410 Sabot Slugs???

[Cookiemann]

I have never seen any Sabot Slugs in 410.  Have any of you ever seen them or have any of you ever developed one?  What caliber bullet would you use?  How do you think they would work in the 45/410 barrel, if such a shell could be developed?  Would it be suitable for deer hunting?
Just a few "What if's"  that came to me while sitting in the woods deer hunting!!

cookiemann

[Critter]

I have never seen a sabot .410 slug but I did see something almost as interesting.  A local rifle builder builds very nice rifles for PHs and benchrest shooters.  He decided to build some .410 slug guns out of H&R .410 shotguns.  He has a bad heart and can't eat red meat except venison.  We live in a shotgun only area so he decided to make a shotgun that would shoot and kill like a rifle.  This was all before the sabots and modern muzzleloaders got real popular.  He cut the barrel section off leaving the breech, lugs etc and then bored and threaded the breech section.  He turned down some .41 caliber barrel ends and threaded them to thread into the breech.  Cut the chambers to 2 1/2" .410 so the ejector works and everything.  So basically what you had was a .410 rifle.  The load was a case full of IMR 3031 topped with a 210gr .41 cal JSP bullet.  They shot little bitty groups at 100 yards and killed deer very dead very quickly.  I did not have the forethought to buy one at the time and he is no longer making them.  I have my feelers out so that if any of these ever come up for sale I'll get it.

[Cookiemann]

That would be considerably more accurate than the 410/45LC barrel with 410 slugs, wouldn't it??  So, you think you could load a 41 cal sabot bullet into a shotgun shell and get close to that??  Just questions!

cookiemann

[jeager106]

I have no idea why people want to make the .410 shotgun into a capable deer ctg.
We all know a .22 rimfire will take deer with a brain shot but why choose one to hunt deer with when there are so many other weapons that do a much better job.
I've tried the gambit of 12 bore sabot slugs and found them to be at least disappointing and at 3 bucks a shot they break the budgit.
When we shoot .45 bullets from a ,73 bore s.g. we loose the best part of shooting the 12 bore in th 1st place.
The huge bullet!
I have loads for my ultra that use the SPW full bore non discarding sabot that is an honest .73 caliber, gives me one ragged hole at 75 yards, 1450 f.p.s. velocity, and will down any game on this side of the planet.
I think the weapon mentioned by critter has merit.
But! There is no way you could call that modified weapon a .410 s.g.
It's a .41 rifle. That makes it questionable for slug only areas.
Just my 2 cents.

[MSP Ret]

jeager 106, I agree with your philosophy and your thought process. What loading is that that you use in your 12 gauge and what gun do you use it in? Thanks....<><....

[Casull]

I don't know about other states, but in Illinois you can't use a slug gun smaller than 20 guage (or larger than 10 gauge - as if anyone would want to).

[Cookiemann]

My reasons for inquiring about saboted 410 slugs were in curiousity to using them in the 410/45LC barrel.  There are a lot of coyotes in the "Shotgun Only" areas that I hunt and I thought you might just get enough range to take a few of them out with that type of setup.  However, a 20ga Tracker II or USH would also do the trick and if you could dial in your scope using Hornaday SST's then you would also have some range.  I guess my mind went into O/D thinkin' about guns and bullets and options.  Really, It's Never Happened to YOU!!!  LOL

cookiemann

[messer454]

In Ohio they have recently instituted an "apprentice program" where young (or old) hunters can buy a license and go hunting with a licensed hunter to see if they like it without hunter safety class, etc.  They also have a youth only season before our gun season.  Why I am not sure that I agree, MANY hunters in this area are now using .410 shotguns for their children to take basicly 30-40 yard shots.  A muzzleloader is a bit of a chore for a child and a 20 gauge can be too much recoil and too heavy.  Like I said I am not sure that I agree but since they are doing it, a fully rifled barrel just like we have on our 12s and 20s sure sounds nice to me.  No centerfire rifles are allowed by the way just shotgun muzzleloader and pistol.  I do not think a sabot slug would be worth it without at least having a rifled choke or even better still a rifled barrel.  At the very least I would like to see some rear sights on these .410s and would be very interested if anyone has seen a simple way to attach a rear sight or peep sight.  Thanks