10GA BPS Pump - My Story

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BigJimP

New member
I've told it before, but by popular demand....

I'm in my late 50's now / hunted waterfowl, big game, etc since I was a kid. Shot lots of Trap & Skeet. About 15 years ago, going goose hunting in Arkansas with some friends - one of them convinced me to buy a 10ga. So I bought a Browning BPS pump 10ga with 28" barrel for about $ 375 / and an extra 32" barrel for $ 125 (had to have it just in case) / and a nice hard case for it. So about $ 600. It swung like a big ole sewer pipe with that nose heavy 32" barrel on it - but hey, I was 6'5" and about 260 lbs and still in pretty good shape in those days ... and macho enough to shoot anything I wanted to shoot .... It was a Man's Gun ....

I took the 10ga out to shoot Trap before I went hunting - shot 2 rounds of Trap with it / it barked a little, but it was ok ( I'm lying ..., it was like shooting an 12 lb nose heavy sewer pipe ....).

On a frosty morning, laying on my back in a goose pit in Arkansas, guide hollars " take em "..., I sat up, found a goose, leaned back a little making sure I had enough lead, and pulled the trigger on that 10ga, gun went bang .. and as I followed thru .... my head bounced off the frozen tundra .... but I sat up quickly making sure nobody was laughing ... ( but they were !! ) probably because I hollered something like
" God Da-- It " .... and anybody that didn't see it heard about it pretty quickly. I braced myself better the rest of that morning - and the next morning - and limited out quickly both days / nothing bruised except my pride .... I took a fair amount of abuse around the club house .... but I earned it, and if you can't take it , well you know .... I offered to let them all shoot it, no takers of course, but they were just jealous ....

Hunted ducks a few other days on the trip ( with one of my 12ga's ) and the evening before I left - I sold the 10ga, both barrels and the hard case I used to ship it down there - to our guide that was admiring my gun for $ 200.

It was a good deal for both of us / I only lost $ 400 in the deal, proved I could shoot it a little ... the guide got virtually a new gun .. and I went home without a concussion / or an expensive boat anchor. Lord knows I would have put it in the safe and not shot it anymore. I'm sure I've made dumber decisions - but I won't buy another 10ga ....

I can assure you some of my buddies are still telling that story, about the "dumb---" that bought the 10ga goose hunting .... and still laughing. Its good to have friends / and stories that will live on for generations ....

But in case you guys don't know Browning is still making that 10ga ... I still have BPS's in 12 and 20ga and they are fine guns / but I've resisted the urge to buy another 10ga .... so there is a little more wisdom as we get older hopefully. If you shoot a 10ga - and like it - my hats off to you.
If you wet your pants laughing at my story when my head hit the ground, my apologies ...
 
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BigJimP
With your experience with all manner of BPSs, have you shot a 12 ga 3-1/2 inch Super-mag goose load? And, if yes, does it qualify as a head banger like your 10 was? My guess is that you're a little older and wiser.
 
BigJimP, I shot a BPS 10ga loaded with 00buck twice at a cardboard target. It kicked like a mad mule. The first shot knocked my cheek up off the stock and the second shot dang near broke my cheekbone. My head hurt for 2 days. Not that I have done this, but I figure if you laid a 300 win mag bolt action on the hood of your truck, removed the recoil pad, put your cheekbone about 1 inch back from the stock, then pulled the trigger on the 300, it would feel something about like that. :D I'm glad it wasn't my gun. I'm no 90lb weakling either. I'll go about 250 on an empty stomach.

zippy13, I've shot many different 12ga 3 1/2 mag loads, both for waterfowl, and for turkey. In no way does anything I've shot in a 12 ga compare with those two 00buck rounds I shot in that 10ga BPS.
 
My 10 gauge story......

A local mad scientist and smith had acquired a nice but not pristine 10 gauge Greener SxS in a trade. He added a pad, sling swivels and lopped the barrels off at 18"+ a skosh.

Ammo was in long brass cases, using black powder and .375" pistol balls, call it 0000 buck.

I was much younger then. After warming up shooting his 375 H&H, he handed me the Greener and a pair of those gleaming brass cases. Target was a 5 gallon bucket that formerly held spackle. It had a couple inches of rainwater in it.

The smith told me that it shot high, so I held on the bottom of the bucket and pulled the front trigger. The whole world turned into white smoke and we waited a few seconds until the fog dissipated.

Where the bucket had stood, there was nothing. We found most of the bucket maybe 8 feet behind where it had been, set it up and I shot it again.

Kick was, well, unpleasant. Effect was awesome and in an actual fight you could escape while the smoke hid the scene.

Since then I've shot both Ithaca Mag 10s and the Remington version. While heavy, they shot well though ponderous.

I doubt I'll ever shoot a 10 gauge again.

