Home Forums Birds & Dogs Upland Game Dun a Dumb Thing Again @!!!!

Looking for some quick pointers here. And no, not your English Pointers! I am often accused, and rightfully so, of being a bit of a shotgun fool. Always wanting something new, a new gage, a differing action or stock etc. <P> Anyways, I have always, (at least since my first shotgun, a short stocked Fox.410 single shot) wanted another .410 wingshooting tool.<P>For years I lusted for a little .410 semi-auto, then it turned to a .410SxS, and now finally it actually happened, I bought a .410, but it's a .410 O/U.<P>I was intending to use it on Grouse in the woods, maybe some quail, if we can ever find them again, and possibly for poulty practice hunts. <P>Do any of you out here have some experience hunting with the .410s, what do you shoot in them, what loads do you not like, or have had less than good results with? What are your prefered loads etc ?<P>I am going out tomorrow to do some practice shooting & grouse scouting and I would like to play with the new toy. Any helpful hintings??<P>THx<BR>Scott

Here is a tip! Practice, practice, practice! They can hit just as hard as a bigger guage, but you put less lead in the zone, so you've got to hit them square! Nothing wrong with a NEED to get to the range, now is there?

What do you mean a "dumb" thing. I started shooting quail, at age 12, with a Win. M 42 .410. Killed a double with it on my first try. That was after firing 23 rds. with my grandmother Browning 20, for one bird. I went on to kill all sorts of critters with it, including a Band Tail Pigeon. That was back in the days of paper shells. My brother, shooting 16 yd. trap for his first time, broke 11 birds with that same gun, using modern ammo. Have fun, E

A .410 is not a dum thing maybe foolish and gives the game a better chance but withpop.what they are what the heck.Like Irvingdog said practice is the key a >410 throws a much longer shotstring than a 20 or 12 so you have to learn to compensate in your lead.Personally I use 2 1/2 in shells with 1/2 oz shot pushing 1200 fps but each gun has its own favorite load try several and see what patterns best in your gun.

The problem with a .410 is its diameter, which creates a very poor patterning ability and, that, coupled with the inability to hold much shot is why it is not a good game guage. To use one for game you need to be an excellent shot and have the ability not to shoot when the bird is too far, which is very often with a .410. It is absolutely maxed out at anything over 30 yards and that is pushing it. Doves, and maybe quail, with 6s are the only exception since one 6 will usually put a dove on the ground unless it is right in his tail. It is a terrible crippler when used on larger birds in the hands of anyone who is not truly skilled in its use.<P>That said, I have seen some incredible shots made in the dove field with a .410. Almost every serious .410 shooter I know uses 3 inch 6s, unless he is going to be hunting quail or similar on a put and take operation.<BR>As someone else said above, if you are not an already accomplished shot, you need to practice, practice, practice. If you are and you are going to use a .410 you can delete one practice from the above list. LOL

The .410 takes an expert shot to be effective ? It's a terrible crippler ? It does have some problems with shot deformation. Pattern your gun. Use it in it's range limitations. My experience is that #7 1/2 shot works best, not 6's. But inside it's pattern density range, it's just like any other shot charge. Particularly when your shooting in heavy cover, it works fine. E

Ok, I've shot many thousand rounds of .410 on game, up to and including ducks and geese, but not many of the latter, just did it to prove it was doable, when lead was legal, and I stand by every word I said. If you think it is just the same as any other gauge within it's range, why don't we just go out to any skeet range, and starting with a low gun, and I mean a field style low gun, not sporting clays rules, let's say at least some portion of the butt below the normal belt position, I'll shoot a 12, with standard skeet loads or standard trap loads with 7 1/2s if you want to shoot the same shot size, and you shoot a .410, your choice of shells, for a few hundred targets and, not only will we count broken targets, but we will have some independent person verify if the target is hit hard or just chipped or barely broken. If chipped or barely broken, it counts as a lost bird, since that would almost certainly be the result in the field. And, unless you are an extremely slow shooter, which takes you out for the .410 anyway, no shot on a skeet range is farther than 25 yards. And, I would suggest from lots of field observations that very, very, very few shotgun shooters will restrict himself to 25 yard targets or less. If you really want to shoot game at reasonable, but still short, ranges with a small gauge and not cripple a lot of birds then go to a 28, but that is not the topic of this thread.