You have already heard me talk about 28 Gauge being my new favorite for almost anything upland, but I have always been a silent fan of the .410 as well. Why silent? Well because most people think its a beginners gun or a “baby” gun. When the facts just don’t support that. Many of my generation and older were started on a .410 so that is where the prejudice comes from. Yes it has less recoil than a bog old universal 12. Yes there is less lead in the air. However if you look at todays shooters you will see the older more advanced crowd is the crowd buying up all those .410 shells and guns and using them at the clubs for clays and in the field for birds.
Here is why. When we are talking about busting clays or lethality of hits on birds the thing most often overlooked is the ballistics of shotgun shooting. Most people just shoot the 12 because it is easier to find a variety of loads from heavy to light, different shot sizes etc. Worst of all at todays ridiculous prices I can get a box of 12 gauge shells for $10 whereas a box of .410 if you can find them starts at $17. Less shot, less powder, less plastic, less packaging and wow what a difference in price. This is where hand loaders have the greatest cost savings is these tiny little shells.
Back to the ballistics though, lighter smaller loads can be sent at faster speeds without increasing chamber pressures to dangerous levels. Special powders and primers have been developed to make these loads really travel. When we talk about lethality in the field, these faster moving pellets have more penetration thus reaching vital organs. You often see these birds flying away as though they weren’t even hit, then cartwheel out of the sky as the internal damage catches up. With a big twelve gauge, we are often literally knocking the bird down, and in the process also destroying a great deal of the meat. I eat everything I hunt so this matters to me. The old cliché is that it only take one pellet in the right spot to bring down a bird is absolutely true.
So we take these very fast light loads, and we couple them with these super lightweight guns and you see why we more distinguished fellows like to carry them in the field. They are faster to the shoulder, easier to swing and stay with the target and we don’t get tired of lugging them through the field.
We have chukar here where we live and anyone that hunts them will tell you it is just hiking really steep really rocky mountains carrying a gun and supplies seeking revenge on those delicious devil birds. I don’t see many 12 gauge heavy guns on that quest. Chukar are some of the fastest flying acrobats in the air very often hard to hit at all, yet these sub gauges like the 28 and the .410 handle them just fine.
Less weight in the field, light fast loads, easy to bring to the shoulder and swing, and yes less recoil. It is a fantastic choice.
And now that you are in love with it, it comes in single shots, bolt actions break actions semi automatics, side by sides, over and under and yes even a pistol thanks to the taurus Judge and Rossi and others. So useful, so versatile.
Oh and to make it all even better, Ginger delivered her beautiful litter out of Jaz on 4/10/23 making this the .410 litter!
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