Thread: 10 gauge

what is the biggest shell it will shoot 2 3/4 or 3 inch just curious

3.5" I would imagine. Looks like a Roman candle. :D

Originally Posted by 78mudbug

what is the biggest shell it will shoot 2 3/4 or 3 inch just curious

3 1/2" Mag. Side by side, on paper and the field, a 10 gauge makes a 12 gauge 3 1/2" look like a sissy.

Originally Posted by 78mudbug

what is the biggest shell it will shoot 2 3/4 or 3 inch just curious

It will only shoot magnum shells, which are 3.5". It is also a fixed full choke.

Originally Posted by talltimber

3.5" I would imagine. Looks like a Roman candle. :D

They sure do. In fact, we were actually calling them the same thing.

Originally Posted by smoothlures

3 1/2" Mag. Side by side, on paper and the field, a 10 gauge makes a 12 gauge 3 1/2" look like a sissy.

I took a piece of cardboard and patterned the Ithica Mag-10 and my 12 gauge Benelli Super Black Eagle II just to see.

But first, a little background...

I own many shotguns and I own both of [arguably] the most hi tech duck guns available: The Benelli Super Black Eagle II and the Beretta Extrema 2. People will tell you that the Benelli SBE II is the lightest kicking, fastest shooting, and more snobby elitist BS all day long. Although I DO own a Benelli SBE II and it is my go-to shotgun, it is because the gun fits my frame perfectly. I own the Beretta Extrema 2 because my cousin needed to sell it and he gave me a great deal. Otherwise, it sits in my closet because - in my opinion - it is the most cumbersome, bulky, "plasticky", shotgun ever manufactured. So I didn't take the Beretta out to compare patterns cause I don't care about it's pattern anyhow.

So we all headed out the shooting stump, which is a haggard old crape myrtle that is not-so-lovingly dubbed, Old B---- (rhymes with itch :D). The crape myrtle and it's weak, scattered blooms got the name because it makes me think of a bitter old prune of a woman well past her prime who insists on covering the sagging, cavernous folds of her face with cheap, pink makeup.

The cardboard was placed on the OB and we all took 30 paces back to the cooler. First, I loaded the Benelli SBE II with a 3.5" magnum shell. I squeezed it off and it goat kicked me as hard as always. (Side note - No recoil is the first myth about the SBE II. If a man walks up to you and tells you that his SBE II doesn't kick, then you can look at him and tell him he is a lier and shouldn't be shooting shotguns anyway if he is afraid of recoil. A Benelli SBE II can hang with the grouchiest Remington 870 Super Magnum or Mossberg 835 in terms of recoil any day of the week.) I put the gun down and looked over the pattern. Not too bad for 30 yards and using an IC choke. I'd say the pattern was a little stringy as 3.5" 12 gauge loads tend to be, but still pretty good coverage. I went back and grabbed the Ithaca. I fed it the salami size shell and tickled his belly and I felt that massive, 30 year old, trigger assembly roll over. Now, the here's the funny thing about the Ithaca Mag-10. When you squeeze off a shell, you definitely hear the shot, but more noticeably, you hear "Clink - Clank". That is the sound of the huge bolt running up and down and spittin out the husk of the almost 2 oz. worth of steel it just devoured. Recoil is the last thing on your mind. Truly one of the softest shooting guns I have ever fired. Anyway, I didn't even need to walk to the cardboard to see the pattern. There was no pattern. There was a 4" hole in the cardboard and a nub on the OB where a branch once was.

So, in summary - I absolutely agree with you smoothlures. The Ithaca 10 gauge is one mean gun. Next time I'll remember to take some pictures of the patterning board to give ya'll an idea of how the patterns compare.