How Effective is the 410
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smitret
Member
.410?
Grew up using a bolt action tube fed .410.
Inside 20 yards any game you took with a 20ga can be taken with a .410.
I shot a rising Mallard at 20yds with 3in #6s, it was DOA.
Pick your shots and enjoy.
Mossberg 500K or Remington 870 are available.
Remington made an 1100 semi also.
Get one, I think you'll be pleased.
Good Luck
Grew up using a bolt action tube fed .410.
Inside 20 yards any game you took with a 20ga can be taken with a .410.
I shot a rising Mallard at 20yds with 3in #6s, it was DOA.
Pick your shots and enjoy.
Mossberg 500K or Remington 870 are available.
Remington made an 1100 semi also.
Get one, I think you'll be pleased.
Good Luck
Faulkner
Member
I had a Winchester single shot that I hunted with when I was a kid. Later, I purchased a .410 side by side double barrel and it's become my favorite hunting and pest control firearm. I've successfully brought home meat from hunting doves, quail, cottontail and swamp rabbits, squirrells, and even took a whitetail deer using a 3 inch slug.
For varmit control I've taken several coyotes near the hen house, skunks, coons, 'possums, armadillos, crows, and a few ferel cats. I had a problem with barn swallows once and used the .410 on them, but they are hard to hit.
I use 3 inch shells exclusively.
For varmit control I've taken several coyotes near the hen house, skunks, coons, 'possums, armadillos, crows, and a few ferel cats. I had a problem with barn swallows once and used the .410 on them, but they are hard to hit.
I use 3 inch shells exclusively.
straightshooter1
US Veteran
The 410 is a great little gun. I have had several. The one I have kept is a Winchester Model 42 with an original vent rib.
The 410 will take small game, birds at fairly close range and is a great gun for skeet AFTER the shooter has at least some familiarity with larger gauges.
A mistake many parents/grandparents make is starting their little darling with a 410 on skeet or trap. A starting gun for those sports is why God made the 20 gauge. But, that's another story.
The problem with the 410 is the cost of ammo, so most really serious 410 shooters reload.
Cost of ammo aside, it is a great little gun. The operative word, however, is little.
Bob
The 410 will take small game, birds at fairly close range and is a great gun for skeet AFTER the shooter has at least some familiarity with larger gauges.
A mistake many parents/grandparents make is starting their little darling with a 410 on skeet or trap. A starting gun for those sports is why God made the 20 gauge. But, that's another story.
The problem with the 410 is the cost of ammo, so most really serious 410 shooters reload.
Cost of ammo aside, it is a great little gun. The operative word, however, is little.
Bob
Aticus
Member
Something to remember about shotguns: the shot charge comes out of the barrel at the same velocity whether 12 ga. or 410 bore. The only real difference is the amount of shot that comes out. It's harder to hit with a 410 but the payload will do the same damage. Like an old man once said "put the shot on the target and it will do the job."
Pellets come out of a 410 at the same velocity as any other gauge shotgun. On average,,1200fps is right about what most target and game loads are loaded at. Some more,,some a bit less.
The hunter depends on multiple pellet strikes to do the damage on game & the 410 just has a lot less pellets per/shot.
Yes there are those 'Golden BB' hits once in a while that bring down the game with a lucky one pellet perfect placement strike. But that's not what the idea behind a shotgun was to begin with.
410 loads with a 1/2oz of shot in the 2 1/2" shells and 5/8oz loads & perhaps some 3/4oz(?) loads in the 3" shell are all you are going to be able to throw out there.
Target shooters have a slight advantage in using small #9 & #8 shot for a dense (as possible) pattern with so little volume shot.
Hunters using larger shot sizes are at a distinct disadvantage with a pellet count getting very low with those larger sizes.
The resulting thin patterns limit range and the number of possible hits.
Most 410's are choked (very) Full to try and get extra range and pattern density. A mistake I think as it very often results in poor patterns in the 410.
A Mod or even IC choked 410, and keeping the ranges with in reason will do everything any other gauge will do remembering that the velocity is the same,,just less pellets in that pattern.
But within the shorter ranges,,say 30yards and in (depending on choke of course) a suitably dense and even pattern can be had with a 410 with the proper load.
It takes practice, restraint on the part of the hunter at times and knowing your equipment.
They are great shotguns that anyone can shoot and enjoy without fear of recoil, noise, ect.
Reloading will knock the cost of factory loads down considerably I think off the shelf stuff is around $10/$12 box now. I reload it (2 1/2" shell) for around $3.50/box.
The hunter depends on multiple pellet strikes to do the damage on game & the 410 just has a lot less pellets per/shot.
Yes there are those 'Golden BB' hits once in a while that bring down the game with a lucky one pellet perfect placement strike. But that's not what the idea behind a shotgun was to begin with.
410 loads with a 1/2oz of shot in the 2 1/2" shells and 5/8oz loads & perhaps some 3/4oz(?) loads in the 3" shell are all you are going to be able to throw out there.
Target shooters have a slight advantage in using small #9 & #8 shot for a dense (as possible) pattern with so little volume shot.
Hunters using larger shot sizes are at a distinct disadvantage with a pellet count getting very low with those larger sizes.
The resulting thin patterns limit range and the number of possible hits.
Most 410's are choked (very) Full to try and get extra range and pattern density. A mistake I think as it very often results in poor patterns in the 410.
A Mod or even IC choked 410, and keeping the ranges with in reason will do everything any other gauge will do remembering that the velocity is the same,,just less pellets in that pattern.
But within the shorter ranges,,say 30yards and in (depending on choke of course) a suitably dense and even pattern can be had with a 410 with the proper load.
It takes practice, restraint on the part of the hunter at times and knowing your equipment.
