What's a .410 for?

[Dr.Rob]

I was rummaging through a box of reloading supplies and found I have 100 rounds of .410 ammo.

I don't think I know anyone with a .410 to give it to.

I'm not sure I WANT a .410.

But hey if you already have the ammo...



So what do you guys use a .410 for?

 

[esheato]

Skeet, although they don't cook up as nice as rabbits and other small game.

Most certainly not home defense if you have something larger, but it'll work in a pinch.

Ed

 

[kudu]

http://www.thehighroad.org/showthread.php?s=&threadid=46288&highlight=what+good+is+a+.410

This thread sums it up nicely.

 

[sm]

kudu is correct...

Okay folks, I must be going backwards on all this gun stuff...I really get a kick out of a single shot - shotgun - especially in the little fellers like 28 ga or .410.
I know all the why's and whatnots about the .410...I don't care..."because", "I want to", "it's fun"...sums it up.

Lets just say a certain fella was bored and at his gunbuddy's shop. These two fellas made an insert for a 20 ga single shot just so he ...*ahem* they...could shoot .410 ...no I ain't patterned it. But it is hell on scaring stray dogs and cats out of yard /garden when a hull with a primer only is fired. Pest birds do fall to #9 shot...and If I'm ever attacked by helium balloons ... I can take down the whole "bouquet"....One shot, 9 kills, no survivors...

I didn't grow up - I just got bigger - Art

DR. Rob hard to explain...kinda like folks shooting washers out of BP shotguns...

 

[Dave McCracken]

410s have little real utility, IMO, but they work for some things.

Pest control. Bats at dusk with a 410 are definitely sporting.

Ground game like rabbits and squirrels.

Skeet.

Rats at the dump.

HD for folks who have trouble with larger long arms.

And for the very rare shotgunner who can use one of these on game birds humanely and effectively.

 

[Black Majik]

Ah, but the .410 does have use,

Its a great shotgun to teach young new kids the fundamentals of shotgunning!

 

[mnrivrat]

Use it for : FUN !

 

[PJR]

Its a great shotgun to teach young new kids the fundamentals of shotgunning!

It's probably the worst choice to teach young kids. If it is hard for experienced shotgunners to hit targets with a .410 it is only more so for a beginner. If a new shooter of any age isn't breaking targets they soon get discouraged.

The 28 gauge is a far better choice to introduce new shooters.

Paul

 

[flatrock]

Pest control. Bats at dusk with a 410 are definitely sporting.

Unless you're in a place with vampire bats and are worried about them spreading disease to livestock it's hard for me to understandhow shooting bats falls under pest control.

 

[Black Majik]

It's probably the worst choice to teach young kids. If it is hard for experienced shotgunners to hit targets with a .410 it is only more so for a beginner. If a new shooter of any age isn't breaking targets they soon get discouraged.

The 28 gauge is a far better choice to introduce new shooters.

Paul

I was thinking more of shooting cans and targets first to get the new and young shooter accustomed to a shotgun. Low recoil plus no moving targets surely enough would get the basics / fundamentals down well enough.

I wouldn't take a young shoooter straight to the clay range without first explaining how to hold the shotgun, proper stance etc....

 

[45auto]

.410 makes the easiest clay target sports difficult.

I think it would make a good handgun cartridge.

 

[ralphtt]

So what do you guys use a .410 for . . . ?

Teaches me humility at skeet.

 

[Backwoods]

I use mine for hunting. Mostly rabbits, but I've bagged several pheasants that have flushed at close quarters too.

The key is being able to restrain the urge to shoot beyond the 25-30 yard range of the .410 bore gun. I also feel that if you're going to use any weapon on small game that constitutes a handicap, you should be hunting with a good dog.

I'm 53 and I've been using the .410 for 10 years, before that I used a 12 ga, single barrel muzzleloader for about the same length of time. Sooner or later, my reflexes will slow to the point where I should go back to larger bore shotguns and put the little .410s away. I hope I recognize that time when it comes.

Don in Ohio

 

[Dave McCracken]

Bats sometimes set up housekeeping in old attics and belfries, and guano carries any number of nasty diseases. Bats here in MD also carry rabies, like coons and foxes do.

I don't condone killing for killing's sake, but SOMETIMES and ONLY sometimes taking bats does make sense, like trapping rats and mice.

