Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Hunter's Campfire what can you do with a 410

My 2 cents: Skip the .410 and get a 28 gauge instead. It has all of the advantges of the .410 and none of the disadvantages. And you can get 1.0 ounce factory loads. For that matter, any kid 12 years old can shoot a 20 gauge with 7/8 ounce or more of shot.

Carpenter bees!

You can do anything you want with a .410 but doesnt mean you will get it done thou. First high powered gun was a .410 that was my grandmas. An old single stevens. Shot my first pheasant with it at 12 years old. fun gun.

Would .410 slugs kill a deer?

Thanks oldman03!
It won't be because I didn't try! LOL!

After the .410, then comes the Rem "Sportsman" 16 gauge I rescued from a pawn shop for next to nothing. It shoots great on the shoulder. It was choked IC. It's been to Briley and now sports three choke tubes! 😃

How's the thunder chicken hunting in your area?

Brenneke slugs at 50 yards, Skeet tube (note the little rifling marks)





Federal TSS #9 at 40 yards with the Henry Turkey tube. Henry’s .410 tubes are made by Briley, come in a Briley tube. The Apex 9.5s do a bit better in my gun.

I killed 9 doves with 15 shots.with a.410 on my first dove hunt with a gun at 9 years old. A new haven bolt action 410 with a screw on full choke.

I carry a Rem 870 in .410 on my side by side while moose hunting. Don't know how many spruce hens and ruffed grouse I've taken with it. Great little shotgun for what I need. Had it done in black-t several years ago so worrying about rust is not an issue.

Simple answer, yes.

Mine wasn't a long shot, about 40 yards. The deer traveled about 100 yards before he dumped over.

Not by any means a good deer gun but when you are 12 and poor, it worked.

WS

Shells will be expense - get a 20 Gauge if you want a light gun.

It’s still a cool double to have, but it’s not really a cost effective meat gun.

114lb Halibut

I have a H&R single shot .410 and it's one and only job is as a truck gun for sluicing forest grouse.... AKA fool hens.... it is perfect for that job

I shot my first deer with a .410 with a slug with a Stevens single shot when I was 10 years old.

I was an early teen, and rode to a clay shoot with a friend. We had not intended to go there, but were driving past and his Dad was shooting, so we stopped. I didn't have a shotgun along, plus very little experience shooting one at moving objects. My friend did have a 12 gauge in his trunk.

The Dad insisted I shoot, and loaned me his fancy over and under 12 gauge. Then he pulled an old .410 from his trunk to shoot with us. He busted 24 out of 25 with that .410
I hit about 15 with his 12 gauge.

That taught me, it is more the man behind the gun, than the gun itself! .410's have their limits, but a good man can kill stuff with one.

It's not that complicated. A 410 has half the shot load of a low brass 12ga. A tight choked 410 will put as much shot on target as an open choked 12ga.

If you can hit the target

First Pheasant I ever killed was with one when I was a kid.

Yes they do

It’s pretty economical to load. I’ve shot a ton of 410 loads skeet shooting.

What can you do with a 410?

Be humbled. I bought my first 410 at 60. A Beretta 686 SP1. Sweet little gun. Shot a round of skeet today. Shot an 11. At least I made double digits. Barely. Usually shoot 20-23 with 12, 20 and 28 gauge. Sometimes when the planets are aligned correctly I shoot a 25.

I had to shoot the splatter plate to make sure the gun was shooting where I was looking. It was. Apparently when the targets are in the air I don’t look in the right place. There’s an awful lot of room around those silly birds.