January, 1922 
FOREST AND STREAM 
25 
THE TEN GAUGE SHOT GUN 
WHILE IT IS BEING SUPERSEDED TO A LARGE EXTENT BY THE 
LIGHTER TWELVE IT STILL REMAINS THE BEST GUN FOR WILD-FOWL 
By C. S. LANDIS 
T he lo-gauge shotgun is usually 
associated with the age of the 
wild pigeon, market shooting for 
wild-fowl and a supposedly un- 
limited game supply. It is, however, by 
no means a thing of the past on many 
duck shooting grounds, although the 12- 
gauge repeating shotguns have caused it 
to lose most of its former prestige. As 
the lo-gauge double was by far the most 
popular and for many uses the most 
effective gun of its time, it is well worth 
consideration in this series. 
At the height of popularity of the 
lo-bore the double barrel muzzle loading 
gun was gradually being superseded by 
breech loaders. Black powder had not 
as yet started to lose ground rapidly in 
favor of smokeless. The shooter was 
limited in most cases by the smoke of 
discharge and by the length of time nec- 
essary to reload so that he was confined 
to two shots per gun at a flock. Obvi- 
ously he must make them as effective as 
possible. The limits, of course, were the 
weight of gun that could be handled 
effectively from a duck boat and a load 
that was not too expensive to use on 
shots at single ducks and which threw a 
large enough charge of big shot to do 
effective work in flock shooting. 
The lo-gauge conformed splendidly to 
these specifications. In weights of 9 to 
10 or joy2 pounds it could be used very 
effectively for wing shooting at water- 
fowl and in the heavier weights, when 
charged with 4^4 to 4^ or even 5 drams 
of powder and ij 4 - or ounces of large 
shot, were uniformly very effective up 
to 60 yards and many a bird was brought 
down at very much greater distances. 
At the traps for live-bird shooting at 
wild and tame pigeons it was the favorite 
gauge for many years. After the charge 
of shot for this work was restricted to 
ounces the 10 began to lose its popu- 
larity because an 8-pound 12 when load- 
ed with 3 J 4 drams of bulk smokeless and 
ounces of No. 7 shot developed al- 
most as high velocity as could be ob- 
tained with iJ 4 ounces of 7’s in a 9 or 
lo-pound lo-gauge. In addition it made 
patterns that averaged nearly as close 
and even. The smaller size of the 12 
and a pound and a half or two less metal 
to swing did not help the popularity of 
the big gun. In addition, public senti- 
ment was beginning to favor the small 
bores which usually meant 12’s at that 
time. As a result the 10 is now restricted 
almost entirely to open water duck and 
goose shooting. 
The fact that the 10 has moved along 
with the passing of suspenders, long 
whiskers and other fashions associated 
with outdoor men of 20 to 40 years ago 
has nothing to do with its effectiveness. 
It went because the public desired some- 
thing new, supposedly more up-to-date 
and therefore more fashionable. Part 
Typical 10 gauge pattern, 30 in. circle 
at 40 yds. 
of this is due to the belief held by many 
that it is not sportsmanlike to shoot a 
big bore gun or to use a heavy load of 
shot, the idea being that anybody could 
score with a lo-gauge load. 
As the 10 lost in popularity, due to the 
change to the 12 for trapshooting and 
the gradual dying out of market shoot- 
ing for wild-fowl, the demand for 454 
to 5 drams to 1^2 oz. hand loads of 
large size shot died out. As a result 
10 gauges were more frequently built 
lighter in weight and the loads used 
were reduced to keep within the pres- 
sure and recoil limits until at last the 
vast majority of lo-gauge loads contain 
to 4l4 drams of powder and 
ounces of shot. 
following velocity table shows 
the average results obtained by a 
leading shell concern with Hercules 
E.C. Powder in factory-loaded shells. 
The velocities are averages over a range 
of 40 yards. Cut out this table and 
compare it with the 12-gauge velocity 
table printed in the early part of this 
series. 
