"Say what you mean, or mean what you say"....

I whole heartedly agree with your SECOND post that connecting with the 410, or any buckshot, is what really limits the range, which is exactly what I posted in my response. Your FIRST post, however, didn't say that. It said that the 410 is a "pip squeak," implying that it's underpowered for the job, which just isn't the case. We hear it said all the time, "a 22 in the eye is better than a 45 in the wall" (or in the arm, or in the leg, or wherever the "miss" happens to land), which really is what we're both saying. If you're shooting at ranges where the buckshot is patterned tightly enough that you know it's on target, then it'll do the job.

It's just not very far out there before it won't be patterned tightly enough anymore.

But that's not what a term like "pip squeak" is used for. The 410 has the power, just not the accuracy. I have no qualms with anybody calling out buckshot from any shotshell gauge as being range limited by its pattern - as that's a VERY REAL PROBLEM. But an underpowered pip squeak, it aint.

Having killed double, maybe triple digit numbers of coyotes at single digit ranges, including double digit number of coyotes with a 410 and 00 buckshot, I can vouch for the effectiveness, and I can attest to the limitations.

Hail mary, without a doubt, pip squeak, not so much...