Geese and Dove Labor Day weekend !

[6pt-sika]

Dove season opens here saturday . Dunno if I'll do dove saturday , but I have an invite for resident Canada Geese saturday in the early AM . Gonna carry my circa 1881 W&C Scott 10 gauge damascus hammerless gun loaded with 1 1/4 ounces of #1 Bismuth . Our daily limit is 10 a day !


The W&C Scott 10 gauge on a late season dove hunt a few years ago !



Might be able to find a spot for saturday afternoon for dove but am not sure yet .

I do have an invite to what in the past has always been a good spot for Labor Day monday . For that one I'll carry a all 20 gauges . A Parker VHE 28" M&F , a Philly Sterlingworth 26" IC/M and just in case I can't hit my backside with both hands a circa 1951 Browning Superposed 28" IC/M that will stay in the car until needed !

The Parker VHE 20 gauge .



The little Sterlingworth 20 gauge , it's the one in the middle .



And the 20 Superposed is in the top of the pic of course . Shot this limit the second saturday two years ago at the place I'll be going monday !

[plowboy 45]

Them are good lookin gun for sure, I just came in from dove huntin, no luck for me tho, it opened 2day at dinner

[crs]

Tonight I am just about to sit down to a second grilled dove dinner.
It is going to take a while to eat all the doves from the opening days (2) hunts, but I will try my best.

[plowboy 45]

We're suppose to be in a good field at daylite 2mar, have a big cookout and all, I hope to do better

[6pt-sika]

Well as it turns out one friend and I are gonna do the goose thing at 6AM the other side of town about ten minutes from my home .

Plan on getting back to my place about tenish . Then I have an invite from a fairly near farmer for dove after I get done with the geese . Sunday I'm gonna rest , go to a cookout and watch the race Saturday night !
Monday I have an invite to the honey hole of dove shoots in our area !

TOmmorrow for the dove I'm going to take a AH Fox A grade 16 gauge and save the 20's for Monday(incidently the Fox 16 is in the dove picture above with the little 20 gauge Superposed ) !

Had plenty shells loaded for the 16 already . Just finished loading 100 for the 20's and also loaded 20 rounds of 10 gauge with #1 Bismuth . In the morning I'll take the W&C Scott pictured above and my old 1889 Parker EH 10 gauge .

[Lastmohecken]

I am going dove hunting in the morning, got an invite tonight, to hunt over a planted wheat field, hope it works out for some good shooting.

I am a side by side man, also. I spent half the evening trying to decide between my J.P. Sauer Royal which is my go to gun for quail and pheasant, and very deadly with one barrel bored skeet 1 and the other extra full. I am taking the J.P. Sauer for backup, just in case I am shoot poorly with my other choices. So, that's a given, and I am sure I would do my best shooting with it. But it's not all about the numbers.

A couple of guns I have owned not all that long, and haven't really hunted with is #1, a Charles Lancaster self opener, made in 1897, and an L.C. Smith Specialty Grade. Both are fairly light, and I had the L.C. Smith bored to Skeet 1 on the right barrel, and the other is Full choke. It only weighs 6lbs even and it's a 12ga. It's more of a jump gun IMHO, for Quail and Pheasant.

I chose to take the Charles Lancaster partly because it has ejectors, well one ejector that works, anyway, and I know I didn't shoot all that bad the one time I took Trap Shooting.

So, it will be for tomorrow, the Lancaster and the J.P. Sauer that get to go. The Lancaster is about 118yrs old, and there's something about taking a fine shotgun hunting that was made before T.R. fought in the Spanish American war, that just makes the hunting experience all that much richer.

[6pt-sika]

Got my first ever Cannanada this morning about 7:45 !

Used my grandfathers old circa 1881 W&C Scott 10 gauge . 1 1/4 ounces of Bismuth #1 in a SP-10 wad pushed with 30 grains of SR7625 in brand new unfired Remington hulls and set off with CCI209's !

Truth be told I should have gotten two when I got this one . But I think I shot right under the second one !







My friend I was hunting with got one as well .



He and I might do it again Monday morning , if so I'll drag out my circa 1889 Parker EH 10 gauge #2 frame 30" barrels :whistle:

[plowboy 45]

Glad y'all did well, I'm sittin here hungry, just couldn't make it happen

[Griff]

Congrats! I thought about goin' out for dove on Tues... but duty called... and by the time I got back, it was too hot! Maybe another time... Luckily, I didn't see any around... so it probably would've been less than productive!

[Nath]

Result, with such class too. Well done

[6pt-sika]

Went to a friends second dove shoot of the year earlier today !

