Factory 10 gauge ammo for Coyotes and Bobcats

C

CRB357

New member
I just inherited a Zabala 10 gauge side by side. I’m new to shotguns in general. Only way I can hunt coyotes in La. on public land is with shotgun or rimfire. Since I have the 10 gauge, I would like to try the 10 gauge out. The only factory load I can find is the Dead Coyote load. Is there any others? I've read to not use steel shot on yotes or cats.

Thanks
 
man, good luck. factory 10ga shells suitable for predators are very hard to find.

if you really want to use it bad enough you might need to looking into loading your own.
 
I would encourage you to trade that 10ga double barrel in because after one shot, you will not want anything else to do with it.

Having said that, I have owned two Ithaca 10ga semi autos, and one Browning gold 10ga semi auto.

I would not pull the trigger on a single or double barrel.
 
Originally Posted By: ackleymanI would encourage you to trade that 10ga double barrel in because after one shot, you will not want anything else to do with it.

Having said that, I have owned two Ithaca 10ga semi autos, and one Browning gold 10ga semi auto.

I would not pull the trigger on a single or double barrel.

To each his own, If I had one I would trade an Ithaca mag 10 for a good Spanish double any day of the week
 
Originally Posted By: ackleymanI would encourage you to trade that 10ga double barrel in because after one shot, you will not want anything else to do with it.

Having said that, I have owned two Ithaca 10ga semi autos, and one Browning gold 10ga semi auto.

I would not pull the trigger on a single or double barrel.

I would agree with Akleyman, dump it, trade it, and go get something better suited. This is a square peg, round hole situation. Unless you are handloading, you're probably going to find your ammo choices limited IF at all available.

I put down plenty of coyotes, foxes and bobcats with a 12 gauge. No complaints here. Sometimes bigger is not better.
 
To tame the recoil on the beast, you can get 2 7/8" 10ga loads from RST but just in smaller lead shot sizes. I'ds save the 10ga double for turkeys. While not a fan of the 10ga I did get to use a very fine old Remington hammer Sxs 10ga on a grouse hunt in northern WI, it was long enough ago that the Pickerel Lake store had paper cased 2 7/8" Rem 6's on the shelf. I've also shot some trap with a fine old Baker 10ga, again 2 7/8". I believe the standard load in the 2 7/8" was 1 1/4 oz. RST loads 1 1/8, 1 1/4 oz of lead and 1 3/8 oz of Bismuth..

If I'm not mistaken the Zabala is heavy beast approaching 10 lbs, The 10's I'm talking about were in the 7+ lb range.

If this is a inheritance from a beloved person and you cherish the shotgun you might just think about making it a wall hanger or turkey gun as it's days have past. It was designed to shoot heavy charges of Lead shot at waterfowl and that doesn't happen any longer.

If the chokes on it aren't too tight, no more than MOD I'd try some Steel BBB and not try and stretch it too far. Then again you could just reload for it and load NP "T" or "F"lead shot, if you just shoot new hulls you can get away with just a reloading manual(you can get a 10ga specific one) scale and Roll crimping head for you drill, no need to buy a 10ga reloading press. plus appropriate powder, wads and shot, new hulls come primed.

10ga heavy loads of smaller lead shot for turkey hunting are still available.



 
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Thanks for the replies.

Yeah, it was my grandfathers goose gun and it's a badass gun, so I don't believe I will be "trading it in".

It is a heavy beast, which I think it probably has to be to deal with recoil. I've shot it before when I was younger. Didn't really feel much different than the 12 gauge. That was 30 years ago though.

I have an assortment of rifles(30-30, AR15 .223, 30.06) I use for deer, hog, and coyotes at my hunting lease 4hrs away in Mississippi. This Feb I wanted to do some coyote hunting here in La on a WMA close to my house. I'm just stuck with the public land laws of using whatever weapons are legal for the season in progress, which is rimfire/shotgun for rabbit/squirrel till Feb 28th.

Since I have the 10 ga, I'll just use the Dead Coyote stuff. If this WMA coyote stuff turns into something I do a lot of, I'll look into reloading or a 12 ga.
 
Sounds like a great gun. It's cool that it's your grandfathers gun - I wouldn't get rid of it either.

Ableammo used to carry a selection of 10 ga stuff. It's pricey.
 
