Why so expensive???

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TexasKid

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Maybe this has been addressed before and if so i apologize.
But why in the world are .410 shells so outrageous? I just came back from collecters firearms in houston where i handled a converted saiga .410. this gun is AWESOME! I would have had to have it if i hadnt quickly realized the cost of a box of shells. What makes these shells worth so much? Why hasnt a company started producing these at an affordable price? It seems to me that a company could make a killing by making a box of these shells even a few dollers less than a box of 12 gauge shells. This isnt to far fetched is it?
Im sure thered be a long line to wait in for reasonably priced .410 shells.
 
Why hasnt a company started producing these at an affordable price?
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Probably because they don't realize economies of scale producing .410 shell and this is aggravated by taking into account the opportunity cost of making them instead of the much more popular 12 and 20 gauge offerings.
 
You can reload .410 shells for a lot less than 12 gauge shells due to less shot and less powder. So if you don't mind reloading, .410 is a cheap gauge to shoot.
 
You can reload 410 for a lot cheaper than 12 ga. That's why this is a good question. Plastic, lead, powder, and brass all cost the same whether they are formed into 12 gauge shells or .410 shells so why do .410 shells cost twice as much as 12 gauge from the same manufacturer? The cost of raw materials has to be half as much.:confused:
 
so why do .410 shells cost twice as much as 12 gauge from the same manufacturer?
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As has already been mentioned, the economy of scale. The raw materials may cost the same, but there is a larger market for offerings like 12 and 20 than there are .410. Therefore, the manufacturers focus on prodction of those calibers, knowing they'll sell. If there was as wide a market for .410, they'd produce it on the same scale as the rest.
 
If you built a factory, paid to run it for a month, and paid the employees, but only produced a single example of a product, how much would you need to sell that product for to make a profit? How about if you built two examples? Four... ten...a hundred?

.410 (and 20GA for that matter) is not as popular as 12GA so they produce less and have to sell for more to turn a similar level of profit. This is called "Economies of Scale". Simply put it does not cost twice as much to produce twice as much product, but you could make twice as much profit.
 
i understand the whole having to sell it for more due to less demand, but it seems to me that the lack of demand for .410 shells is directly related to the price being so dang high. I think that if the price went down the demand would sky rocket, am i the only one who thinks this?
 
"...Shop online, you can find deals..." Shipping costs will negate any cost savings.
"...Why hasn't a company..." Not enough local demand. No .410 will do what a 20 or 12 guage will do anyway.
The .410 is not a beginner's shotgun round either.
 
Costly

Yep, them .410 shells is downright costly.

I'm thinkin' you should forget about the .410 and go for something economical, like, say, something in 28 ga.

:D

 
It is hard to hit targets with a 410. You need to be close and since the gun will usually be choked full, to be able to deliver an acceptable amount of pellets on target, the shot spread is very small.

The 410 is an experts shotgun. Fathers like to start out their children at a young age with shotguns and naturally gravitate towards the 410. I believe this to be a mistake. The youngster, who is still learning, will have a tough time hitting any target but stationary ones with a 410.

I used to shoot skeet regularly with 20 gauge. The few times Iused a 410 it was exponentially more difficult.

What is rather odd though is that if you tade a 20 or 12 gauge and load it to 410 specs you get more even and predictable patterns.
 
410's, like 28, are not as common as mentioned - they run their yearly production typically, once per year - it costs too much to constantly retool back and forth

12 and 20 are typically the same price (or close enough) because of volume.

As to the other mention - the 410 is NOT a beginner's bore size - especially in the target arena - it is the expert's bore. Most kids that started with a 410 did so because no one had a 28
 
Just started reloading the .410 due to the high price of shells. I love to shoot my Model 42 but it has been so expensive to do so until now. The .410 is quirky to reload because its so tiny but definately makes up for it in cost savings. What does a box of STS go for now? Last I saw was @ $12.00? I need a good supply of empties.
 
I picked up a MEC "Sizemaster", which has taken the sting out of shooting my .410. For the amount I go through this one does the trick. :)
 
Well my answer is simple "because they are worth it" I love shooting the small bore shotguns. I recently got into the 28ga and what a blast. I still have and will always fall back on my 410's for the "challenge" they provide. There is nothing more satisfying when after a day in the field you have fired fewer rounds and taken more game than your fellow hunters shooting their "superior" 12 and 20 gauges.

I prefer my 410's in modified or improved modified barrels and yes I do reload but not as my main supply.
 
Plastic, lead, powder, and brass all cost the same whether they are formed into 12 gauge shells or .410 shells so why do .410 shells cost twice as much as 12 gauge from the same manufacturer? The cost of raw materials has to be half as much.
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Supply and demand.
Manufacturers can sell 10 times as many 12 ga. as .410 so their margin can be lower.
I find that the difference is shrinking due to the popularity of the Taurus Judge.

Just for fun, I went to the Natchez web site and looked up buckshot. Unfortunatly, it's hard to compare apples to apples since there are so many choices.
But Winchester 2 3/4" 00 buck is $7.46 for a box of 5 in 12 ga.
Winchester 2 1/2" 000 buck is $6.18 for a box of 5 in .410.
But there are so many choices, you can find Winchester 00 buck for $4 also.
I couldn't match identical items, but the difference in price is shrinking.
 
oneounceload said:
As to the other mention - the 410 is NOT a beginner's bore size - especially in the target arena - it is the expert's bore. Most kids that started with a 410 did so because no one had a 28
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I agree.

I forget the exact numbers, but the averages required for different classes in skeet for 12, 20 and 28 gauge are not too different. But .410's average are significantly less for the same class designation.

The .410 is not an easy gun to do well with.
 
I dunno that the premise of the OP is entirely accurate. Where I shop for shotgun ammo (WalMart, mostly), AA and STS shells in 410 are the same price as 20ga/12ga shells....
 
>>Where I shop for shotgun ammo (WalMart, mostly), AA and STS shells in 410 are the same price as 20ga/12ga shells....<<

Hmmm, that's interesting. I checked my local Walmart just the other day, and AA .410 was going for close to $10.00/box. :confused:
 
Wow - locally, all chamberings of AA sell for $7.57/box. I had no idea that there could be such localized variances.

Sounds like a retail issue, tho, and not a manufacturing issue.
 
I have looked at Dick's Gander, Wally world, even Cabela's and Scheels's while on trip - there was always several dollars difference with the 410/28 and the 12/20 groups - makes reloading, if you shoot 410 and 28 definitely worth the effort.

I get around it to some degree by loading the 28 gauge equivalent for my 12 and 20 gauge guns - targets don't know the difference, but my shoulder does after a round or two of sporting
 
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