10 bore

Ten bore or 10 bore is an obsolete rifle caliber, used mainly in the 19th century for hunting large and potentially dangerous game animals. It is the size between the larger eight bore and the lesser twelve bore. This caliber was used heavily by the European hunters, notably so British, in the tropical climates of Africa and India. Meant to be used with black powder, due to its size, beside the problem of thick smoke it also created a powerful recoil that kept out of the preference of most shooters. One of the notable hunters that used the ten bore caliber was Frederick Courteney Selous against lions in Africa.
Bullet diameter: 19.5mm
Case length: 68mm (2 7/8)
Velocity (1-1/8 oz load): 1150 fps
10 bores are still being manufactured in Europe, Britain and Ireland. AYA Matadors, Zabalas, Ugartechea and their Side by Side clones are still available. So is the Rigby 10 bore, however the predominant commercial manufactures of these guns now lie in the USA with Browning USA (Winchester), Remington and a single barreled version from Harrington and Richardson.
History
In the late nineteenth century, The chamber of the gun was lengthened to 2 7/8" (2-5/8" being more common in the UK) in the early 1900's to allow the use of an increase shot capacity. This chamber length combined with new smokeless powders allowed the gun a shot load up to 1 3/4 oz, at a speed of 1250fps.
The development of the 3.5" chambered 10 bore of today was spearheaded by three men. John M. Olin, Head of Olin Chemical Corp and owner of the Winchester Repeating Arms Company saw the advantages of a 10 bore 3.5 inch cartridge that was capable of delivering 2+ ounces of shot at 1200+fps on larger migratory waterfowl. He oversaw the development of the gun and cartridge at Winchester-Western Arms. Contemporary 10 bore guns where not strong enough to withstand the pressures generated by the new nitro powders. To rectify this weakness, the gun barrel and action had to be "beefed up", but in so doing the weight of the gun increased to 10-12 pounds. This had two effects on the gun, one beneficial and one detrimental. The increase in weight helped to tame the increased recoil of the new cartridge, but led to a loss of popularity with the general public due to the heft of the weapon. As a result, it became more of a specialized hunting gun. The 12 bore replaced it as the most popular general-purpose gun fowling piece soon after.
The 10 bore found favor with specialist hunters, such as Captain Charles Askins, known as "Americas greatest shot," who preferred to use the 10 bore for "big bird" hunting. As a result of this and the considerable editorial praises of Elmer Keith, the editor of Outdoor Life, the America firearms company Ithaca made a 10 bore in a side by side configuration based upon the Ithaca Double. Only 1000 of these weapons where manufactured from 1932 until America manufacture was required for the war effort in 1942, and were known as the Ithaca Magnum Double. These guns now command a very high price tag.
The 10 bore largely fell out of favor from the 1940s to the early 1960s. The specialized nature of the new 10 lost ground with the general hunters in the USA, and the onset of World War II made time on the marsh a luxury. The post war recession meant that most hunters couldn't afford two guns, and many opted for the new 12 bore 3" magnum as a general purpose weapon. 10 bore sales diminished.
In the late 1960s goose populations increased and American hunters sought a larger shotgun with which to hunt them. In later years, legislation hunting gauges to 10 and under for migratory birds and the advent of non-toxic steel shot increased the appeal of the 10 bore, which can handle heavy steel much better than the smaller bore of a 12 bore.
With an increase demand of 10s, Ithaca introduced the Ithaca MAG-10 in the late 1970s. The shotgun was a 10 bore semi-automatic, and sold well. Other manufactures noted the reintroduction of this bore and in the early 1980s Browning released the BPS pump in 10 bore. This gun also sold well as it cost less than the MAG-10 (about half the price). Remington bought the production rights to the MAG-10 in the late 1980s and relaunched it under the name of the Special Purpose 10 in 1989. It is currently referred to as simply the SP-10. This gun is still in production. In the 1990s Browning launched the 10-bore Gold in semiautomatic. Browning used their alliance with Winchester to produce this gun and the 10 bore Gold resembles the Winchester 1400 XTR more than any Browning design.

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