Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Small Game .410 loads/shot size best to use?

If you use a .410 for upland and/or small game, what do you think is the optimal shot size and load? Also, what is your usual intended quarry?

To expand upon this, maybe choke should be discussed as well, however, I have two .410’s and both are Full choke.

This will be the first fall I get to take them out hunting. Luckily Ive picked up a variety of loads and Im setup to reload as well. Im curious ro see what others have found useful.

Thanks for any/all input!

8 is what you want for all around hunting…

My primary use for the .410 is squirrels. I use 5's or 6's in a full choke single shot, Savage 24 .22LR/.410 and 10" Contender. My 1100 is choked modified and I'm trying to talk myself into carrying it on a dove shoot. If I do, I'll be shooting 7 1/2's.

Squirrels and rabbits, 3" #6 shot. Doves would get 3" #8 or 7.5 shot.

Back when the woodcock season opened on Sept 1 I carried a 410 Citori with Mod/Full chokes and handloaded 11/16 oz of #8 in a 3" hull. When ruffed grouse opened roughly 2 weeks later I would switch to 7 1/2 shot for maybe a week when the leaves began to fall.

For the occasional rabbit or squirrel I would use the above lobe but with #6 shot. I tried 4s and 5s but had very inconsistent result with them. I suspect it was the low pellet count as 6 shot worked much better. I now use the larger shot on pests in the garden as I can usually get closer to them.

I've been very satisfied with mod/full for my use. There are so few pellets coupled with no cushioning section under the shot, short shot cup, and long shot string that there isn't much difference in the chokes. No matter what, 25 yards is pushing it for effective range.

I have an Iver Johnson single shot as well as a 410 barrel for one of my Savage 1899 takedowns. The IJ can take 3" hulls while the 1899 is limited to 2.5". I've shot a lot of critters with the IJ when I was young but only pests for the last few decades. The 1899 has only been used on English sparrows so far.

^ This is how I do it too.

Turkey also get #6 in 3" with a neck/head shot. Preferably within 20 or maybe 25 yards.

And before anyone starts squawking about not using a 410 for turkey, they'll kill anything just as dead as anything else within their usable range. The only thing you have to keep in mind with using a 410 is they have fewer pellets, so it helps if you can get closer to your intended target.

It's just the fewer pellets where many people have trouble with and learning what distance you need to be before pulling the trigger.

I learned how to hunt with a 410. And I also taught my 3 sons how to hunt with a 410 as well when they were old enough to keep the muzzles pointed in the right directions. My youngest got a nice turkey at the ripe old age of 7 years old with a 2-1/2" #6 shot at 20 yards. I know it can be done. It was a single bang/flop with the same gun his older brothers got their first squirrels and rabbits with.

I will also like to add, if you have a new gun, get a piece of poster board and actually pattern the gun to not only see where to hold the bead, but also how it likes (or dislikes certain shells). Some guns just don't like certain loads. That's why you need to actually pattern them. Start at 15 or 20 yards and shoot and see how it's doing, change the poster board and step back 10 more yards and shoot again and compare. Eventually, you'll find where the limitations of that gun/shell are so you know what your usable range is. Do this with every brand and shot size shell you have so you can see what it likes the best. The gun will tell you what it likes and what it doesn't.

#8 is too light for squirrel, leesun you like picking a [bleep] load of shot out of your squirrels. It will kill them. But it leaves a lot of holes and lot of shot in the meat.

I don't hunt with a .410. Smallest I hunt with is a 20 guage. Last season I tried #5s and they did very well and mostly shot through. In 12 gauge, I like #4, 5 or 6.

I like #6 or 71/2 for grouse and rabbits. I have taken several turkeys with #6. Like mentioned earlier, in range the 410 is just as effective as any other shotgun.

I've had the best luck with #6 shot for squirrel and rabbits.

Me too & also like 7 1/2’s

For furry small game--rabbits or squirrels--I like 4s or 5s mainly because a few hits will kill either animal (ONE can kill a cottontail!) and the larger shot are easier to find in the animal because they drag a wad of fur along with them and are extra visible. Finding ALL the shot is important unless you like dentists and dental bills....

But if you are hunting mixed upland game--furred and feathered--you need a better pattern for the bigger flyers. I use 3" 8s or 7 1/2s, and I don't shoot at pheasants. When phez are likely in the mix I bring a bigger shotgun. I know guys who can drop a phez at 35 yards with a .410 every time. Most of us can't.

I would also consider getting your "working".410 threaded for choke tubes. For me, the standard full choke isn't the best choice. In fact my normal choice for California quail and cottontails is a Skeet-tube choked Remington 870 with 3" chamber. When I'm out of the chaparral, I often change to a Modified tube, but in the tight brush, less choke is better, in my experience.

If you're a .410 nut, don't forget slugs and buckshot, especially if you have a Savage Model 24 combo, or a Contender. You might be very surprised how accurate and powerful a .410 slug can be out of a smoothbore barrel topped with sights!

I like 3 inch 6's or 7 1/2's for shooting things with fur, preferably 6's. I keep some 2 1/2 inch 8's around for short range use.