Got 10 but it took me 37 shots .

VHE 20 gauge 28" M&F .

[MrMurphy]

Use! Less! Exclamation! Points!



Just saying.

[6pt-sika]

Use! Less! Exclamation! Points!



Just saying.

Don't remember asking !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

[6pt-sika]

Next trip for geese the 1889 Parker EH 10 gauge is up !



























We had the annual club elections tonight so I got there about an hour early so I could pattern the old Parker at 40 yards with my Bismuth #1 loads . At 40 yards they did very nicely !

[Dave James]

Warms my heart to log back in and see the first thing up, a 10ga being used for birds, loved my old Ithaca double on geese and have used for a few years an Auto-10 for deer , love the classic old doubles

[6pt-sika]

Warms my heart to log back in and see the first thing up, a 10ga being used for birds, loved my old Ithaca double on geese and have used for a few years an Auto-10 for deer , love the classic old doubles

Back about 1990 I got a NIB Remington SP-10 when I was eat up with the turkey hunting thing . That gun performed well but my god it was heavy !
In the last ten years I saw fit to buy an Ithaca MAG-10 DeLuxe and an Ithaca MAG-10 Field as well as a Browning BPS in 10 gauge . Unfortunately all of those have gone down the road .

We've always had SxS 10 gauge guns around my grandfathers W&C Scott pictured above has been in the family since about 1947 . My pop bought a nice old Ithaca NID Grade 2 Super 10 about 35 years ago and I never got around to shooting that one until maybe 5 years ago .
I didn't really get wound up with the 10 gauge 2 7/8" until I inherited my grandfathers W&C Scott 10 gauge . After getting it I decided to start loading for it . In the past I had loaded some 10 gauge 3 1/2" for the SP-10 but hadn't done the 2 7/8" . Turns out the 2 7/8" is actually easier to load for .

After getting the loading etc worked out to suit me I added a LC Smith Quality 2 10 gauge , a Parker 1882 lifter hammer 10 gauge , a Parker circa 1884 top lever hammer 10 gauge and then the Parker 1889 EH pictured above . I hesitate to say I won't buy anymore 10's as I wouldn't mind a nice EH on a #3 frame with 32" full and fuller barrels . Also an Ithaca NID Grade 2 Mag 10 would be nice .

At the moment I only have a MEC 600JR to load for the 10 gauge . Ponsness Warren makes the LS-1000 for 3 1/2" 10 gauge and will modify it for 2 7/8" shells but the darn thing is a hair over 1G . Need to find another progressive press more price friendly !

[Dave James]

When I picked up the Auto-10 it was one of the Road Blocker model, and about 4 years ago found an extra barrel for it.

Was just looking on Turnbull's site and he has a nice 10ga double up for sale, he hasn't done his magic to it and has an extra set of 28" barrel , trying to convince my self I need it

[6pt-sika]

When I picked up the Auto-10 it was one of the Road Blocker model, and about 4 years ago found an extra barrel for it.

Was just looking on Turnbull's site and he has a nice 10ga double up for sale, he hasn't done his magic to it and has an extra set of 28" barrel , trying to convince my self I need it

What brand is it ?

I let a Ithaca NID Grade 2 10 MAG get away from me this week . Gun had 32" barrels fuller and fuller yet, with 3 1/2" chambers . Think it was made in 1938 or 1939 . They supposedly only made about 800 of the Ithaca SxS 10's in 3 1/2" and all the seriel numbers are after 500,000 .

At the moment in my 10 gauge stable I've got three Parkers , an LC SMith , an Ithaca and my W&C Scott . Wouldn't mind adding a couple more thou !

[Dave James]

Parker "N" guage, belive he said a #2 frame

[6pt-sika]

Parker "N" guage, belive he said a #2 frame

If the barrels are listed at 28" it's about a 90% probability that they've been cut .

My EH is on a #2 frame and it's got 30" barrels I would say 90+% of the 10 gauge guns were 30" or 32" . Now that's not to be said that they didn't make them shorter but typically it would have been a special order deal .

I've got a Parker Grade 2 top lever hammer gun 10 gauge on a #3 frame that's 32" and I have a Parker Grade 2 lifter gun that's 10 gauge on a #3 frame that's 30" .

There's a book one can buy called "Parker Gun Identification and Serialization" costs about $35 from Amazon and it's got I'd say 90% of the serial numbers and enough of the specifications to let you know if the guns been chopped and the grades correct .

