a guy for 5 years that shot a 10 gauge exclusively and he was no more lethal that us. Especially when you call em in your grill.

Yeah I figure its prolly not really worth it...but then again I have kind of always wanted one...and I found a Remington SP-10 and a Browning Gold 10 both used and $600 each. Thats why I posted this thread.

Saw J.E. Hagen roll a speck on a shot i would never take with a 12 gauge 3.5".... i mean rolled it. never shot one but after that i was impressed.

if that's the case you've seen me shoot so i should be the michael jordan of shotguns in your eyes.

Local? Buy the SP -10, it's the same gun as the old Ithaca Mag 10 and a beast. 10 ga is the better patterning and preforming of the two but they HEAVY! How does shell price compair to 3.5 12ga?

Back in the day when lead was a luxury, had a 2 hole 10 ga. we would reload shells with #4 Buckshot, when those stringers of snows would come over about 80 to 100 yards above the blind, we would say range-bearing, unleash that cannon and usually 1 to 4 birds would fall dead, with the ever popular steel shot, no shotgun is as deadly as with lead these days, so I would say a 3 1/2 12 ga. is the best option, and I think the 10 ga shells are harder to come by compared to 3 1/2 12's.

They are about $25 per box. Which depending on the 12 gauge 3.5s you buy is not much more...

If all your targeting are geese, I'd say yes. With a patternmaster x-range choke & 1 or 2 shot, you'd have plenty of range. I personally won't waste my coin on 3.5 12ga.

I'd buy it! It is a beast on ducks with #6's in that huge pipe.

Buy the SP-10!

What everyone forgets it is it is about pattern density. A .410, 28ga, 16ga, 12ga and 10ga all have the same pellet energy with the same size shot moving at the same speed. A 20ga shooting #4s at 1300 fps has the same down range energy per pellet as a 10ga shooting #4s at 1300 fps. The issue comes in with shot string and density. Pattern boards do not tell the whole story. Lets look at the 20ga and 12 ga. Say both are shooting #4s 1 oz of shot and modified chokes. The 20 ga will have a longer shot string. That equates to a better chance of crippling a crossing shot. The 12 ga has a much shorter shot string and will impart more energy on a crossing shot. This is simple physics. Now apply this to the 10 ga that hold 2 plus oz of shot and pattern density goes way up and it will have one of the shorter shot strings. This is why it appears to hit harder. With density you have a better chance of getting a pellet into a vital area. Lastly speed is something that needs to be looked at. The faster the pellet is traveling the more energy it will have. 10 ga shot shells tend to be on the slow side due to the lower chamber pressure that the guns are rated for.
Now all this is for nothing if you cannot hit what you are shooting at or if you do not like shooting that load or gun. So shoot what you like and have fun. For geese I prefer a fast moving load in 12 ga BB. I like Remington Hypersonic 3.5” 12g BB 1 3/8 oz loads over a slower 10 ga load. Now I did kills limit of specks with 2 ¾ in #6 Kents this year. Was shooting teal early in the morning had some geese slip in on us and the #6s did just fine. 6 geese in and 6 geese down. I also love shooting my SP10. Just my 2 cents.

I just found this...check it out, custom camo paint job!

http://www.duckhuntingchat.com/forum...ic.php?t=36000

Me and a buddy have been shooting the hypersonics this year and I do like them. But for some reason they do not always cycle well in my extrema 2...

Have been considering an after market choke (full) for my extrema 2... Any suggestions?

That's pretty awesome looking.

I used to use a COMP-N-CHOKE but then I was shooting skeet one day with some cheap lead and one of the shells wads got stuck in my barrel and I didnt notice. When I shot the next shot the end of the barrel looked like elmer fudds gun on buggs bunny so I had to have it cut and re-threaded. Now I can only use one kind of choke...but I can't remember what it is called...

Anything PatternMaster makes will work well.

I'm shooting a 10 this year and its not worth the guys who are teaching me how to kill geese don't take passing shots so I don't either. If you kill geese how you are supposed a 12 is all you need. If you find 10 gauge shells compare that shot to a box of 12 and you will be surprised at how close they match

You should post more

Yes, he should.

I shoot 1 3/8's oz #2 in a 10 gauge, never saw big ducks or geese fall deader. And anybody worried about recoil, shoot a box of 3.5's out of a 6-7# 12 gauge, then shoot a box of 10 gauge out of a gun that weighs a little over 9 #'s. A 10 gauge is made for big, heavy loads.

I only shoot my 10 when I am duck and goose hunting, if it is just a duck hunt I love to shoot my extrema 2 with 2 3/4" Experts, those 1550 FPS #2.

Yes, I could of saved some money and bought a 3 ".

Second that..

12 gauge + 2 shot + Code Black Duck Patternmaster = Dead Goose!

I had to go take a double look at his name.... makes me wonder if MathGeek has a burn handle:eek:.....

It's a bit of a hassle but one of my hunting buds used to bring two guns into the blind. A goose gun and a duck gun. No fumbling to change shells when geese are approaching. I agree with saodma on pellet speed and energy. It depends on where the pellets impact the bird but if the pattern density is such that you hit a duck or goose with 5 pellets instead of 2, it makes a big difference. Also do the math on lead requirements and you'll see that you need to lead a goose a couple of feet more on long passing shots with slow pellet speed loads. That is not even considering the difference in the energy of a BB pellet versus a #2 pellet but that's a whole different discussion. Let them get close and it doesn't matter so much.