The Mighty 410

[elkhunter11]

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.