.410?

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PrairieStormAddict

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Anyone (aside from first time/youth hunters) shooting a .410 regularly for pheasants? I'm debating about taking out my great-grandpa's old bolt action for a hunt or two before the season's out.
 
I can't say regularly for pheasants, but I try to carry my 410 O/U at least once a year---just because. :D
 
SDJIM said:
I can't say regularly for pheasants, but I try to carry my 410 O/U at least once a year---just because. :D
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Let me guess, Stoeger Condor? Love their semi autos, but can't say I've ever fired one of their pumps/doubles/singles.
 
Good guess--they are a good bang for the buck---I also have a 16 ga and have never had a problem with them. :D
 
The .410 is not a youth or first timer shotgun. It is really an experts guns. Someone very skilled and fully aware of it's limits. Will it kill a pheasant? Yes, under the proper circumstances. It has a limited payload of 1/2 oz. to 11/16 oz. at a rather low fps. If you use one keep your shots under 30 yds. (20-25 yds. preferable) and I would use #6 or #7.5 shot for pattern density.
 
Sounds like a good endeavor for the opening day, I had my .410 out at the range and decided against it, for my mediocre shooting skills it was amazing how many more hits I had with a 28 gauge, they are both lower end Rizzinis with the same dimensions. I hope to get my percentage up on the range and then try it in the field next year.
 
A .410 will is deadly on pheasants. And no a .410 is not a good kid gun. I shoot 3" 6 shot out of my o/u. Before you hunt with one pattern it and go shoot a thousand rounds at the skeet or sporting clays range. If you're familiar and comfortable with a .410 there is nothing you couldn't hunt with one.
 
COWAN said:
A .410 will is deadly on pheasants. And no a .410 is not a good kid gun. I shoot 3" 6 shot out of my o/u. Before you hunt with one pattern it and go shoot a thousand rounds at the skeet or sporting clays range. If you're familiar and comfortable with a .410 there is nothing you couldn't hunt with one.
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The reason I even brought it up as one is because it's not unheard of for youngsters to start out on one here in SD.
 
Dakotazeb said:
The .410 is not a youth or first timer shotgun. It is really an experts guns. Someone very skilled and fully aware of it's limits. Will it kill a pheasant? Yes, under the proper circumstances. It has a limited payload of 1/2 oz. to 11/16 oz. at a rather low fps. If you use one keep your shots under 30 yds. (20-25 yds. preferable) and I would use #6 or #7.5 shot for pattern density.
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I think this is well said regarding the 410. Though I know a number of kid's who started out with 410's (on pen birds) and did okay with those guns. Other than that--when it comes to wild pheasants-- I see the 410 as a "I need a challenge or something different" type gun.
 
My first shotgun in 1956 was a Savage .410 single shot. I was 10 years old and I'm sure my dad thought it was the best gun for me to start are with. Over the years I have come to realize it was a poor choice. The same gun in a 20 ga. shooting some light target loads would have been a much better choice.

And COWAN, you stated;
If you're familiar and comfortable with a .410 there is nothing you couldn't hunt with one.
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While you certainly can hunt anything with a .410 your results on some game may be disappointing. Hunting waterfowl or turkey with a .410 would not be the wisest decision and it's even marginal on pheasants. I don't want to start an argument here but the .410 definitely has it's limitations.
 
Dakotazeb said:
While you certainly can hunt anything with a .410 your results on some game may be disappointing. Hunting waterfowl or turkey with a .410 would not be the wisest decision and it's even marginal on pheasants. I don't want to start an argument here but the .410 definitely has it's limitations.
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Yeah, I'm uncomfortable using my 20 gauge on geese, it'd only be compounded using a .410.
 
Since you want actual users of .410s to comment I had a Savage .410 when in my 20s. I shot probably 20 boxes of shells through it at quail and coots. I killed one quail but a sack full of coots thanks to the depredation coot shoots they used to have out here which allowed me to get a feeling about its effectiveness and range.
In my experience it killed flying coots at distances that surprised me because it had both barrels choked full which is the common choke for non interchangeable choke tube .410 guns. It is also in my estimation a crippler of birds in the hands of the average hunter. I was able to kill coots at pheasant distances because I had the same crossing or overhead shot over and over until I figured it out. Until I figured it out however I crippled a lot of coots which are nowhere near as tough a bird to bring down as a pheasant. You have to mount the gun properly every time and in my experience shoot it more like a rifle than a fire hose. The shot string is extra long too which further contributes to fewer hits. I recall I swapped it for a .22 bolt action rifle and felt like I'd screwed the guy who got it.
I'd suggest that as hunters we should use a gauge that is large enough to kill consistently and quickly at the ranges we're faced with. The .410 isn't that gun. In looking at its history it seems it was developed as something to be used for personal defense and only later adopted by clay target shooters as an increased challenge.
 
I have a single .410 that I screw around with once a year - sometimes on farm pigeons but dont hunt with it. Seems to me if one would insist on hunting with it, might be best over a pointer not a retriever.
 
I started with a .410. The philosophy at the time was "less recoil/more comfortable" for a small kid. I started my Kids with a 20 (and I still hunt with one today.). .410s can be deadly, but as stated, one needs to limit the range & know how the gun patterns. Actually, my fav gauge is & shall remain the 28 (and I didn't have one when the Kids were wee little, or they would have started with that.).
 
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