Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Ask The Gunwriters "Allure" of the .410

It's what we do!!! LOL

Well, that and the need to scatter shot all over the floor when you get out of sync.

I've owned (and still do) several MEC reloaders…..and the spilling of shot is definitely not the fault of the product.

I've taken several bucks with foster slugs in a smoothbore .410. Savage model 24. There was no doubt about the damage. Last buck was dead inside of 20 yards.

Feels good in the hand. Fun to look at. I prefer a 28 for hunting though.

Which is why I eventually sold all my .410's. The 28-gauge fills the same niche--low-recoiling, lightweight shotguns--with noticeably more versatility, especially at ranges over 25 yards. I hunt upland birds in both thick cover and wide-open country, often in the same day, and the 28 works better, because it patterns more evenly and, on passing shots, the shot doesn't arrive in a long string but a tight swarm.

While many consider the 410 a kids gun, I have learned it is more of a show offs gun.
Which might explain its allure .

I grew up in East Texas. .410's were "squirrel guns" for a lot of "old timers", and .410's shooting slugs were what armed a lot of youngsters on deer stands. The only thing I've ever owned and used that shot .410 ammo was a Contender .45/410.

Mike Holmes

One of the founding principles of teaching a skill, for Kids or adults, is you start with easily accomplished goals and give them the tools to learn and succeed. When it comes to shotguns, a .410 is not the first tool to place in their hands.

I’ll throw targets for you two at 25 yards, and you use the .410 shotguns mentioned. It would be interesting to see exactly what you learned. Now you don’t get to sneak up on them. You don’t get to shoot them sitting in the box.

The fact you can kill a Deer with a .410, has little to do with giving a novice the best tool for success, when you start them on the path of becoming an accomplished Deer hunter.

A .410 is very handy around the farm. I've killed many things over the years with them. Most animals you only need a few pellets to do the trick. #4 is #4 whether it comes from a 12ga or a .410. I've got two .410s and would never part with them, although I'd like to add a nice O/U in 28ga for bird hunting.

Yep, folks are pretty impressed when I use one on an armadillo or skunk out the back door. Sometimes I even open the screen first.
I did start out as a kid with a .410. If I remember right, it was the first gun I ever had. It was also my Dads first gun. My grandparents paid me a bounty on every rabbit I shot out of the garden and every snake around the hen house. Made enough to keep buying shells. As a kid growing up on a farm in a target rich environment, it was safer than a 22 and probably more effective. But, I was pretty much a show off even as a snot nosed kid, so I guess it fit. Spent much of my other shooting with my grandpa's 12ga and a bunch of 16ga slugs. The slugs would fire, but with a lot of gas escaping so the slug was slow enough to see, like a fast BB gun. Have to use a rod to knock out the split shell after each shot. The good ole days of unsupervised kids and guns.

I've a couple or three over the years. Never hunted with any of them, preferring the 20ga for wingshooting and a 22 for wabbits.

Always easy to flip/sell.

A lot of people on here have use for the 410 I see. I have yet to hear anything that wouldn't be handled as well or better by a 28 gauge though.

Most people on here had use....

I bought a cheap yildiz 410 for my 7 year old, cut the stock down and put on a limbsaver. It's a lot of fun, even let him try hitting clays with it. Wish shells were cheaper. Good buddy bought the 28ga ou yildiz from academy, he's put over 2000 rounds through it without a hiccup. He uses it on everything other than ducks.

Never said that a .410 was the best shotgun..... said that I believed that learning to hunt while having to use a .410 me a better hunter.

If you want to wear your arm out throwing targets at 25 yds, that's your business. I'll shoot as long as you'll throw.

I agree that the .410 is not the best tool for successful deer hunting. I can think of a lot of guns that would be better..... what would you suggest you give to a 10 yr old? 1 gun to hunt deer, squirrels, doves, and quail. Kinda puts a different perspective on it, doesn't it? Especially when you have to buy your own shells. I think Dad knew what he was doing..... cheapest shotgun shells, learn to shoot, learn to hunt, one shot, no bang-bang-bang!

As mentioned, disagree on the learning and it making you a better hunter.

It wouldn't take long before the misses would have you quitting.

My perspective doesn't change, in that for a one gun battery I would come up with something other than the .410. Dad started me with and old SxS 12Ga something that reliably worked and a German 98 8mm, that he worked out a stock for. Got two bangs max out of the shotgun and 3 or 4 out of the 98. We didn't sneak up on much other than Squirrels. Rabbits were taken on the run and Pheasants on the fly-who would have thunk, that could be any kind of learning curve - behind a neighbors pack of Beagles. Deer were everywhere at the time and the 98 was an excellent option for sneaking up on them. Although the truth was it wasn't all that hard, because practice was easy, repetitive and frequently successful. All three being basic to learning.

To answer your question: A beater Ithaca 37 16gauge.

I was told along time ago that the 410 was for expert shooters and tend to believe it. My ex BIL was one of the best shooting son of a gun with a shotgun. He'd take his 410 and put many a hunter to shame when we'd go hunting and they'd make fun of his pea shooter!

If one has a good reloader, he can make 3/4 OZ loads for the 20 Ga and my loading manual also shows 5/8 OZ loads at 1,200 PFS....this makes for some low recoil loads for youngsters learning to shoot.....that said, I believe hearing protection is even more helpful in learning to shoot than low recoil. The even better thing about the 20 gas is it's ability to handle up to 1.25 OZ loads in 3" chamberings. If there is such a thing as a "Kids" gun, it's the 20 Ga....so where does the .410 fit in?....to me it's weight and some youngsters are better served with that feature than fire power.

Yes, I know there are some very lightweight 20s but the .410 just seems to handle better and is even lighter if you want to pay for that feature. 410 ammo is more easily found than 28 ga ammo as well....most places that sell ammo have a few boxes of 410 on the shelf.....both 2 1/2 " and 3".

I have started a couple youngsters with a Mossberg 500 pump youth model in 410 and both eventually graduated to the 20 as they grew out of the youth dimension stocks.....I really don't believe it was a mistake.