Squirrel/Rabbit .410 or .22lr?

410 makes for a great squirrel and rabbit firearm. I still have my old fox side by side that I take out once in a while. Occasionally I use it for Dove and Quail, but only after a day or two of hunting with the 12 ga. so I am in practice. Its a lot more challenging to hit those buggers with the 410.
 
.410 does a good job. Yea there are other guns that will do better, but if all a man has is a .410 or .22 then you can make it work.

As a kid my first shotgun was a Savage single shot with the hammer. Needless to say on about any given day I could get my limit of bushy tales. And when we went on the rabbit hunts I could do pretty well with it. I think I always made my shots count since it was a single shot.

Choice of shot was number 5 or 6 for squirrels and rabbits.
 
When most of us think squirrel hunting we think .22 rifles. How many gun articles have you seen titled "squirrel shotguns" Being said, I use both for no other reason than I can. Squirrel can be a lot tougher than people give them credit for. Even with 12ga #6 pheasant loads many shot will be right under the skin and if you use the right choke and don't shoot em close up you won't blow em up. Cottontails are a different story. Most fall over if you look at em cross eyed and ranges can be remarkably short. Sometimes measured in feet instead of yards. Open choke with small shot works great. To use the same shotgun on both you have to go with a compromise. #6 with an improved choke?

.410 sucks. Yuck, Yuck, Yuck. Glad I got that off my chest.


Take what you want, live with your choice.

LK
 
I use to use a .410 for dove and quail, worked great. Never tried shooting squrriel with one but the .22lr did great. One shot, one kill!
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top