Just picked up on o these with the 2.5" cylinder and the 3" barrel. Tried it out at 7-yards, 10-yards, and 25-yards with various .410 factory shot loads. I was hoping that I may be able to use this as a "home" gun and for hunting rabbits here in MI. I shot # 4 shot Remington Express Long Range, # 9 Winchester AA skeet loads, and 000 Buck loaded with three-pellets to a shell by Winchester. The # 9 obviously had the best patterns at 7 and 10 yards for density, and the # 4's were very hit and miss for patterns at those ranges as well. At 25 yards, forget it all together. The 000 Buck appears to be an AWESOME home defense load at close range. I emptied the cylinder double action at 7-yards and the result was 15 holes in the target equally spaced in about a 12" circle. The same exercise at 10-yards yielded similar results but with about a third less holes. Again, at 25-yards, forget about it!
So, in closing, not quite what I had hoped for for bunny hunting, but what I think would be an EXCELLENT house or vehicle gun! Not to mention just an all around "fun" gun!
I can't help but think, though, I wonder if I could get a smith to install one of the shot-arrestor type choke tubes that TC put in their .45/.410 Encore and Contender barrels?? I would not hesitate to shoot at a bunny out to 30+ yards with one of the TC barrels!!!
Mark