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Belgium or Spanish 10 Gauge


Whoa Bart #67544

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Howdy. Thinking about getting a 10 Gauge at a resonable price. Resonable seems to be Spanish or Belgium Manufacturers. What would be the better choice. Is a 10 gauge really that much more fun. I like the BOOOM factor. Thank You for your valued imput.

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Howdy Bart!

 

Well, I think all the Belgian 10ga shotguns are old guns, most with damascus steel. As I said, "I think...", could be there are some new ones out there, but I haven't seen any personally. With the Spanish doubles, Zabala is a great gun. Mostly made in the 1960's to the mid 90's these are modern steel and very strong. The later ones have chrome-lined bores. We use one for bp shooting all the time. Very easy to clean up. And if you decide to go duck hunting, they will take the modern magnum loads.

 

Bystander

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I have two Zabalas, which are indeed well-made guns. Unless you find one that has been used a lot (not really likely with a 10) it will be fairly stiff to open and will have very heavy main springs. With use and some re-work, they can be really nice CAS guns. The chambers on these tend to be tight as new, and heavy BP loads can cause problems with spent hulls sticking, slowing you way down. Also, most unmodified 10's are "goose guns," with really tight chokes - I'm convinced my original gun was "full," and "fuller!"

 

Don't think I'm trying to discourage you from using a Zabala 10...I've been shooting mine for 2 1/2 years, and won't go back to a smaller gauge unless I absolutely have to...you just have to be prepared to do a little more work than on your average out-of-the-box 12 ga. coach gun. If you shoot a 10, you definitely will get more attention from your fellow shooters, and the "boom factor" alone is worth the extra work, especially if you get a chance to do a night BP shoot with Holy Black...!

 

Count Sandor

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I have a Spanish made Zephyr Honker 10 ga. I bought it to shoot geese with (after I let my son talk me out of my BPS 10ga :wacko: ). I do shoot some cowboy with it, only night BP shoots...just for the WOW factor. It is very heavy and IMHO would not be suitable for regular matches. I only use brass cases and BP. It shoots regular 10 ga 3 1/2" factory stuff great. If I wanted to shoot cowboy and had to have a 10 ga, I think I would look for a Winchester 87 lever....lots of them around in 10 ga.

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