They are great shotguns that anyone can shoot and enjoy without fear of recoil, noise, ect.
Reloading will knock the cost of factory loads down considerably I think off the shelf stuff is around $10/$12 box now. I reload it (2 1/2" shell) for around $3.50/box.
A .410 is an experts gun. It is not a beginners gun. You have to know the gun and your limitations. I feel sorry for kids when I see them on the skeet field or game field with a .410 knowing that only the best shots can hit with one. Larry
dan01
Member
I had the misfortune of seeing a single 410 round of #6 shot hit a man in the gut from about ten feet..........A 6'' hole all the way thru....I guess they are good for something.
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Used to hunt rabbits with an over and under 410/22lr. Worked good. Wouldn't use one for self defense.
Savage 24 ?
My very first gun but with a 22 mag above the 410.
I own four at the moment ,wait I think I have five now
My very first gun but with a 22 mag above the 410.
I own four at the moment ,wait I think I have five now
Savage 24 ?
My very first gun but with a 22 mag above the 410.
I own four at the moment ,wait I think I have five now
I think so. My gramps passed it to my dad and dear ole dad hasn't passed it to me yet.
It's a neat little shotgun caliber (not gauge). I agree that many Fathers buy their young sons one because of recoil. This, in my opinion, is a mistake. They get frustrated when they can't hit very well with it, and wound a lot of game. I started out with a 20 gauge side by side at 11 years old, and never had a problem.
When I was 14 my Dad gave me a PERFECT M42 Winchester for Christmas. That was in 1979, and he paid $150 for it. It's worth about $2000 today, although I'll never part with it. 20 or so years ago I shot a rabbit with it, but never really took it out hunting very often. About 5 years ago I took it pheasant hunting. Crossed into a slough and a big rooster jumped behind me. I swung, led him perfectly and brought him down stone dead in a cloud of feathers.
It was of course a 3" shell, loaded with #6 shot. I thought of my late Father immediately, and silently thanked him for that long ago Christmas gift.
The .410 is an expert's gun. At proper ranges, with proper loads it can be very effective. And a heck of a lot of fun.
Jim
When I was 14 my Dad gave me a PERFECT M42 Winchester for Christmas. That was in 1979, and he paid $150 for it. It's worth about $2000 today, although I'll never part with it. 20 or so years ago I shot a rabbit with it, but never really took it out hunting very often. About 5 years ago I took it pheasant hunting. Crossed into a slough and a big rooster jumped behind me. I swung, led him perfectly and brought him down stone dead in a cloud of feathers.
It was of course a 3" shell, loaded with #6 shot. I thought of my late Father immediately, and silently thanked him for that long ago Christmas gift.The .410 is an expert's gun. At proper ranges, with proper loads it can be very effective. And a heck of a lot of fun.
Jim
The folks above have already posted my thinking on the .410. It does at 20-25 yards basically what the other gauges do at 35-45 yards. I like it better than anything else for skeet shooting, but I do not consider it a gun I want to use for any type of bird hunting. It is a lot of fun for shooting running rats.
Savage 24 ?
My very first gun but with a 22 mag above the 410.
I own four at the moment ,wait I think I have five now
Mine is a bit older. My granddaddy bought a Stevens .22 LR/.410 with the Tenite stock around 1939. He used it to keep the bunnies out of his garden.
It was my first huntin' gun. It will definitely kill a squirrel or rabbit.
I remember hitting the second clay with the bolt action 410 was a bit of a challenge.
It could also be used on WT Deer with slugs, but some may disagree on that. I think I'd rather take my hi-point 9mm hunting than the old 410 again, because better shot placement would trump the power advantage of the smooth bore single pin 410....but then again I have reached out surprisingly far with smooth bore slugs and single pin sights against inanimate targets.
Really, its a squirrel gun.
It could also be used on WT Deer with slugs, but some may disagree on that. I think I'd rather take my hi-point 9mm hunting than the old 410 again, because better shot placement would trump the power advantage of the smooth bore single pin 410....but then again I have reached out surprisingly far with smooth bore slugs and single pin sights against inanimate targets.
Really, its a squirrel gun.
I grew up shooting everything with a 410. Winter ducks could take a hit with it at 30 yards but they would go down.
I pass shot pigeons with my 410 and many shots were in the 40 yard range and I either nailed them or missed them. The pattern wasn't very big even at that range.
Love the 410.
John
I pass shot pigeons with my 410 and many shots were in the 40 yard range and I either nailed them or missed them. The pattern wasn't very big even at that range.
Love the 410.
John
mc5aw
Member
Got one when I was 10, and that started me in firearms. Hunted squirrels and birds with no problem. Tried raccoons with slugs, and had to hit 'em right. One raccoon took five slugs and was still walking down the tree when the sixth slug finally put his lights out for good. The .410 has its place, but there's always other options. And don't forget, the Governor accepts .410s.
jlrhiner
US Veteran
My very first very own gun was my 10th Christmas present. A double .410.
As others have said, it's an experts gun. Now you really want to have fun and spend money, get a 28 gauge.
As others have said, it's an experts gun. Now you really want to have fun and spend money, get a 28 gauge.
The 28 is a pretty serious shotgun. After using the .410 once on doves, I made up my mind I would not use it for any kind of bird hunting/shooting again, and that I would start off my kids with a bigger gun. They both started shooting with a used Beretta 391 Youth model (20 ga) shotgun, which worked very well. I obtained a second stock, cut it even shorter than the standard factory stock, and loaded 3/4-ounce shells that probably weren't going 1000 FPS. That made the Beretta a single-shot. Both kids worked their way through that gun and both lengths of stocks with good results. When they were done, I sold it so another family could get some good out of it. It was a great little gun for beginning shotgunners.
