Possibilities of the 410 Bore Shotgun 
Beginning a Series of Practical Articles 
on the Baby of the Smooth Bore Family 
perimenting with small gauge 
shotguns for sixteen years, and 
five years ago he decided to record his 
experiences and experiments with the 
twenty and twenty-eight gauges. This 
was donevand published in the American 
Field during the Fall of 1922, and to 
complete the work he took up the study 
of the 410 bore. The difficulty 
was to get guns and ammunition 
that would represent the best 
shooting of these gauges. How 
this difficulty was overcome in re- 
gard to the 410 bore, and how 
the guns and ammunition per- 
formed will be made the subject 
of another discourse. 
The basis of this material is: 
(1) Over five hundred shots fired 
in testing six different guns of 
this bore with four different 
makes of factory ammunition. Of 
these five hundred shots, over 
four hundred were fired for pat- 
tern, and three hundred seventy- 
five patterns were carefully 
counted and recorded. The re- 
maining patterns were fired from 
badly bored and chambered 410 
bores, the shooting of which was 
too poor to be worth recording. 
The other hundred or more test 
shots were fired, (a) for penetra- 
tion, (b) to determine the killing 
range of the guns, and (c) to 
determine the width of patterns 
and killing circles at various 
ranges. (2) One hundred and 
twenty-five shots were fired at 
the traps, to see the possibilities 
of this tiny gauge at so exacting 
a test as trap shooting. (3) 
Actual game shooting in the field, 
during which excursions 467 
game bids were bagged, and each » 
day’s shooting was carefully re- 
corded. Game birds bagged in- 
cluded ducks, snipe, quail and 
doves. Added to this was the 
killing of numerous rabbits, jack 
rabbits, hawks and crows, of which 
no record had been kept. 
r SHE writer has been using and ex- 
HE study of the 410 bore was not 
taken up with any very great en- 
thusiasm, because there were no double 
barrel high grade guns of this bore to 
be had in America, and we knew that 
it was a gauge that had not been given 
326 
By JAMES VANCE, M.D. 
serious attention by the great body of 
American sportsmen and the gun- 
makers who supply their wants. We 
knew that fine guns of this bore could 
be obtained in England, but such guns 
cost so much that we did not feel justi- 
fied in so great an expenditure for the 
sole purpose of testing a gun which 
seemed to offer so little practical bene- 
Having settled this matter, we went 
to work directly to try them at the traps. 
Trap shooting is the most severe prac- 
tical pattern test to which any gun and 
load can be subjected. The cross sec- 
tion of a blue rock is only 4% square 
inches. Since the surface of the blue 
rock is inclined upward in flight, the 
actual target offered to the shooter is 
slightly more than the cross sec- 
tion, but the total area of the tar- 


Nhe 
Teal ducks killed with the 410 bore. 
fit to the shooting public when the test 
should be reported. Further, we always 
like to give the results obtained from 
tests made with several guns; such re- 
sults are more accurate and instructive 
than where one gun only is proved. To 
obtain several excellent guns of this 
bore for proving was our first diffi- 
culty. 
get offered the shooter at the 
rapidly moving blue rock is prob- 
ably not in excess of 6% square 
inches. From the ordinary 16 
- yard rise, the best trap shots 
shoot the targets at from 30 to 
35 yards range. The light small 
gauge shotgun has much advan- 
tage over the 12 gauge in field 
shooting, because it can be 
handled so much quicker that the 
bird can be shot at from two to 
five yards closer than with the 
heavier and clumsier gun, but at 
trap shooting, with the gun at the 
shoulder when the target rises, 
most of this decided advantage in 
field shooting is lost. 
HE writer is not a quick shot, 
and from a sixteen yard rise, 
he shoots his targets at from 33 to 
35 yards. With the little 410, we 
did not seem to be able to shoot 
any quicker because the greatest 
care had to be taken in pointing 
the gun to connect: with the tar- 
gets; so the shooting distance was 
practically as far as with any 
other gun. : 
It could hardly be expected that 
| the tiny charge of % oz. of shot 
i in the 410 would make any show- 
“ing worthy of mention at so ex- 
* acting a test as trap shooting, but 
with a full choke 26 in. barrel 410, 
and the Remington 24%” factory 
loaded cartridge containing 158 
No. 8 chilled pellets, the writer 
broke 17 x 25 the first time up 
and 21 x 25 the second time up—broke 
last eight targets straight. | 
This shooting was done June 23, 1924, 
after Mr. Ad Topperwein had given an, 
exhibition shoot, and only 50 targets) 
were shot at that afternoon. The shoot- 
ing was at regulation targets and 16) 
yards rise, with five shooters up each’ 
time and five shots from each post. | 
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