Heavy shot is harder than steel and if you don't have open chokes it can pop the ribs at the muzzle and bulge the chokes, it is designed for "Steel Safe" shotguns. Most of those Spanish 10's were choke full and fuller for long range waterfowling with LEAD shot.

Here is a link to some 10ga Lead #4's that should get you close to 50 yards with a good dense pattern.

https://www.cheaperthandirt.com/product/...Category=201499

Be sure to pattern it to check point of impact, you need to center the pattern and aim for the head/neck area.
 
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I'm not trying to be a know it all, but sxs's are what I do, I collect them , hunt them (upland and waterfowl), buy broken ones and repair them and I even predator hunt with them. I only have one that is younger than 50yr old. They are about the finest example of craftsmanship there is, you don't want to ruin one by shooting ammo made for modern shotguns.

If you want to hunt predators with it your going to have to reload for it, not at all difficult. PM me if you want help.

93 year old German combination Sxs shotgun with a rifle barrel underneath.

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Late 1800's Sxs that I hunted with in the 1960/70's

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My current favorite waterfowl shotgun 1930's Swedish sxs

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1950's French Sxs

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My favorite upland shotgun, 1960's Italian copy of a Churchill XXV 12ga all steel and walnut weighing in at 5 lb 15 oz it is so light that it is brutal to shoot with anything more than a low pressure 1 oz load yet it is devastating on birds.

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If you treat the old ones right they will last a long time.

 
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Beautiful piece of history (the gun and the coyote). I do love my 10 gauges. I just wish I had copper plated BBs to sling out of em
 
AWS is giving you some great information. I had a 10 gauge a very long time ago. After lugging it around the hills and hollers of the Ozarks turkey hunting I realized I was killing the birds the same distances I always did. Lugging that monster around wasn't netting me anything. Nowadays a 12 gauge 3" load gets it done. If you want to hunt with your Big 10 for fun listen to AWS. If you just want to hunt coyotes get an accurate .22 Magnum and keep the range under 100 yards. You have to be precise with a rimfire but if you can do that it will kill coyotes.
 
Posted some pics of old Sxs on page one of this.

You can get Nickle Platted BB's from Ballistic Products and get the old girl back in the field.
 
Originally Posted By: CRB357Awesome info. I took your advice and just ordered the lead #4.

Nice guns!!

Lead #4 shot may work on bobcats at 40 yards and under but it won't work very good at all on coyotes unless the coyotes are standing still and you can head shoot them at 30 yards and less.

If you are going to reload lead shot for coyotes get the BBB or T shot from Ballistic Products Inc.
 
Originally Posted By: derbyacresbobOriginally Posted By: CRB357Awesome info. I took your advice and just ordered the lead #4.

Nice guns!!

Lead #4 shot may work on bobcats at 40 yards and under but it won't work very good at all on coyotes unless the coyotes are standing still and you can head shoot them at 30 yards and less.

If you are going to reload lead shot for coyotes get the BBB or T shot from Ballistic Products Inc.

listen to this guy.^^^^^
 
I have shot the 10ga for many years. The solution for you with the fixed full-full 10ga double is reloading. All you need is available a Ballistic Products. You need empty hulls, Powder, Primers, Wads, and shot. You do not need to load 2 1/4oz lead shot loads. 2oz - 1 3/4oz or lighter will be plenty for anything you might need to kill. Your gun was designed for Lead shot. You can buy Turkey loads so you have no need to load them. If you really want to shoot it. Start reloading. Buy a Lyman #5 reloading book. It has everything for Info you need. Check Ebay for a used MEC press. It will be worth it.
 
You don’t even need a press. I have loaded a lot of ten gauge without one. From ballistic products I bought new primed cases, wads, over shot cards, roll crimper, shot and whatever else I needed. Not using used cases makes it a little more expensive but on average one doesn’t shoot a lot of ten gauge, worth it to me, nice clean neat cases every time
 
So for these guys that think the 10 kicks too much go try out a 12 ga 3 1/2"shells with 2 1/4 oz loads in a 7 1/2 or 8 pound pump gun.

That will define severe recoil for you. The 10 with 2 oz of shot loads won't be nearly as sharp or violent.

I would think you could find some lead BB's or load your own 4 buck with some buffer using recomended loads.

Its no big deal to load your own shells and you will smile when you think of granpa.
 


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