Steve, what a pleasure to see the truth printed about the .410. You are spot on! I have one I've been shooting all my life and I can unreservedly say that it will cleanly take any bird at 35 yards. I've shot a load of shell through that little LC Smith with the same results as with all the other gauges. When I wa growing up, I killed a huge pile of mallards with it in Arkansas. As you so rightly pointed out, use the 3" shell with 7 1/2's for hunting. The difference between it and the 1/2 ounce load of the 2 1/2 inch shell is large. I use the 2 1/2 incher for skeet and sporting clays because the range where I shoot won't let you use the 3".
