A .410 is a good deer gun

[mnfin]

Good topic to stumble onto. I have been playing with my old Mossberg .410 and to be honest, I can not get it to pattern over 50yrds. Below 50yrs, not bad, over 50yrds it just sprays lead in every direction. I do know that this .410 is a full choke and most slug manufactures recommended a improved for slugs.

For those that are using .410 with slugs, what chokes are you using?

Think it is worth bringing it in and getting it opened up to an improved to increase my effective range?

[buddha]

Inside 50 a .410 will do the job and a great gun for a kid to start with, makes the first shot count.

[SlabSlayKid]

to look at sheer facts the proectile being shot from a .410 is considerably bigger than the projectile being shot from a 30-.06. I would sooner hunt with a .410 than a 12 ga. I believe the lighter load could be more accurate. I myself use a 20 ga. that has a rifled barrel and when i shoot a quality sabot slug (winchester supreme gold-tips) i have no fear in taking a 250 yard shot. Knowing your gun and practicing is all that matters. Many hours spent at the range, not the large or small size of my gun, has given me the confidence i need to take deer.

[CodyDawg]

I will disagree. I .410 is not a GOOD deer gun. It is adequate at close ranges. It does not have the ENERGY to be effective past about that 50 yard mark. That puts it on par with a modern bow. In my mind, that doesnt make it a "good" deer gun. I really wish people would take a look at the engergy their load has at certain distances to determine if it is an effective load. That goes for all gauges and calibers. People just dont understand ballistics and how that impacts whether how far they can shoot. As hunters, we should be about quick, clean, ethical shots. The easiest way to goof that up is to be shooting a gun that doesnt have the necessary energy to quickly kill the deer.

Not to pick on you SlabSlayKid, but how much energy do 20 ga Winchester gold tips have at 250 yards? What is the drop?

And as long as I am on my soapbox, I put 30/30s in the same "adequate" group. They may have their niche as being short and easy to carry, but purely as a caliber (ballistics), they dont compare well to most deer hunting rifles. They score high in the "tradition" category, thus they are verp popular. And most of them (other than the new ones with safeties) are the MOST dangerouse type of firearm out there.

All right have at it, I am ducking!

[mnfin]

Codydawg, I can not argue with you at all. You hit on some points that I also believe in.

I am a bow and rifle hunter. Something that most people learn from bow hunting is that you must know your equipment and what it is capable of. One also learns to make every shot count. Without adequate practice and familiarization, you have now idea what is possible.

I am comfortable with a 50 yrd shot with a .410, if I know it will be accurate and it will kill the deer in a quick and humane way. (Kind of like bow hunting)

I am also a believer that the 30/30 is not the best rifle for deer. I know, it is the most popular firearm sold in the U.S.A. as well as it has taken the most deer in North America. Yes, it works and I have shot my fair share with one. There are just so many better out there, why settle?

[Heartman]

SlabSlayKid, read up on the concept of inertia. This is the concept definition that allows an arrow to penetrate a five gallon pail of sand, but will stop a 30'06 bullet from pass-through. 410 is an extremely light caliber 'deer' gun, no matter how you look at it, particularly when compared to other calibers. Very low ballistic coefficient, extremely low energy, typically poor sights on 410 shotguns, and plain old lead slugs don't help the equation either. 22's have killed deer too, but that doesn't make them deer rifles either.

[Musky Buck]

Great points guys, I believe you quack addict that you made the 300 yard shot, but I have heard so many 300 yard shot stories and they are rarely at the yardage stated, they are most often much closer because are people really ranging how far they are shooting, I picture 3 football fields as 300 yards and I would feel pretty hesitant to let drive at that range even though I feel pretty comfortable with my 30-06, been using the same heater since 1983 when I was 12. I would be too worried about wounding it and often times I have long range deer decide to come much closer by waiting them out or letting them go and seeing them shortly after at closer range. But if you are an out west hunter you probably practice longer ranges and have a better comfort zone reaching out. 410 Hmmmm. My dad handed me my brand new BDL bolt remington 30-06 and said here, you can handle this, so we practiced often, I learned to take the recoil and that was that. I always wanted to shoot what my uncles and grandpa's and dad shot. I think you do what works for you, practice with any gun you have so when the time comes you have been through all the procedures before, it's why i learned to drive a car at 10 in grandpa's hayfield so when I got on the road with the farm trucks and tractors etc. I had already practiced adequately. Same with any gun. Good Luck Musket Hunters ! And Quack, nice shooting