Home Forums Birds & Dogs Upland Game The 410 is crap

I will most likely get flamed to no end but I own one and I just hate it.The 3th worst piece of hunting advice I ever accepted.What's it good for.Slug's from a 410 just flat out sucks and bird shot is no better.Sorry for the rant just looking at that shotgun tick's me off.

I forgot it's rated as a caliber.

My daughters first shotgun was a H&R Pardner youth.
But it was a 28gauge with a 22" Modified choke and straight-grip stock designed for youths length-of-pull.
That was 1994 for her 6th birthday!
Since then we've put on a full size buttstock for her but it is her first gun and she said it will never be sold by her!
She has taken grouse,rabbit,quail,pheasant,doves and with Bismuth shells she has shot teal and wood-ducks.
That little single has road many of hunting trips for her but now she seems to always reach for that Stoeger Uplander SxS 28gauge that she bought on her 18th birthday!
That was her first act as a adult she told us all at her birthday dinner that evening,the next was to head over to Walker,Mn the next day and buy herself a Marlin 1894CS in 38/357 so she has something proper for calling varmints up close and to have for when she ever(??????) does move into her own place,when she is done with college.

I shoot a Franchi 48 in 28gauge as does my father.
My wife shoots a Browning Citori Lightning 28gauge.
We do not own a 410caliber shotgun in either house.

That 3/4oz at 1300fps works great on upland critters out at 35yards as well any.
Mike

love the dbl barrel 410 for jack rabbits in the tall sage brush.

too much fun

Ok, I admit to liking a 410 for squirrel out here in the tall pines. But for birds? 28 gauge and up. My daughters, one a junior in HS. and the other a college soph, have been shooting 20 gauge's since they were in grade school. Light loads when they were young, now regular loads. The wife and I shoot 12's. Except for the furry rodents....

No, you're pretty much right.

Makes a great gun for gophers in the garden. Or squirrels in trees.

Separates the men from the boys on the skeet field.

Lets kids shoot a grouse on the ground without going home crying.

But for wingshooting game? Leave it at home.

My favorite gun for quail in the West Texas sticker thickets is my Winchester Model 42. It ain't crap. It'll run with the big dogs. Some days I shoot kinda crappy, but I'm capable of that with a 12 gauge too.

What do I tell my friends who kill their limit of quail with the .410, or shoot a half dozen rabbits on the run in a morning?

The .410 shoots like a rifle. It will help you sharpen your aim. Use it on clays and then watch the improvement with your 20s and 12s.

I agree Lee. I picked up a Golden Eagle .410 O/U last year. It did great on early season doves. I probably would have had to quit shooting earlier in the day with a 12 or 20, but I would not have had as much fun. I hope to try it on quail this fall and give the 28 ga. a rest.

I switch between a Winchester 101 in .410, and a Browning BSS 20 gauge, depending on which way I prefer my barrels stacked that day. There are times a prefer a .410 - if you have ever centered a ruffed at close range with a twenty, it isn't pretty.
I also like to shoot the odd round of trap with the .410. I typically run about 20 with it (which is less than what I shoot with my BT-99), but it sure sharpens you up in a hurry.

What brand is your 410? Do you want to sell it?...........<img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/confused.gif" alt="" />

It's a Winchester model 9410 traditional .No because I like to collect.Even if I think the 410 is useless

Years ago I had an opportunity to go on a quail hunt with an old gentleman along the Savannah river in South Carolina. We were hunting his land with his dogs and his gun was a Winchester Model 42. To make a long story short, I watched him shoot five birds with five shots on a covey rise. He put the gun up and said he was done for the day. I can't do it, but I have seen it done.

Also had a H&R break open single shot.Gave it to a family member.

I only like the .410 for nostalgic reasons. I shot my first pheasant as a young boy with the family .410. I will always remember that day! I inherited the gun from my Dad, but don't ever shoot it anymore. My daughter shot her first clay pigeon with it.
Who knows, maybe someday a grand kid will use it as his/her first as well.
Wayne

In my younger years I could get a limit of dove with less than a box of shells with my dads Mossberg 410 bolt action. Then on Christmas 77" recieved S&W 1000 semi auto in 12 gauge. Never was the same (bolt action) thing after that. Know almost 30 years later I have re-discovered the 410 shotgun. Nothing beats the low recoil of that little devil and as for honing your skills wingshooting there is nothing better.

I've never owned a .410 and never will. I read an article that went into the physics of it and I don't see a need. Just too feeble.

Mark

p.s. I would love a sxs 28 with a straight english stock.

My cousin tom and I got three geese one morning with a single shot bolt action 410 and some fast running to catch the cripples. I dont know if my brothers sold that gun or if it is in my mom's attic now.

I bought my son a 28 Ruger Red Label - a great kids gun - still though I have a 24" 410 barrel for my T/C Carbine because they are the 22RF of shotguns.

Look at those CZ SxS shotguns in 28 and .410, under $900.00.
The Ruger 28 Red Label is a nice light gun.
So is the Weatherby Orion in 28.

Never used the .410, as I started out on a Stevens crack barrel 20.....kicked worse than most of my big bores. Now I like an 11/16 load in an old short 16 shell, in a 5 1/2 pound double. BUT I have been next to a guy at a dove shoot who went better than 50% kills with an old model 42, while I was struggling to get a limit on two boxes of 20s from an A5. And I've seen some might fancy quail shooting done with .410s. Just not by me. <img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/grin.gif" alt="" />

I shot a .410 as a kid and later I got a 20 just like the one you mention. It is my belief that if you endured the recoil of that little monster as a child, you have nothing to ever fear from recoil again.