Sorry, I should have explained this before....

 

[PJR]

Dave:

I winced a bit too when I saw the shooting bats reference. We have many bats where we live and they provide a valuable service eating mosquitos and other biting insects.

Bats aren't more of a rabies threat than any mammal. Any bat found on the ground should be not touched and dispatched promptly however. Shooting them on the wing only means more mosquitos. Where I live I'm more concerned about West Nile Virus than I am rabies.

Paul

 

[Marshall]

A .410 is to shotguns what a .22 is to rifles.



Everyone should have one. I have a bolt action .410 with a magazine. Lot's of fun with the rabbits and squirrles. Makes a good snake gun too.

I have also heard of some folks using them with 3" slugs for HD.

 

[goon]

A .410 single barrel H&R was my first shotgun.
I have used it to hunt squirrels and to shoot the hell out of alot of aluminum cans.
A couple weeks ago I used it to teach my girlfriend how to use a gun. The light recoil and simple operation made the H&R perfect for that and the fact that the payload is relatively small meant that she had to learn to aim.
All in all, I like them.

 

[Dave McCracken]

Paul,it's been a while since I did any bat control, and doubt I'll need to again. Our house is batproof, and I no longer have a barn.

Here in MD we've got West Nile and Lyme's. I sure wish bats ate ticks as well as skeeters.

If I kill anything,there's a good reason. "Because I can" is not a good reason.

 

[sorny]

Hell, I'd be ECSTATIC to take the 100 rounds of 410 off your hands. If you lived close to me, I'd be there in 5 minutes. Seriously, if you'd ship them, I'd pay shipping. .410 shells are expensive where I am.

My first shotgun was a 12 gauge mossy 500 pump and I loved that gun, great for skeet and even squirrel. But I was at a flea market once and saw an old man selling a Savage model 944 single shot .410 for $125 so I bought it. Found out it was made in the late 1930's and is still in excellent shape. Anyways, I love shooting that gun. 1/3 of the weight of the 12 gauge, shorter, narrower and since it's kinda cheap I don't mind accidentally rubbing a tree with it or anything. Great squirrel gun and good for skeet too when you want a real challenge

If I could only pick 2 shotguns, 1 would be a 12 guage pump and the other a 410 single shot. New age ass kicking and old time nostalgia.

edit: Oh, and if I find a really really cheap .410 (under $40-50) I'll saw it off and have me a nice snake hunting gun. Or simply buy a .410 double barrel derringer. that should bust them up nicely.

 

[Andrew Wyatt]

dad started me out with a SS 20 gauge. it kills most things dead and the recoil isn't that bad.

 

[12-34hom]

I've taken more small game with the 410 guage scatterguns than all other shotguns i've owned.

3 inch shells with a load of lead # 5 shot is excellent combo out to 40 yards.

12-34hom.

 

[Phil Ca]

When I was stationed in Korea in 63/64 I used to hunt with my Savage Model 24 over/under in .22LR over .410 gauge. The CWO-3 I worked for and an old timer SFC and i would go hunting for Chinese Ringnecks over a German Shorthair Pointer. The dog was bought from a Korean farmer. The dog was very good and if you fired a shot the dog expected a downed bird. The other two hunters used 12 gauge shotguns rented from the USO Club in downat the camp where our missile battalion was HQ'ed.

On a Sunday when the US Army traditionally serves cold cuts and little else for supper, it was interesting to go to the mess hall and take a few items on my plate and go to a table. The other GI's would ask why I was not eating and I would reply that my dinner was coming shortly. When a Korean cook came out with three plates filled with steaming rice and a nice pheasant dinner the guys' jaws would drop and I would be asked how I rated such a feast. The officers, NCO's and EM were in different areas of the consolidated mess hall. I would tell my table mates that I spent 4 hours out hunting that morning while they slept or played pool or watched TV.

I was the only GI with personal firearms in our camp. I also had a Ruger .22 semi-auto. After the aftermath of the "gulf of Tonkin"
Incident We were on extra alert thanks to the Chines government. I was asked by the the guy in the arms room if I wanted to carry my pistol on interior guard duty along with my rifle. I carried inside my foeld jacket in a tanker holster made for a .45 pistol.