I became a 10ga man after a morning of duck hunting in the salt marshes with a couple of Fire members when we all lived in AK. I was shooting ducks with my SKB 100 using 2 3/4” steel 4s and doing okay. All the sudden a pair of cranes came over low and right on top of me. I gave the lead bird both barrels and knocked feathers off him both times. Last time I saw him he was gliding out over Cook Inlet never to be seen again.
I went to a buddy’s gun shop two days later and swapped a 444 Marlin for an SP10 and a half case of shells. Next trip it was a whole different game. It will reliably crush birds out at 50-60 yards if you can figure the lead. The results on decoyed ducks with huge charges of bismuth are amazing to someone who missed the lead era of waterfowling.
I still have it and probably a case of shells, about half of which are Bismuth 4s. Don’t shoot many ducks and geese anymore but it’s hell on turkeys. Was thinking yesterday I may have to dust it off and kill some sky carp this winter. It’d probably make a heck of a blocking gun for SD roosters come December too with some of those 4’s.
Mine isn’t exactly the same as your experience, but it’s pretty close. Hunting greaters one year I shot my 12 with 3.5” BB’s and had a lot of birds sailing. My wife’s uncle collected 10 gauges and let me buy one from him. I shout it the next year and absolutely folded up the birds. No comparison. I’ve let a few others shoot it while we’ve been out hunting and they all leave saying they’re going to buy one.
