.410 for deer
 

is a 410 an acceptable gun to deer hunt with??

RE: .410 for deer
 

i think that the gun is a great gun for a kid to start out with.my son was hunting this year for the first time and shot a really nice doe at almost 90 yards away and dropped her in her tracks. it was his very 1st deer...

RE: .410 for deer
 

A .410 is about as poor a choice for deer as you could make! I am sure that with slugs it will kill a deer, but only at very close range! There are a thousand better choices to use!

RE: .410 for deer
 

a 410 is perfectly capable of putting a deer down. Thats why theyre LEGAL here in indiana.

RE: .410 for deer
 

You can kill one with a Ford pickup also, but I wouldn't hunt with one........

RE: .410 for deer
 

I think a 410 is probably the worst deer gun on earth!!! I would have my kids use a 223 ormy muzzleloader over that!! There are many better choices out there!

RE: .410 for deer
 

I think a 410 slug is better means of killing a deer than a bow and arrow.

RE: .410 for deer
 

Bow and arrow will cleanly harvest any game in NA, I dont think I would say that about a 410 slug.....

RE: .410 for deer
 

A 410 will work just fine, just takes shorter ranges like no more the sixty yards, and a well placed lung shot or high spine shot. A 410 will make a hole just fine through both lungs like a Bow does and kill a deer. A 410 will not have the power to bust through both shoulders like most larger guns can do, but if aimed right will work just fine. Most do not like a 410 since it is not your average instant gratification gun and does not drop a deer cold in it's track most times like larger guns do and most want, but well placed shots will work just fine. Legal in Ohio here to, and for good reason, they work.

RE: .410 for deer
 

Yes it is fine to hunt deer with. I have never hunted with one, But I have shot slugs through mine. I would keep within about 75 yards. And try and be sure on the shot. Have that kid shoot alot so that he is confident and it is almost instinct!

RE: .410 for deer
 

Not legal in Oklahoma and honestly I'm amazed they're legal anywhere.

RE: .410 for deer
 

what ISATARAK said, cubed!

RE: .410 for deer
 

any of the guys knocking the .410's a have any evidence to prove your claims? we have a bolt action family .410 that has been passed down for decades and it is a slayer. the gun has not let a deer walk since i have been alive. i killed my first with it at age 7, a second when i was 9, my brother his first with it when he was 9 or 10, and i got to watch my 11 year old cousin shoot one with it last season. all deer dropped within sight except my first, which made it about 100 yards.

bouncer, look for the 000 buckshot. the 000's fit the shell perfectly. they are hard to find butthey do the trick.the diameter of a 000 is larger than .30 ( i think .32?) and is a very capable load inside 40 yards.

obviously with a youngster, you want to target shoot the load on paper to confirm the pattern and make sure he/she is comfortable and accurate with the weapon!

RE: .410 for deer
 

I belive there are many other small caliber rifles that will do the job more efficenticly than a .410. I would only use this if rifles were not allowed. A .223 or .22-250 are much better choices in my opion.

RE: .410 for deer
 

Why not???
The only way that statement is true about archery equipment is by knowing the limitations of the equipment, and if you know the limitations of the 410 slugs, I am confident that "I" could kill anything in North America with them too.

I shot 410 slugs alot during my high school days out of an old single shot, and they were very accurate out to about 75 yards (which is as far as I was confortable shooting with open sights). I killed a couple deer and a several hogs with no problems.

RE: .410 for deer
 

If a .410 slug can blow through both lungs, then why is it a problem?

RE: .410 for deer
 

I've never owned or even shot a 410, but I've heard that the slugs have excellent long range accuracy?? We can't deer hunt with a 410, and I've never seen one with a rifled barrel, so I never put muchstock into that line of thought.

Just to play devils advocate though, what makes a 357 with a 4 inch barrel(which is legal here) a better choice to deer hunt with than a .410 with slugs?

RE: .410 for deer
 

not legal to use in Iowa for deer.
with a well placed shot I'm sure they would kill a deer

RE: .410 for deer
 

A 410 shotgun is actually a 41 calibre smooth bore rifle. If you can take your muzzle loader out with black powder, why not a .41 smooth bore using smokeless powder? Not much difference except the 410 has a higher muzzle velocity.

