1067 - - Well I might offer a little insight on some aspects of your question. - - I have a newer Remington SP10 10 gauge auto. As you may know, Remington bought out the rights to the Ithaca Mag 10. But, they ended up redesigning their gun so parts aren't interchangeable. My Rem has a synthetic stock and 26" barrel and weighs in at 10 3/4 lb. - - The Ithaca Mag 10s that I have shouldered have all had the long barrels that you mentioned and wood stocks and they felt a lot heavier to me than the big Remington. The Rem has the advantage of choke tubes and ability to use steel shot. (Non toxic non-steel 10 gauge factory ammo gets real expensive, real fast - like $ 2 per pop, if youre a handloader this won't matter as much). For the hunting I do - -field hunting of big Canada geese from pop-up lay down blinds - - I usually use the modified tube. Running big steel shot down a tightly choked barrel is a no-no, especially so on guns designed before the days of steel waterfowl shot. If it were me, I'd talk to a knowledgeable smith about opening up the barrel on the gun. - As for recoil, I don't notice it too bad even though I'm often laying down and making overhead shots. Its usually in the middle of winter and I've got plenty of heavy camo clothing on. The SP10 (and I'd imagine its the same with the Mag10) are big heavy gas guns and that helps make recoil less noticeable too. - - As an aside I have several 10 gauge side-by-side shotguns, including a couple of Ithacas and I don't notice their kick when hunting either. Of course, I wouldn't want to let off both barrels at the same time or shoot a round of sporting clays with them in the summer while wearing a t-shirt either ! - - Not sure what kind of hunting youre planning to do - - I find the Big 10s perfect for goose hunting from fields. If duck hunting I'll go with a lighter weight 12 gauge in pump, auto, or double gun. - - Pricing that I saw for Ithaca Mag 10s ran from about $500-750. Of course it all depends on condition and grade of wood. Good luck & Good Hunting !, - - -

 

Does the gun have an "I" in the serial number. The "I" is for interchangable barrel.
Also my experience has shown me 3 types of MagTens.

1. That would shoot perfectly everytime
2. That would shoot good but would break parts
3. That would not hardly shoot three times without jams.

Hope you get a good shooter.

 

I just got back from a goose and crane hunt with my Mag 10. It had a few jams, but nothing really bad. I had not used it much lateley and found the 34 inch barrel was a pain to get started swinging or coming out of a blind or on my back. I have talked to the gunsmith mentioned on this forum about doing an upgrade on it. Others have mentioned having tubes installed by him. This would be the time to shorten that 34 inch barrel. Anyone have any thoughts on what length. I am not trying to make a general purpose gun out of it, just if it would be better shorter. I think of it as a pass shooter, but when birds decoy close it is a pain to get started moving.

 

Tulsey...I am thinking of doing the same with my 32" Mag10. I am pondering going to 28". My brothers 28" Rem SP10 swings REAL nice. It is very deadly on Geese at any shootable distance. We really don't need those extra 4" anyway...gus

 

I had the barrel of my Mag-10 shortened to 25" and had choke tubes installed. It works very well for my purpose which is much the same as you all, cranes and geese while field shooting. About 90% of the time I am laying flat on my back in the decoys so an easy handling gun is a necessity. I have IC, Mod, and full choke tubes but never have used the full, and seldom the Mod tube. If I were to do it again I would get IC, Lt Mod, and Mod as I think the first two would be best with large steel pellets and the Mod for tuning up on crows.
For a reliability improvement I strongly recommend the Mag-10 spring replacement kit from Wolff Springs. I had too frequent of jamming problems and changing all the springs solved it totally. I did this a decade ago and can't remember the last time I had a jam not related to lack of cleaning or field debris getting in the action. I've only averaged about 5-6 boxes per year in it for the last 4 years but prior it was much closer to 2 flats a season. I cost me $20 way back when and I would suspect it may be as much as $30 today. It was all simple to do and is something one should add to their maintainence procedure even if springs don't need replacing.

 

Good stuff, uglydog...Where did you get the barrel work done, and what did it set ya back? gus...

 

I had the barrel cut and threaded by a local gunsmith who has since retired. It was $120 back in the early 1990s and that included three choke tubes. Today it costs about $120 for the threads and tubes, maybe another $20 for cutting the barrel down. it's nice to see somethings get comparatively cheaper with time but I could have used the savings more back then than now.

 

I just wonder how do they cut it when the rib tapers down at the business end of the barrel...???Do they leave it alone and just teminate it where it is or what? That long barrel is getting longer as I get older....gus

 

The smith just cut the barrel at a post, actually a little in front, and filed down the sharp edges. I hae about 1/16" of barrel sticking out in in front of the post. This is pretty similar to what the factory has done in many other guns I have. At the time Truchoke was all that was available in for the 10 ga but now I have been told I could have gotten the threads the same as Remington or Browning. This would have made getting extra or replacement tubes much simpler.

 

Uglydog: That is very interesting on the type of choke tubes. I was only thinking truchoke since that is all I could do in old 1100 or 870 barrels because of their thickness. I will have to find out more on the Mag 10 barrel thickness and requirements for Browning or Rem-choke.