[6pt-sika]

Incidently I picked up a pair of Parker recievers a few months back . They're both pretty much stripped but they're both #3 frames originally made for 10 gauge guns . Ones an NH and the others an EH . While I am sure you're well aware only 10 gauge guns were made in grades EH and NH the engraving on an EH matches GH engraving and the NH matches PH engraving .

[6pt-sika]

I didn't read your initial post correctly . I thought you had said the gun had 28" pipes only . And I just looked at Turnbulls webpage . Gun sounds pretty good other then the fact they added wood to the comb . And since it has two barrels the price isn't out of this world either .
If by chance you buy that gun and wanna sell the 28" barrels we might be able to strike up a deal , well that is if they don't serial number to the gun .

My EH is a 57,xxx gun and was made in 1889. That gun with 68,xxx serial number was made in 1891

[Dave James]

Yep, just the idea of the dual barrel set up keeps me going back and forth over it

[6pt-sika]

Yep, just the idea of the dual barrel set up keeps me going back and forth over it

I've got a friend that's an AH Fox NUT think he has around forty Fox guns and of those I think ten are 2 barrel factory sets . Two barrel sets are his thing ! Sorry to say he's a terminal cancer patient who hasn't reached fifty yet .

[Dave James]

THere is just some thing about the old double guns, the feel,fit and swing on game, growing up I was among men who still carried and shot the large bore front stuffers, and have been infected with the love of them every sense,

[6pt-sika]

Went out this AM for the last day of the early resident Canada Goose season !













Well my shooting was perfect today with my circa 1889 Parker EH 10 gauge !

But then we never took a shot , we couldn't get any to drop in on us today .
I did use my new to me layout blind today , that thing is actually rather comfortable much to my surprise !

[mergus]

Hi Sitka! Nice collection of short 10's you have there. I have 2 Rem 1894's, one with 32" barrels and the other with 28" barrels. The 28"s look to be original....

Any how, the reason I'm commenting is on reloading short 10's. I've bought and not been too happy with some of the various hand loading kits advertised on the web. I thought about a MEC for 10 ga, but didn't really want to go through the rig-a-marole of changing the thing around for different loads. So I started using my Lee Load All II for priming the cut down Fed hulls I use. Normally I use a roll crimper on all my hulls, but I was looking at the 1st and second crimp station on the LLA II and I think if a person were to take the "top" part of the unit to a decent machine shop, they could open up the holes .050" or so that would allow 10 ga hulls to fit in there. Then a person could use fold crimp hulls as is from RST and others.

Just a thought....

Mergus

[6pt-sika]

Hi Sitka! Nice collection of short 10's you have there. I have 2 Rem 1894's, one with 32" barrels and the other with 28" barrels. The 28"s look to be original....

Any how, the reason I'm commenting is on reloading short 10's. I've bought and not been too happy with some of the various hand loading kits advertised on the web. I thought about a MEC for 10 ga, but didn't really want to go through the rig-a-marole of changing the thing around for different loads. So I started using my Lee Load All II for priming the cut down Fed hulls I use. Normally I use a roll crimper on all my hulls, but I was looking at the 1st and second crimp station on the LLA II and I think if a person were to take the "top" part of the unit to a decent machine shop, they could open up the holes .050" or so that would allow 10 ga hulls to fit in there. Then a person could use fold crimp hulls as is from RST and others.

Just a thought....

Mergus

I use a MEC 600JR 10 gauge had to buy it new as 10 and 16 used 600JR's are hard to come by .

I've already talked with Ponsness Warren about making me a LS-1000 for 10 gauge 2 7/8" and I anticipate going that route if I stay with this goose hunting thing .

In the past I used Ponsness Warren 800C's for the 12 , 20 , 28 and 410 . Now I'm doing MEC 650's for the 12 , 16 , 20 a Grabber for the 28 and still a 600JR for the 410 . SO down the road I may also get another Ponsness Warren 800 Plus with extra heads/die sets for the other four gauges . But I'll still need to keep the 600JR's for easier loading of buckshot and slugs in the 10 , 12 , 16 and 20 gauges .

I have a pile of loaders at the moment !

10 gauge a 600JR
12 gauge a 600JR and 650
16 gauge a 600JR and 650
20 gauge a pair of 600JR's and a 650
28 gauge a 600JR and a Grabber
410 bore a 600JR

I would rather get down to ,
10 gauge 600JR and PW LS-1000
12 gauge 600JR
16 gauge 600JR
20 gauge 600JR

And a PW 800 Plus with heads/die sets for the 12, 16 , 20 , 28 and 410 .