doublegunshop.com - home Forums General Discussion DoubleGun BBS @ doublegunshop.com The .410 on doves

A few weeks ago there was a lively discussion concerning the use of the .410 for game birds. I had recently been given a Yildiz Elegant 4 by a friend, who purchased another for himself the same day, so I had more than a passing interest in this topic.

Having had a .410 S x S as my very first shotgun, from age 8-13, I remembered killing doves and quail handily with it, but, since so much water has gone over the dam since then I was really curious to "find out for myself". So, I made the promise, on here, that I would open the dove season here with it and report back on the good, the bad, and the ugly. Here it is.

We had a grand spread for lunch at the shed consisting of low country boil and rolls, topped off with pear cobbler, peach cobbler and chocolate cake.







Everyone sat around for awhile after lunch enjoying the shade and light breeze, after all, it was in the mid 90's and the birds weren't feeding yet.



A scout would ride over the the sunflower field occasionally to check on them. Finally, after what seemed like an eternity (especially to my grandson, Jackson) it was announced that the 22 guns would go to the field at 3:30 P.M.

We did so, spread out over the 26 acres or so of sunflowers and shooting immediately erupted. It lasted until we quit at about 5:30 P.M., in plenty of time to let the birds come in and feed. There was another shoot taking place about 1/2 mile away on a neighbor's land, which only helped keep the birds moving, IMO.

Okay, to the "efficacy" of the little gun on doves. In short, NO PROBLEMA!! I dishragged the first dove that came by with it, a crosser from left to right, DITA. Alright, I thought, this ain't bad. Well, the bragging on the Yildiz was, and is, well deserved, even if my performance hitting them left something to be desired. I was shooting Remington 3" loads with 11/16 oz. of 7 1/2s, and anything that I centered went down hard. I was patient and let a lot of birds pass that I would have ordinarily taken with my main dove gun, a Beretta 20 ga. SP II Sporting, but those incomers were in real trouble from the little gun. I lost my composure for a spell, got to missing badly in the "heat of the battle", so my average was poor. I took my limit of 15 doves in about 1 1/2 hrs. with 41 shells. Pretty dismal average for me on doves, but hey!, it WAS a new gun and all. I had a blast with it, and comments on how well it took birds proliferated after the shoot was over.

But, here's the best part of all. Grandson Jackson, age 9, on his first real shoot not sitting by Grandpa, shooting his little Stoeger Uplander with 2 1/2" loads of 8's, brought nine birds to the pot. I had already limited by the time he "got the hang of it" and started really hitting them, so I acted as his bird-boy and had more fun watching him than I did shooting. Here he is after the shoot.



So, naysers, what say ye? Jackson acquitted himself quite well with a lowly 1/2 oz. of shot, not to mention how well my 11/16 oz. loads did. My low average notwithstanding, I cannot blame any misses on the gun, just my unfamiliarity with it, and opening day jitters.

Oh well, guess we'll have to do it all over again Monday afternoon.

Stan

Great report Stan! Nothing like a good ole Southern dove shoot! And great shooting with the .410. I've never used the 410 on dove but the 28ga does a fine job. Let us know how it goes on Monday!

Adam

Hi Stan: It looks like you had a lot of fun on your dove hunt. Man, that shrimp and corn dish sure looked good. I'm glad you had fun with your .410er. I have found they are quite adequate for shots less than 25 yards or so. 2 1/2 inch shells with #8 1/2 shot is pretty lethal on doves, I have found. Have fun on Monday!

Stan,

Who is spoilin' your guests rotten by peeling and butterflying the shrimp or are those farm raised Chinese imports and not Georgia Wild Shrimp?

I wouldn't poor mouth 41 .410 shells for 15 doves. We had a good shoot here in the SE corner of the state. My old buddy Billy tore'em up with his granddads's Remington 32 with a .410 barrel set. (I beleive Simmons made up the .410, 16 and 20 gauge bbls. The set was unmarked except it had a serial number on it.) Billy showed up the rest of us who were shooting 28s and 20s. He used over a box, but not by many.

That's great shooting by Jackson. You gotta be proud of him.
Gil

Alright Stan! You're in the .410 club now.

Quail next with the little gun.

Oh, and give Jackson some of those big shells and I'll bet he'll limit too.

If the tropical depression doesn't rain us out tomorrow it should be another great shoot. I'm gonna pace myself a little more, hopefully, and see can't I get my average back up where it oughta be. I am normally about about a 65-75% shooter on doves.

I am very proud of Jackson, and not just for the way his "shooting eye" is developing, but just as much for his gun handling ability at such a young age. He is very safe with it, ever checking the safety between birds to be sure it is on, and careful about where his muzzle is pointed. I taught gun safety before marksmanship, including not shooting low birds.

Chuck, he'll get to try some 3" loads soon, but my reasoning right now is that I am coaching him on what a shot looks like that is too long to try, and any shot that I call shootable for him is in range of the 1/2 oz. loads.

Much as I want to shoot tomorrow, I hope we get so much rain that we can't even go to the field. The birds can wait another few days, the peanuts and cotton can't wait much longer.

All my best, Stan

Good to see a young one coming along like that.

I've watched several young people, and at least one not so young person, start with a .410 and become very successful/competitive with it on clay targets, enjoying it all the way. The .410 made it possible/more enjoyable for those I've witnessed. The 30 something lady would not shoot a larger gun at the time. She insisted on nothing larger, then shot that gun exclusively for a few years. She went on to larger gauges up to 20g and also has competed nationally. A pretty good testament to the .410 helping people to start shooting and enjoy it for years.

If I could afford some shooting lessons from Amarillo Mike, I might get pretty good with one.

I'll guarantee you beginning with a .410 and moving to a larger gauge after getting proficient with the little one will make a better shooter out of you. Like shooting snooker for 6 months then going back to nine-ball on a pool table.

I haven't shot over 7/8 oz. at a dove in years and years, but if I was some of those guys yesterday shooting doves with 1 1/8 oz. I'd feel sheepish after seeing Jackson whacking them with 1/2 oz.

SRH

Wonder why George hasn't weighed in?

What was that about a waste of time, Geo.?

SRH

Hello All
I, also, used a 410 on opening day, it was a 410 Brittany SXS and with it I got my limit in no time at all.
Bruce, my hunting buddy, was using an old Crescent 410 SXS with the same results.

I used a mixture of 3" and 2.5" and he used only 2.5" ammo.

No birds were lost
This year has been sooooo dry there are few weeds for the downed birds to be overlooked.
Mike