410 barrel from EBAY

[Cookiemann]

I picked up a 410 barrel from ebay today.  Turns out, Mamma had some $$ left in her PayPal account and let me have it for the barrel.  WHAT A SWEETIE!  Looking forward to shooting it.  Never had a 410 before.  What's the best rabbit and squirrel load you have used?  
Have had thoughts of MAYBE cutting it down 2" to make it a slug barrel.  Just thought it would be neet to have a collection of all different sizes of slug barrels.  12-20-410  Most likely will leave it alone, though.  I have done some reading on 410's and slugs.  More opinions than you can shake a stick at, but according to some charts and articles, the 410 slug balistics are better than a 357mag pistol, and a lot of deer are taken with 357mag pistols each year.  Anyway, I have to think about that some more.

[Brett]

Cookieman - Before you take a hack-saw to your barrel think about this;
Probably 95% of all .410's that are manufactured are made with full chokes. This fact has not somehow slipped by the ammo manufacturers.  I can pretty much guarantee you that .410 slugs are designed to perform best threw a full choke.

[Cookiemann]

I was doing some reading earlier and that was the conclusion of the writer of the piece.  He gave firgures, I can't remember, and the slug size measured a lot smaller than cylinder bore could handle.  I have read threads here before that said the same as you and maybe that's the reason the factory slugs are made that way.  The article I was reading was referring to the Marlin lever and the Winny 9410.
At any rate, I don't think I'm gonna mess with this barrel.  If I like the slug performance at 26" then I may get a youth length at 22" and see what that's like.  Either way, I will have a good squirrel/rabbit gun.  
Thanks

[Bob W.]

I have always liked #6 for small game but have heard that 7 1/2 patterns better out of the .410  My .410 partner likes 7 1/2 and I had great performance this year on rabbits with 3" 7 1/2 and 2 1/2" #8's out to 30 yards.  That said, squirrels are very tough and you might want to use #6's .  I thought extra barrels had to be fitted at the factory???

[Cookiemann]

You are correct.  The factory recommends that you have them fit any additional barrels.  Many on this forum, frequently switch barrels that have not been factory fitted.  You must know what to look for to be sure you have a safe gun, when you do this.  If you are not confident in your ability to do this, then it is recommended that you have additional barrels fitted by a gunsmith.  The barrel should lock up to the receiver so that you can fit a .001 feeler gage across the breech and then be able to pull it out with a little effort.  A .002 should not be able to be pulled out at all.  You also need to be sure the barrel lug is seating completely on the hinge pin.  Last and very importantly, never make any adjustments to the receiver.  ALL ADJUSTMENTS SHOULD BE MADE TO THE BARREL.  Otherwise, your factory barrel may not fit properly anymore.  
OK guys, did I forget anything here.

[MSP Ret]

Just no rifle barrels on shotgun receivers. Be sure the receiver you have is capable of safely handling the pressures of the barrel/caliber you put on it....<><.... :grin:

[Cookiemann]

YES, INDEED!  I knew that and should have passed that on.  SHAME ON ME!  THANKS, MSPRet.

[DaveH]

Hey Cookieman congrats on your new barrell!!!!!!

My .410 seems to like the 2 1/2 loads better then the 3 ones.  Been shooting the winchest High speed # 6 shot loads for a while now.  I limted out on squerrels twice with them so I guess they do pretty good on tree rats.  My gun seems to patern the 3 in loads with alot of holes in the patern that I don't see when shooting the 2 1/2 in loads.

[Cookiemann]

Thanks for all the advice guys!  I am real excited to get this thing out for some fun.  Never had a 410, so I'm looking forward to it.  Also, plan on doing a few slugs, just to see what that's like.  Will let you know!