The Lil' .410-bore Thread

[CountryGent]

Inspired by a private message conversation with my friend @AndyinEverson and one locally,* I thought maybe it would be interesting to have a thread about the .410-bore shotguns we possess or use. You know, talk about the history, hunting experiences, and, of course, pictures.

I will start. I picked this little one up about four years ago. My thinking is it would be a less destructive way to dispatch small pests, I could (if I had time) hunt some upland game with it, and when my boy is older, he can have it. It is a very small, slim Zabala Hermanos, made sometime in the early 1960s in Spain. It is chambered to handle both 2½" and 3" shells.



* I have a friend who owns/operates a small computer shop. Over the years I have farmed out various technical issues I was too busy to handle. I brought in a small computer today for a part and then we talked about hunting, and he mention looking for a small/light shotgun for his relatively newly wed wife. This turned the conversation to smaller-bore scatterguns. He mentioned he had a bolt-action .410 that his great-grandfather gave to grandfather then father then to him. Such a blessing to him.

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[madmax]

Nothing will never be passed down to me, family is evil.

The only 410 I currently own

 

[CountryGent]

This one looks very handy. What is the make and model, if I may inquire?

 

[Roundball58]

Older (square receiver) Browning Citori Superlite .410. Picked it up at a gunshow a long time ago. Had a small chip in the buttplate, other than that it was new. Fixed chokes, modified and full. 20 yd patterns are about 18 and 15 inches across respectively. Shoot skeet/5 stand with it. Take it out for quail/dove but not above popping a cottontail if the opportunity presents itself.

 

[leadcounsel]

Never owned a .410 until recently. A couple years back I scored a pile of .410 shells (and other shotgun shells) all new at a garage sale for pennies on the dollar. Probably a couple hundred .410 shells. Boxes and boxes of shells in total for pocket money. Anyway, been keeping my eye open for a .410.

A couple weeks ago I scored a really nice .410 for about $115 with transfer. Beautiful blond hard wood, and nice blued steel break open Savage. Really handy dandy little shotty. Looking forward to shooting it or one day passing it to a son or daughter.

 

[Ura-Ki]

I don't currently one a "Modern" .410 bore, but I do have 7 .44s that match that bore size in Holy Black and throwing a grape shot charge is not a problem, and with 6 loaded cylinders ready to go, any one of them would be murder on a covey of quail, dang near perfect to my mind!

 

[Kruel J]

I have 2 but no pics handy. A shockwave and an 870 with a 26" barrel.

 

[gmerkt]

My .410 bore shotguns. First one, a Harrington & Richardson DeLuxe Topper that I got for my 16th birthday:



Second one, New England Firearms "Survivor." Nothing more than the typical NEF "Bay State" frame with a gimmicky stock attached. This one I bought second hand not long ago for a low price. It has storage space in the hollow stock. Thumbhole stock is easy to hold onto, barrel is short. It fires .410 shot shells or .45 Colt centerfire cartridges. It has a shallow rifling in the barrel and a removable choke. The choke key has the "Contender" emblem on it.



Not .410, below is my other small bore shotgun. NEF simple model 28 gauge.



Shells for the .410 have always been expensive relative to, say, 12 gauge. For that reason since I got my first .410, I've been laying away shells in this size. Whenever I've seen them on sale, I've bought. Either length. Now I've got about three GI ammo cans full of boxes of .410. I don't use them up very fast.

I've asked gun shop owners, "Why do .410's cost three times as much as twelves and are one third the size?" I've been told, "It's supply and demand." My response to that has been, "Maybe demand is low because they cost three times as much!!?" I never win this argument.

I like the simple, top-break cheapie .410's. H&R went out of business, then New England Firearms resumed making a similar product. The Marlin bought out NEF. Shortly after that, Freedom Arms (think Remington) bought out Marlin and got NEF along with it. The NEF plant in Mass. was closed, production was moved to Ilion, but that discontinued in 2015. I've read that Remington now imports some single shots with the H&R brand on them.

I've got one other NEF single shot, a .223 Rem. rifle.

 

[JustSomeGuy]

Mossberg 183D-B, bolt action with factory full choke. My dad bought it for me in 1953 for my 10th birthday along with a saddle scabbard for it. It was my constant companion on more mounted adventures than I can remember. In it's day it provided pheasant, quail, rabbit, etc and ended more than a few rattle snakes.

Please forgive the crappy picture. It's the best an old man can do with an old cell phone...

 

[madmax]

This one looks very handy. What is the make and model, if I may inquire?

I have it posted for sale

.410 SxS

Boito model BR8-410 barrels cut to ~19" with fiber optic sight barrels and stock are equal length Sold by S.S. KRESGE CO. 3" camber I redo the stock and bluing It was a fun little project but I dont use it $225

www.northwestfirearms.com

 

[CountryGent]

Thanks for the link. I had not heard of Boito shotguns before.

 

[HA556]

I've been wanting a .410 for a while now! Not sure exactly why but, I do. Just need to find someone willing to part with one for a single stack 9mm NIB.

 

[bbbass]

Older (square receiver) Browning Citori Superlite .410. Picked it up at a gunshow a long time ago. Had a small chip in the buttplate, other than that it was new. Fixed chokes, modified and full. 20 yd patterns are about 18 and 15 inches across respectively. Shoot skeet/5 stand with it. Take it out for quail/dove but not above popping a cottontail if the opportunity presents itself.
View attachment 627833

View attachment 627834

Nice dog!!!

 

[bbbass]

This is the only .410 we own. Taurus Circuit Judge. Bought it for the wife to keep in the back office. Hadn't thought about it before, but I bet it would be great for Blue/Franklin Grouse sitting on a stump or tree branch.... If I felt like donating $$ to the ODFW. (edit: apparently not legal to hunt birds with in Oregon) It even has a P-rail for mounting a red dot optic.

 

[CountryGent]

This is the only .410 we own. Taurus Circuit Judge. Bought it for the wife to keep in the back office. Hadn't thought about it before, but I bet it would be great for Blue/Franklin Grouse sitting on a stump or tree branch.... If I felt like donating $$ to the ODFW. It even has a P-rail for mounting a red dot optic.


View attachment 627967

Though I've sworn off Taurus, I have to admit, that looks like a lot of fun. Is it a smooth bore or does it have the shallow rifling like in the revolver version?

 

[bbbass]

Though I've sworn of Taurus, I have to admit, that looks like a lot of fun. Is it a smooth bore or does it have the shallow rifling like in the revolver version?

Uhhhm, it has chokes that go in the end. You choose the rifled one if ya wants to shoot .45LC. The other one is smooth bore.

I bought it for da wife because it was cool, number one, and two - it is simple to operate. No racking, and both the DA and SA trigger pull is very nice.

 

[CountryGent]

Uhhhm, it has chokes that go in the end. You choose the rifled one if ya wants to shoot .45LC. The other one is smooth bore.

Neat-o. Thanks.

 

[Roundball58]

For the revolving carbine fans, there's a 3 shell limit for game birds in Oregon. Not sure what the gamies would accept for plugging the extra holes.

 

[Member 34319]

I don't think there is a smooth bore Taurus. That would fall under the whole rotating revolving shotgun, which thanks to the street sweeper, is NFA I believe.

The circuit judge is rifled.

 

[Member 34319]

For the revolving carbine fans, there's a 3 shell limit for game birds in Oregon. Not sure what the gamies would accept for plugging the extra holes.

They sell with a plug last I looked at one.