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When did the 3.5 inch 10 come into existance? I have a few old Remington plastic case shells that are 2-7/8. Wondering if the 10-3.5 is a magnum version and when it was introduced? Thanks We Band of Bubbas N.R.A Life Member TDR Cummins Power All The Way Certified member of the Whompers Club | ||
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Not an expert on the history, but I do own 3 10ga shotguns. My thought is that the 3 1/2 magnum was developed when the powder went smokeless. The 2 7/8 would be old black powder or crossover cases is my guess. | |||
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Drew - here you go - I have the 1977 Ithaca catalog which announced the Mag 10 in 3 1/2" in its three grades. It's the forerunner of the current Remington 10 ga. autoloader that looks just like it. On the cover is a nice photo of the 1933 Ithaca Magnum 10 bore double SxS along with a letter on Ithaca's letterhead that announced that gun. The letter says in part that the gun is built bigger and stronger to handle the NEW 2 oz. 3 1/2" shell. It was a 10 1/2 lb gun with 32" tubes standard that could be built to 34". It also handled the 2 7/8" shell. It was marketed as a goose gun and long range duck gun. I do not know if the competing companies had theirs too, although I suspect they did. Parker comes to mind as a candidate, although I've never seen one. There were also I believe by the '70s imports from Spain or elsewhere in the 3 1/2" in SxS and/or O/U. I've seen pictures of those or at gun shows. I have a book on duck hunting showing a comparison in the open breeches of two guns, O/Us in 12 ga and 10 ga. I'm sure the 10 is a magnum. It's far larger than the 12. Unfortunately I don't know the make, but it was surely European. It was said that in the early 10s you could have any size shot you wanted as long as it was #2s. But that's not entirely correct. I used to have a Canuck brand paper 10 ga. shell in 3 1/2". It was either #3 or #5, I forget which. I just picked it up somewhere and kept it as a display piece. It was orange and yellow with interesting graphics. So the 3 1/2" goes back about 80 years, or 33 years in autoloaders. On gunbroker you'll find the even older 2 7/8" models, including lever guns, and colorful original boxes of ammo. 10 does have an interesting history...but personally, I'd like to see what some old 8 gauges look like.. | |||
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Shack's info appears to be correct. After the US government banned waterfowl shotguns larger than 10 guage in the 1930s, there was interest in loading more shot than previously possiblein guages up to 10 b. The then new 10 guage magnum was loaded with the heaviest shot load that at the time was possible and it was loaded in the 10 guage 3.5 inch cases. Ithaca produced their 10 guage SXS shotgun which had some popularity with waterfowl hunters who could afford it and wanted it. Sadly the larger guages were outlawed! It does rise a question. If the waterfowl bag limits are correctly set, why does it matter whether we use a 12 b., a 10 b or an 8 b.? | |||
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I believe the Ithaca sxs was the first US made 3.5" 10 ga. for the 2 oz. smkeless loads, could be wrong. The 10 was quite common in bp guns, chambers from 2-5/8 on up. I think about all the mfgs. loaded the 2-7/8 shells well after the 3.5 was introduced. The first Remington SP 10 ga. shells were roll crimped and the first Ithaca 10ga. autos were tuned for these shells. Once the pie crimp was added to the 10 ga. Ithaca had to retune the action. They rebuilt mine for free even though I was the second owner. I believe the 10 was the last shell to get the pie crimp in the US. C.G.B. | |||
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I've also heard that the first 10-ga magnims (3-1/2 inch) were the Ithaca NID double barrels. | |||
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Ballistic products sells 8 gauge hulls and they carry an 8 gauge industrial slug. I'm with you i would love to come across an 8 gauge i could afford. Not to hijack the thread, I just picked up a SXS Churchill 10 gauge yestarday, (not E.J. Churchill) double triggers, 26" barrels both have screw in chokes. It should make a nice crow gun! | |||
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