There is officially no hope for me! I picked up a Mossberg Field All-Purpose 500 in .410 bore from my local Wally World, for $209 + tax. How could I resist? It comes with a 24-inch vent-rib barrel with a fixed, Full choke. I'm thinking this will make a great security shotgun that my wife won't be afraid to fire. I checked with Mossberg, and an 18.5-inch barrel is about $56 + shipping. I hope to add one after the holidays.
Getting started with .410 can be cheap! I have a .410 adapter for my 20ga. single shot. Patterns and penetration are comparable to what I've gotten with the Yildiz .410. It's just $25 from Short Lane.
Lee Loaders are out of sight in price on eBay, if you find one. I found instructions for a homemade .410 loader:
http://beforeitsnews.com/self-sufficiency/2013/10/homemade-410-reloading-kit-2463934.html. I liked it enough to buy their book, which includes similar instructions for a homemade 12ga. loader. They also introduced me to GaugeMate, where I hope to buy a rifled .22LR adapter for the .410. It's chamber length, but it would make a good training tool. I like the idea of the GaugeMate version better than the smoothbore that Short Lane offers. Not cheap, but it could be useful.
As a security shotgun, the 500 in .410 might be the first shotgun I've tried that could work well with a folding stock. I have a Butler Creek that I tried (didn't like) on my 20ga, primarily because of he combination of the recoil of the light gun and the angle of the cheekpiece of the stock. I might be able to adapt it to the .410. With an 18.5-inch barrel and a folding stock, it could be fairly slim, short, and light -- yet with modest recoil -- and might be my ideal idea of a trunk gun. We'll see.
As you can see, there really is no hope for me. The next step is handloading for the .410, if I can track down some suitable powder...
All my best,
Bob