The Under Appreciated 410
“That’s for kids,” said Robbie, my long-term hunting buddy when I pulled out my old .410 H&R out on the dove field. “Looks like more dove for me, buddy.” He finished with a shrug.
I smiled and gave him an openhanded shrug. Then proceeded to reach my bag limit faster than he did with his Remy 1100.
What is it anyway?
Humble and unimposing, the .410 bore is the smallest gauge of modern shotgun made. When you stack up shells today, you run from 28-gauge through the 10-gauge with the phenomena of the smaller numbers being the larger shells. Cast out from the rest of
the shotgun world, the .410 is not even allowed the respect of a ‘gauge size’ (it would be 68-gauge if so), but is instead referred to
by its shell’s caliber.
The .410 is still a shotgun shell, just smaller than the rest. This means only that it carries a fewer number of pellets in its payload. But do not make the mistake of thinking it’s underpowered. Pellets from a .410 and a 12-gauge travel at the same velocity, which
means the same energy is imparted when said bb’s impact downrange. Nevertheless, since a smaller charge is used, the felt recoil
on guns chambered for it is far less…
Read the rest in my column at Firearms Talk.com