RE: .410 for deer
 

If the .410 were legal here in NJ, I'd have tried it a long time ago! I feel that the .41 caliber slug is more than adequate to kill a deer inside of 75yds. Although they're smaller, its murder on Coyotes!!! Should be a done deal on a doe or smaller!( I'd hesitate on large bucks unless I had a true broadside rib shot).I'd just make sure that the sights were rifled or scoped. Some shotgunners I've seen think the bead on a .410 smoothboreis OK to aim with a slug- not so! Reliable accuracy comes from the appropriate sights IMHO along with the shooter's skill(practice !!!)

RE: .410 for deer
 

Bingo!!

With in its limitations it will be fine for deer. It is legal some places that rifles are not and is more kid friendly than the recoil from the BP rifles I have seen. Winchester makes a rifled 120gr slug at 1800 fps. That is not to far behind a light 30-30 reload. It defininately is not for long range but, will definitly get the job done with in 50 to 75 yards or so.

mello

RE: .410 for deer
 

50 - 60 years ago - when my father and his family started hunting, you took what you owned.

All my dad owned at the time was a .410 and all my grandfather owned was a .410 Bolt Action with a clip.

They traveled 50 miles one way just to get to the woods and then hunted all day and then came home - in a 1937 Chevy. No heater!

The whole town hunted in that section of woods and only the richest of them all had a center fire rifle and most of them were old army guns.

They shot lot's of deer with a .410 - and it shot just as good as some of the rifles of that time period. The 3 inch paper shells were of a very high quality and still shoot good today!

When I was about 12, my friend from school lived on a farm and rode the bus home with me after school. He went behind his house with his .410 and waited to see if he could see anything before it got dark outside.

Some people from my church lived on the next hill - about 4 miles away. They shot a buck at 9 AM in the morning and tracked it about 4 miles and shot at it several times, never knocking it down, but it was bleeding.

At 4:15 PM it made it's way down to my friends house and their land and when it walked by his treestand - he dropped it with one shot. It was a 10 point buck with 18 inch spread. Not bad for a kids first buck, not hunting all day like the big guys and not having a centerfire rifle.

My other friends who were tracking it couldn't do anything except congradulate him on his success. It was his land and his deer.

The other half of my grandpa's story was about a time when they went hunting with one of the other neighbors. They called him Mattea - which in Polish means mother. They were hunting rabbits with dogs and a rabbit ran past Mattea and he shot and sawed the rabbit in two.

You could imagine the look on Mattea's face. He was wondering what had happened to his rabbit. Nobody ever saw one that was all blown up like that from a 2 3/4 inch .410

Well back then, people didn't have different suits for hunting and when they went hunting they threw their shells into their pocket and went hunting.
Mattea never looked in his pocket before he went hunting and when he reached in for a shell - he grabbed a slug instead of a bb shot.

Now how many guys do you know of that could shoot a rabbit on the run with a .410 slug!

Definately a good gun in my book and an even better gun than a 12 gauge.

RE: .410 for deer
 

One year at camp, my cousin Beth Ann decided she wanted to hunt and the only gun her dad had for her to use was a J.C. Higgens .410

All day long her brother and his friends shot to sight in their rifles. They couldn't even hit a 1 inch bulls eye at 100 yards.

Right before it got dark, my Uncle gave my cousin one shot gun shell and told her to take a good aim and shoot at the target.

You guessed it - bulls eye - and with no sights, scope or anything else to help her get the job done!

RE: .410 for deer
 

A .410 will work for deer, I know plenty that have used them. You just need to keep it's limitations in mind. They are good for bow hunting ranges and not much farther really in my opinion. Maybe a bit farther with the Brenneke slugs since they are a bit heavier and faster.

The .410 is not like a 41 caliber rifle though. The ballistics are closer to a .32 pistol.

A .357 is actually better than a .410 when you compare ballistics.

I have a winchester 9410 that is a lever action 410 and I am seriously considering using it next year for deer season. However I have some experience hunting and will keep the range limitation in mind and pick my shot placement carefully.

Pretty much any projectile through the lungs of a deer will kill it. It just won't drop it in it's tracks like a high powered rifle can.

If centerfires were legal where I live though I would most likely never shoot a shotgun of any type again during deer season.

Paul

RE: .410 for deer
 

First read this thread I thought " no way ". I'm a bit inclined to think diff. now.

Interesting!

RE: .410 for deer
 

Why wouldn't a .22 mag be alright?

RE: .410 for deer
 

It is in MAINE!

RE: .410 for deer
 

Yeah, my first gun was a Mossberg bolt action .410....I used it while deer hunting but never took one with it...lot of squirrels saw the light because of it though.

