.410 slugs are illegal for deer here in KS too

Here' s something to consider: a 1/5oz slug is 87.5grains, not bad, something like a .243 weight, BUT, instead of 3000+fps, you' re lucky to get the 1830fps that the box claims (winchester super X 2.5" slugs). At the worst B.C., my Speer manual only goes down to a .12, which is probably much better than what a .410 slug really is: @ .12bc, 87.5grains @1800fps=7.19ft.lbs. per grain at the muzzle= 629.125ft.lbs. muzzle engery, 447.125ft.lbs. @50yrds, and 318.5ft.lbs. at 100yrds. Like I said, you' re lucky to get the published data, lucky to come close even with a standard length bbl, which the .9410 doesn' t have, you' d be lucky to get 1600fps mv, which drops your muzzle energy to just slightly more than the above 50yrd data. Most guys call 500ft.lbs. a minimum energy requirement for taking deer, with a .410 you' re lucky to get it at the muzzle.

Don' t get me wrong, I absolutely LOVE .410' s, and I use them for more than they should be (ducks/geese), but deer hunters they are not. If you were really die hard, and exactly limited your range to ' under 20yrds' , it would make a deer gun, if it were legal, but if you' re going to haul a gun around, you want more than 20yrds range...a good 12ga (not implying a slug gun even) can get you out to 100yrds, and the limiting factor there is your accuracy, some slug guns now are capable of close to 200yrds in the right hands.

JUST ON THE GUN: I don' t know that I' ll ever buy a 9410, I may consider the marlin version though, but not likely: they' re only 2.5" chambers, not capable of much more than sqrls, rabbits and dove, the 2.5" rnds are just weak, whereas 3" loads have been my upland loads for all my life, and I' ve ALWAYS bagged more game than anyone in my hunting party (all equipped with 12' s and 20' s, except one 10ga occasoinally). I' d never take 2.5" ers out on anything I really want to hunt again, except maybe on pigeons, and that' s all that you get from the lever guns...I suppose I' ll just have to get by on the 6 .410' s I already have.