The Mighty 410
 

I have been a fan of the smaller gauges for quite some time, with the 28 being my favorite, but lately, I have been shooting the 410 a fair bit at skeet. While the sweet spot of the pattern is smaller, making the 410 less forgiving, if the shooter does his part, you can shoot clean rounds of skeet. My usual pheasant hunting partner uses a SxS 410, and he has killed birds to 30 yards or so, although most shots are in the 15-20 yard range. Last Saturday, my hunting partner shot with me as a gunner for the local NAVHDA chapter, and he started out with the 410. He was easily dispatching the birds with none escaping, until a hull broke free from the case head, leaving most of it in the barrel, so he could no longer use that barrel. The next bird flushed close, and he used the barrel with the full choke, resulting in the bird falling in pieces. The dog ran over and picked up a wing, before dropping it, and picking up the largest part of the carcass. Even a 410 can destroy a bird at close range, if the pattern is centered on the bird.
I still won't be using the 410 for hunting, and I don't recommend one for new shotgun shooters, but for certain applications, and certain shooters, the 410 works very well.

I used a 410 for over 20 years for hunting ruffed grouse. Having shot them on the ground and flying. I know it was/is a popular caliber for a lot of chicken hunter's on the prairie's.

I'm always amazed with the 410's abilities. A few of us get out and shoot flushed pigeons from barns during the summer and 2 of the guys have Winchester 94/10 lever guns. I can say not many birds get away because of the gun that's for sure.

I thought those NAVHDA dogs were suppose to bring everything back... kind of disappointing he only did half the job:sHa_sarcasticlol:

still my favorite for young pointing dogs
 

on chukars or bobwhites. Low noise and recoil. Light fast swinging and gets the job done.

.410
 

Depending on your choke ,skill and shells 30 yards is doable.I get more clean kills with 2.5" shells as opposed to the 3" .Less shot stringing likely.Federal used to make a 3/4 oz 3" load that was a game changer.

I was looking at one the other day. A Stevens over under. Seemed pretty nice. I was thinking for a starling Magpie gun as they are robbing my pigeon coop blind.
Anybody got any experience with the Stevens? Seen a lot of reports about both barrels going off at the same time.

been using 410 for grouse for the past 20 years. love the 410