bamaranger
New member
growing up
Ease/difficulty of hitting with a .410 depends a lot on what you are shooting at, in other words, to what use are you applying the tiny shotgun?
Claybird shooting, a dove field, quail and so on would indeed be a challenge. The tiny .410 throws just too small and thin a pattern to make it a practical wingshooting gun. There are a lot of folks who use the .410 for a lot less challenging targets, namely rabbits and squirrels. Rolling a squirrel posed on a limb, or a bunny easing along at 20 yds or so ahead of a slow beagle, is well within the capability of the .410 and the average shooter. You'll hear some folks say they only hunt squirrels with the .22, or a bigger gauge shotgun as the squirrels get running across the tree tops, and that's true. But the .410 will work on furry small game, as long as you don't ask too much of the little guns.
While I'm at it, there seems to be a real mix up on shot sizes in this thread. Some off the wall claims too. Or maybe, I'm just mixed up and can't follow the posts. But lead birdshot in #4 is about .14 in dia and averages 135 pellets per ounce. Lead BUCKSHOT is .24 in diameter and is not the same thing. I suppose you can shoot at a rabbit with buckshot (in any gauge) but is is not considered a small game load, and a buckshot pattern from any gauge, especially a large pellet load, will thin out quickly and make hitting small game very difficult. The .410 buckshot that has hit the market is intended for the various .410 handguns as a SD load, and those guns and loads fill a very narrow niche.
A .410 will NOT "have just as much damage" as a 12 gauge if the target receives the full payload of the respective shot charge, no matter what you shoot them from. If you fringe a target with a 12 gauge, and center same target with a .410, you could end up with the same pellet count, but that is not a valid coomparison. The heaviest .410 loads still do not make ONE ounce of shot, a heavy 12 will throw TWO.
In the buckshot arguement, yes, 5 triple ought" (000) buck pellets from a 3 inch chambered .410 hangun can be lethal. A 3" 12gauge will throw 10 of those same pellets. There's no comparison, despite what Youtube says.
Ease/difficulty of hitting with a .410 depends a lot on what you are shooting at, in other words, to what use are you applying the tiny shotgun?
Claybird shooting, a dove field, quail and so on would indeed be a challenge. The tiny .410 throws just too small and thin a pattern to make it a practical wingshooting gun. There are a lot of folks who use the .410 for a lot less challenging targets, namely rabbits and squirrels. Rolling a squirrel posed on a limb, or a bunny easing along at 20 yds or so ahead of a slow beagle, is well within the capability of the .410 and the average shooter. You'll hear some folks say they only hunt squirrels with the .22, or a bigger gauge shotgun as the squirrels get running across the tree tops, and that's true. But the .410 will work on furry small game, as long as you don't ask too much of the little guns.
While I'm at it, there seems to be a real mix up on shot sizes in this thread. Some off the wall claims too. Or maybe, I'm just mixed up and can't follow the posts. But lead birdshot in #4 is about .14 in dia and averages 135 pellets per ounce. Lead BUCKSHOT is .24 in diameter and is not the same thing. I suppose you can shoot at a rabbit with buckshot (in any gauge) but is is not considered a small game load, and a buckshot pattern from any gauge, especially a large pellet load, will thin out quickly and make hitting small game very difficult. The .410 buckshot that has hit the market is intended for the various .410 handguns as a SD load, and those guns and loads fill a very narrow niche.
A .410 will NOT "have just as much damage" as a 12 gauge if the target receives the full payload of the respective shot charge, no matter what you shoot them from. If you fringe a target with a 12 gauge, and center same target with a .410, you could end up with the same pellet count, but that is not a valid coomparison. The heaviest .410 loads still do not make ONE ounce of shot, a heavy 12 will throw TWO.
In the buckshot arguement, yes, 5 triple ought" (000) buck pellets from a 3 inch chambered .410 hangun can be lethal. A 3" 12gauge will throw 10 of those same pellets. There's no comparison, despite what Youtube says.