First off, welcome aboard!

What do the markings on your .410 say? A maker, model number, or at least the type of shotgun and chamber size will give us a bit more info to point you in the right direction.

A .410 shotgun with a 3" chamber is an absolutely fantastic small game (squirrel and rabbit) gun. In the right hands, it'll be very effective for upland game as well, despite what naysayers of the .410bore scattergun might say. I even used .410 slugs and 00buckshot for coyotes.

If you have a 2.5" chamber, that limits you a bit more than a 3" chamber might have, but it'll still be very effective for small game.

The .410 is very recoil friendly, as I'm sure you've noticed already. But with the small pattern and low shot count, it's often difficult for new shooters/hunters to connect. But when you get consistent with it, you'll be bombproof. Someone that starts with a 12ga might not be able to ever shoot a .410 well, going the other way is easier; hottest fire and strongest steel as it were...

I always use 6 shot out of my .410's. It limits how many pellets I have, further cutting down an already smaller than normal pattern, but giving each pellet a bit extra oomph. After years and years of trying different loads, these days I only use 6's for everything I do with a .410.

Comparatively, for your reference as a new hunter, a 12ga shotgun for rabbits might use number 8 shot, rather than 6's, and for pheasant or other upland game might use 7.5's. In shotshells, the bigger the number, the smaller the shot, so more of them fit in the shell, and more of them will fill your pattern. BUT the less power each pellet has.