I can live with that....
 
I've a single shot 10 gauge that was willed to me by an uncle. I doubt it was shot much...for obvious reasons, but who knows..it's beat up a bit. I'm dying to see someone drop the hammer on it but it won't be me...:)

My dad shoots the 3 1/2" black clouds in his supernova. He was dying for me to shoot it.I saw no reason to try another after the first....J.R.
 
I just recently picked up a Marlin 5510 Super Goose 10ga 3 1/2" mag. I've heard about the kick, and I'm not sure if I really want to spend $20 on a box of 25 shells just to shoot it once or twice, and have 23-24 shells just laying around. I picked it up for the "unusualness" of a bolt action 10 ga with a magazine.

I do shoot 3 1/2" mags out of my 835 all the time. So I might take it out goose hunting once.
 
Jim

:) - you told me that story at dinner and made me laugh, I again smiled reading it today. Besides an experience testing a Ithaca Roadblocker I have not spent much time with 10ga.

Now that I think about it, I owe you a dinner!

My best, Bob
 
"10 Gauge
Yow. Load your 10 gauge with whatever the hell you want."

Saw that on another site for various HD shells and it made me lol like this story :D
 
I bought my Dad the Browning BPS 10 when it first came out. He loved turkey hunting and was enthralled with this gun so it was the only right thing for a good, loving son to do. Deep down, I also knew someday it would be passed on to me and I think this is where the karma kicked in.

I was goose hunting with my father-in-law at Swan Lake which is owned by the conservation department. They have these in-ground pits with three flip up lids with rebar frames. A single goose was flying overhead so I flipped the lid up to take a shot. This goose was straight up when I shot and the recoil from the 10 slammed...not pushed, not drove, not shoved...but SLAMMED the back of my head into the bottom part of the rebar and split me open. It wasn't bad enough to get stitches or staples but I did bleed pretty good for a little while. My father-in-law just chuckled and my head pounded the rest of the day. Needless to say, I didn't take any direct overhead shots from that point on.

Call me a masochist but I still love that 10. Hearing that thing rumble the woods during turkey season just makes me tingle with excitement. The nice thing is if the shot doesn't get your quarry than most likely the concussion will :p! Just make sure the back of your head is clear of any solid objects as you will most likely suffer a concussion. My friend, who has never shot one, tried it on some clays one day. He shot it once. It's definitly not for everyone LOL!
 
what is the standard payload and max payload a 10 gauge can shoot? i think a 3" 12 gauge max's out at 2oz... i've seen a few turkey loads that high.
 
Gotta watch those tricky Arkansas goose guides ;) I have the BPS in 12 ga. 3.5" and it's all I care for. Once tried the same gun in 10 ga. with 3.5" shells. The difference between 10 and 12 is noticeable- to say the least! They also show up in the classifieds around here fairly frequently.:D
 
I considered a 10g, after talking to a side by side owner I was hesitant. Now that I have read your posts, I think I'll just wait to shoot someone else's 10g.
 
Jim, I gotta tell ya, I read this earlier but didn't reply then...
This time the youtube vid of the kid resting the stock on his nads and firing came to mind.... I dunno why but it did! Rather than jack yer thread I made my own recoil related thread...
Brent
 
I have the Browning BPS Stalker in 10ga. It is my turkey gun and nothing else. I love the gun but it is like putting shoes on a mule. I made the mistake of turkey hunting with it when I had a broken thumb on my grip hand. I had to take a off handed shot at a tom while I was leaning out around a tree. The gun knocked me over and I jabbed my broken thumb into the ground when I tried to break me fall. There I was screaming like a girl and my turkey doing the death flop. The bad part is my brother got it on tape, I will never live it down. When we all get together someone plays that dang movie. There is a price to pay for being able to knock down a tom at 70 yards.
 
Funny thing 10ga. I had to have one when I was 18, I asked for one for Christmas. Father bought me a single shot, I think it was a NEF. Anyway, after the first couple of big booms, I was thinking this is great. The gun was a little heavy for my tastes, so, when cleaning the next day, I took the recoil pad off and noticed a large heavy Iron bar/weight in the middle of the stock. Well, what's the logical thing to do if you think something is heavy but to lighten it up, so I took out the bar and replaced the recoil pad. The following weekend, I took the gun out and fired one shell of 00buck. After waking up on the ground, I took the gun home reinstalled the iron rod/weight and sold it, never to be seen again.
I still have a fondness for it because it was a gift, but no mas for me.
 
I admire you guys for giving the 10ga a whirl! Personally I have never found any bird I hated enough to use one, (3½" 12ga either).
 
I'm still chuckling .... ( and I still appreciate the sympathy )....

but resting a shotgun on your nads ..... where is that link ???
 
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