.410 Infatuation at work

[M29since14]

I shoot 4 gauges in skeet. The .410 is a hoot to shoot. High game to date is a 24. I'll get that 25 this year! I also reload for all so ammo is not an issue.

Not a issue - until you've worn out all of your cases. Ask me how I know. Pretty soon, if something doesn't change, I'll have to set the .410 aside and shoot something else. .410 (and 28) target loads and empties have never been cheap. In new ammo, always been possible to shoot 12 and 20 factory loads for less, but the current .410 situation is nearly beyond belief.

 

[desi2358]

I like the .410, have owned several over the years. Good for small game and pests around the property mainly. If you learn its limitations it can do the job. My favorite is still a little Stevens 22/410 combo.

As to the ammo issue it seems like the manufacturers have been concentrating on the bigger gauges to the detriment of the .410 users. Everyone seems to be getting cases of 12, 20 and even 28 and 16 gauge but only small quantities of .410. Whether Big Box store (like walmart) or small shop no one seems to be large amounts of .410. And what they do get sells out quickly.

 

[GypsmJim]

410 slugs and buckshot are wienie( in velocity/accuracy and payload)compared to the bigger bores. To me these loads are "wannabe" and worthless.

The bolt .410 I spoke about earlier was reportedly used with slugs for deer hunting. My friend told me his Dad got a deer every year. Sorry I can't verify the claims.

 

[scooter123]

I shoot 4 gun Skeet and 70% of my Skeet Practice is with the 410. The recoil is nothing, it's the least expensive shot shell to reload and once you gain the skill for 410 it is huge fun to shoot. Below is a pic of my #1 410/28 gauge 2 barrel set. I have a second to provide a spare but need to get some pics because it's just a bit prettier than #1.

 

[reddogs]

I have friends that shoot 410s rabbit hunting with dogs.I consider them to be experts with #6 shot in a 410.A 410 with slugs or buck beats a sharp stick for people that can't handle a 12 or 20 gauge for home defence.

 

[fredcoyote]

Winchester 9410 Fun!

I've taken my Win. 9410 out dozens of times for quail and a few times for dove. Ridiculously fun and how many times do you get to shoot a lever action at game 20+ shots in a day. On quail i'm at about 50-60% success rate which is reasonable to me especially without dogs. Went out with a guy I just met for dove and he smirked when he saw my lever 410. He had a Browning O/U and said he didn't want to be out there all day meaning i'd be holding things up with my pea shooter. So after about an hour I had my limit and said "you ready to go?". He ate crow when he didn't have his limit but was kind of butthurt and we left. Never shot with him again!

Only issue I ever had was someone called the sheriff on me for shooting a rifle in a shotgun only area. He was waiting for me on the walk out. Showed him the 9410 and he thought it was the coolest thing he ever saw. The crew that called on me also ate crow as they were parked close by and saw the interaction.

Love the 410's!!!

Fight the Good Fight,

Fred

 

[Ivan the Butcher]

I own 5 pump. 6 SxS, 9 O/U and 3 combo shotguns (mostly 12's and 20's) but about 11 years ago A crash on my bicycle caused me to hang up the larger gauges. My 2 28's and 2 410 took me a year and a half to get up to large bore scores on Sporting Clays. In 2005 I bought a Browning 30" Feather XS in 28 and one in 410. I picked up a 725 about two years ago. I love these guns. The key to hitting anything with 410's is almost simple! Two things really, first: Practice. Second: Use one type of ammo! The different brands are so different in the velocity, you'll never get the hang of it! I Started with Winchester Super-X 3" (1135 fps) and had a little over 2000 shells I bought by the 10 box case and a MEC 600 Jr reloader. After a few years I went to Winchester AA Sporting @ 1300 fps. Honestly, I don't think one is better than the other, BUT they are very different. Don't groan when I say, I'm down to 6 1/2 flats of new shells. I have just about blown the ends off my 3500 2.5" HS hulls. The higher velocity shortens the life by about 50%! I am starting to see new production AA 410's but at $11.50 to $17.50 per 25/box!
At 800 to the 25-pound bag of shot and new Primer and Wad prices they are costing about $3.25 a box to reload. That is still the cheapest game in town!

One of my pleasant memories on the farm was in the cool of the evening walking out to the gardens a whole box of 410 would fit in a pants pocket. I could shoot pests out of the yard and garden without tearing up my shoulder or ears! (3" shells are subsonic).

After several years of exclusively shooting 410 & 28, a few Springs ago I joined a Sporting Clays League. 10 weeks/50 birds a week. I chose to use my wife's 20 gauge 391 Beretta. The first week I had a new personal best 45/50 (90%). For the 10 weeks my team came in first, personally I came in #3 and was the only non 12 gauge. I honestly believe if I had used my 410, I would have come in better overall! (Kind of hard to beat the Master Class shooters on longer shots, but smashing yourself with high recoil shells is counterproductive!)

My normal scores are 75 to 85% on the 12 gauge courses. If I go to a Tournament, I shoot Hunter Class (no prizes) and enjoy breaking birds the big boys miss! But then any day you go shooting is a good day!

Ivan

 

[jkmo]

I have a CZ Sharptail in 410 that I shoot at skeet most of the time. With an English style recoil pad it's a beauty. Also had some cast taken off as it was shooting a bit high. Currently have about 25 boxes of reloads on hand.

Also a 1973 870 in 410. No vent rib. It looks new. Gonna kill a spring gobbler with those 3 in tungsten #9 shot loads.