10 -GAUGE VELOCITY TABLE 
Velocities Obtained With Hercules E. C. 
Powder in Factory-loaded Shells 
Over a Range of 40 Yards. 
N 
f/) 
U N 
(0 • 
N 
(0 • 
(-> N 
0 0) 
43 OJ3 
QO 
00 
QO 
c/X/)CJ 
fO’H 
coin 
2 
960 
940 
8 
943 
923 
4 
887 
927 
!)07 
5 
870 
910 
890 
6 
853 
893 
873 
857 
7 
837 
877 
8 
820 
860 
840 
it N 
N 
>2 N 
QO 
£'0 
QO 
Q':^ 
COtH 
-tlTH 
1.000 
1.020 
1.070 
983 
1.003 
1.043 
967 
987 
1.027 
950 
970 
1.010 
9:3:1 
953 
993 
917 
900 
A lo-bore is primarily a wild-fowl 
gun and so it is almost useless to com- 
pare the results obtained wdth small size 
shot because a big bore needs a load of 
large shot to show its superiority which 
is, therefore, the reason for its use. 
There is no advantage in shooting a large 
charge of small shot because they will 
not hold their velocities well enough to 
be effective at long range. At short 
range the large shot patterns closely 
enough to be effective on any game that 
is likely to be fired at with a gun of this 
type. 
One of the common, present-day 10- 
gauge loads is 3 j 4 drams of powder and 
ounces of shot. With 6's or 4’s it 
has 6 to 10 foot-seconds less velocity 
and therefore less energy and killing 
power than a charge of 3 drams ij4 oz. 
in a 12. Its only real virtue is the re- 
markably close and even patterns that 
can be obtained with it. If it is abso- 
lutely necessary to shoot a cheap charge 
in a lo-gauge this will fill the bill. How- 
ever, shooting such a load in the lo-bore 
is like using a five-ton truck to deliver 
a half ton of coal or a bag or two of 
potatoes. The use of such piffling 
charges has done much to discredit the 
knock-’em-down and drag-’em-out ability 
of a 10 when it is loaded in proportion 
to its gauge. 
A charge of 4 drams and Il 4 ounces 
of 4’s gives us 987 foot-seconds, which 
is 30 foot-seconds more than is obtained 
with 314 - 1/4 and only lo foot-seconds 
less than 3L2-ij4 in the 12. The recoil, 
of course, is much less in the 10 than the 
3 j 4 -ij 4 develops in the 12 because the 
big gun weighs ij4 to 2 pounds more 
and there is less resistance to the shot 
when it passes through the barrel. Y’ith 
4 drams — ij4 ounces, the lo becomes a 
he-gun and is loaded more sensibly. A 
charge of 4^4 drams of E.C. and Ij 4 
ounces of 4’s develops 1027 foot-seconds 
over 40 yards. This is 30 seconds more 
than the 3 ) 4 -ij 4 > and 10 foot-seconds 
more than 314 - 1/4 develops in the 12. 
It can only be equalled in velocity in the 
12-gauge by a charge of 3L2-1 oz., which, 
of course, is unbalanced or 3J4-I/4 or 
some similar load designed for the pur- 
pose of securing a very high velocity at 
the expense of close patterns. 
It is unfortunate that I do not have 
velocities for heavier loads in the 10- 
gauge, because then I could show what 
the 10 is actually capable of doing in 
the line of killing power and velocity 
with charges like 4 l 4 -ij 4 . aid 4>4-i-^4 
which are not more strenuous in the lo- 
pound lo-gauge than the 3 j 4 -ij 4 pigeon 
or duck loads that are used in the 8- 
pound 12. 
A charge of 5 drams — ij 4 ounces and 
4/4 to 4p2 drams — ounces were by 
no means unheard of in the old days 
when the 10 was the standard gauge 
for long range work and where nearly 
everyone shot for meat as well as sport. 
It is hardly necessary to say that a charge 
of iJ 4 or of 4’s or 5’s that are trav- 
(Continued on page 42 ) 