But yeah....I think it'd be one of the last calibers I'd chose for whitetails....I've seen a lot of .410's over the years, and there's only one I"ve ever seen with a set of rifle sights, and that was the 9410 that Paul spoke of. Slugs+bead front sight=no accuracy past 30 yards.

I'd say let the kid use the .410 for squirrels, and just pick him up a H&R .243 and mounted a fixed 4x scope on it. If you shopped used you could probably get out for less than 300 with the whole package, and it'll be a good, safe, and reliable gun.

RE: .410 for deer
 

my first gun was a .410 single shot. i shot slugs out of it. more than capable of downing deer at ranges under 100 yards. definately has more knock down power than a .223. truth be known the .22 lr has taken more deer on this continent than any other round (due to poachers). shot placement is the key, it doesn't take a "magnum" rifle to kill a deer.

RE: .410 for deer
 

i think they are ok and no doubt in my mind they will take down a good deer, but I dont recomend them, I recomend atleast a 20ga.

RE: .410 for deer
 

I have an H&R .410. I had the barrel cut down to reduce the choke, had the barrel lapped, and put a 3-9x40 bushnell scope on it. Got some 3" brenneke slugs. Sighted it in at 50 tards about 1/2 inch high. It'll shoot 2" groups to 100 yards. I killed a doe with it this year at about 55 yards dropped her in her tracks. I shot her right in the shoulder. Went clear through both shoulders. I think they are the ticket if you don't want any recoil. That is if there set up right and accurate.

RE: .410 for deer
 

:D:D

RE: .410 for deer
 

If that is all I'd have to hunt with, without the option of buying a higher caliber gun, I'd use it. It definately wouldn't be my go to gun. I also would never go out and buy one for the sole purpose of hunting deer with it. Practice alot with it, know your limitations and don't shoot beyond them. Way better guns out there for deer.

RE: .410 for deer
 

im 13 i now use a 30-06 but i killed my first deer, a button buck when i was 8 at 53 yards

RE: .410 for deer
 

So a 7mm round is adequate for deer but not a 10.4 mm round?? Huh.. It is perfectly capable of putting down a deer. The only issue you have is accuaracy from a non rifled barrell..

RE: .410 for deer
 

Stay within 70 yards and hit them good. What are using? Bird Barrel? If anyone knows of a 410 barrel with rifled sights that will fit a mossberg let me know!

RE: .410 for deer
 

I have a Sav24 .22/.410 with rifle sights and it shoots some Russian Bear 3" slugs very well.Able to hit baseball sized stumps at 60 yards offhand every time.Never tried it farther.In a pinch it would do.Harold

RE: .410 for deer
 

Yes it is, as long as you keep your shots within it's effective range!

RE: .410 for deer
 

I am going to have to jump on board with many that say yes!! My grandma killed more deer with her .410 than most guys on this site!!!Would it be my first choice probley not but more than capable to kill a deer. Heck take any high caliber rifle out there and you can lose a deer if not placed right!! Heck some states allow killing deer with a spear?? So yes a .410 can and will kill deer!! Walt

RE: .410 for deer
 

Wink, the difference is the amount of energy the two rounds produce and can transfer. It has nothing to do with the actual diameter of the bullet.

A typical standard 7mm uses a 145 grn controlled expansion bullet and can deliver near 2000 ft/lbs of energy at 100 yards.

Where as a standard 3 inch mag .410 uses a simple non expanding chunk of lead that weighs around 90 grns (sometimes less) and delivers around 400 ft/lbs of energy at 50 yards.

So even though the .410 slug is larger in diameter than the 7mm the 7mm rifle would make a larger wound channel and transfer more energy to the target than the lighter, less powered larger slug.

There really isn't much comparison between a high powered rifle and a .410 slug. Even a .223 would create a larger wound channel and deliver more energy than a .410 slug will.

In an earlier post I said the 410 was closer to a 32 handgun in ballistics, after looking at more data I will amend that and say depending on what load you pick in each it is closer to falling in between a 38 and a .357. However the pistol rounds would be using a better bullet. When I was looking earlier I was only comparing 2.5 inch loads because that is all I can use in my winchester lever gun. Some of the 3 inch loads are a bit more impressive, if you want to call those numbers impressive;).

I still feel that if you keep the range limitations in mind and pick the right shot it can get the job done. If you can put something through the lungs the deer will die, really doesn't matter what you use to make the hole.

Paul