 

[Skeet 028]

The 410 has always been my fun gun....not my best skeet average gun...but fun. in the 60s I shot the M-42 in 410...in fact I had a 5 gun M-12/42 Skeet set 12,16,20 28 and the 410. I regularly shot good scores with the bigger guns...but the 42 was a killer. Oh I enjoyed the 16 back when you could buy good ammo. Best I ever shot the 42 in registered skeet was a 99. When we got done I was whipped. but happy. I shot 125 straight in practice...but no pressure. Then I got the Remington 11-48s...then the 1100s better all the time avg wise but no 100s in Reg with the 410. 4 gun sets the same. When I got into the tube sets it got serious. I could run an occasional 100 straight. It is possible. I got an 1100 D grade skeet gun and it was my dedicated field gun for doves and quail(in the field)...in the woods my M 12 20 ga pigeon. For wabbits and Skwerls I had an old Savage double. I gave it to a friends son when he turned 12...he got pretty good with the old double. I Killed 2 deer with 2 shots hunting a pine thicket in snow storms....close...under 50 ft. My first Canada Goose and one turkey. No the 410 bore isn't a large game gun...and not even a small game gun in the hands of new shooters...but for shooting game you don't wound...like clay targets it is a bunch of fun...and if you reload it is cheaper by far than other gauges...with 800 shells in a 25 lb bag of shot in the short shells.

 

[ggibson511960]

I have a thing for Citori Superlites, the straight stocked 20 in. bbl O/U's that are no longer made. I have one in each gauge, but my far and away favorite to play with is the .410. It punches well above its weight if ranges are kept short with appropriate size shot. No less a shotgun authority than Bob Brister has extensive pattern work to prove that a .410 has a larger pattern at 20 yards and under, maybe not as dense at 20 yds, but larger. This is due to the .410's large shot column to bore ratio which causes more upset with soft shot. Sounds bad, but at 10 to 15 yards this is what you want, especially for quail over dogs? This quirk of small gauges means that a thoughtful shooter uses smaller shot for smaller gauges to achieve pattern density. I load only #9 shot in .410 and don't really worry about anything over 25 yards.

 

[BC38]

I too had a little 22/410 O/U as a kid - got it for my 10th birthday.
Wish I still had it, but unfortunately it was stolen in 1976.

For all you 410 reloaders, I have a couple of hundred wads around here somewhere. Send me a PM if you're interested in them.

 

[Skeet 028]

This quirk of small gauges means that a thoughtful shooter uses smaller shot for smaller gauges to achieve pattern density. I load only #9 shot in .410 and don't really worry about anything over 25 yards.

.

That 25 yard figure is perfect for the 410. Keeping the yardage under that and paying attention will result in decent ratios for small birds ...even into pheasant. A half ounce of 6's inside 20 yards works on pheasant.... keeping it to those yardages will allow a fair shotgun pointer to get a limit of doves with a box of shells...a bird for every 2 shots is good...even with a 410...but with smaller shot I like 8 1/2s for doves,quail and skeet...Oh if you are reloading use high antimony magnum shot. I've even used nickle plated...but it IS expensive

 

[Nevada Ed]

When I was a teenager, my father let me join the "Adults" into the field, for my first ever Dove hunt, with a Winchester 42 pump and a single box of ammo.
I had a lot to learn about shooting doves on the wing and finally got smart and started sneaking up on them and shooting them out of the orchard's trees, to make the shells count.

A fun shotgun to use and with training and practice, a skilled shooter can
break 40 yard clays and on a good day break clays back at the 27 yard trap handicap line.

It is super fun for a fast swinging, light mount, for Skeet shooting or cotton tails or quail in the fields.

It should be on every shooters "Bucket list" to at least, try one time
at a trap club or a friends in the field, just to see what they are all about.

 

[Sub sailor]

When I was a little kid, my dad and my uncle would go rabbit hunting and my dad would borrow my uncle's SxS Ithaca .410. They let me go along but I had to carry the rabbits that they shot. Heck yeah! I think the most I ever had to carry was seven. The cool thing was that the Ithaca shotgun was the first gun that I ever got to shoot. As a result I have always had a soft spot for 410 shotguns!

 

[Buford57]

They have their place, which may vary depending on the user. My brother carries a Taurus Public Defender on his tractor for snakes. When arthritis left my mother unable to handle the trigger on a revolver she kept the Rossi version of a Snake Charmer loaded with the Winchester death frisbee load for home protection. But back to the OPs point, I'd pick something else for LE.

 

[Charlie Foxtrott]

My local guy has been in business for a long time.

He sells a lot of guns. He also has good times and times when business is slow. One day we were talking guns in general. He told me that there are two guns that will always sell fairly fast. .22 rimfires and .410s.

 

[Glenn R. McMannly]

Is you department considering using .410 shotguns for patrol?

KSG410 - KelTec

Holds 11 3" magnum shells. With the new Federal 5 pellet 000 it's the ballistic equivalent of getting hit with 5 9mms simultaneously.

In short, they are devastating.

Plus the .410 has minimal recoil so even the little ladies of the department can handle it. Wouldn't be a bad choice at all for duty.

With select slug drills your team could utilize Brennekes for anti-vehicular combat if needed.

-Glenn

 

[Countrycuz]

My wife wanted something for varmint control around the farm and HD when I was away. She didn't like any of my shotguns, to big, heavy, too much recoil. She picked up a youth Mossberg pump .410. First two are #4 buck, followed by three 000 buck. After seeing her shoot, I try hard not to make her mad