Hello,
Figured I would share some thoughts as I've learned alot by reading other people's posts. About 4 yrs. ago I was at a gun store in my area where I saw a NEF behind the counter with a scope mounted on it. I asked the clerk about the gun and he told me it was a youth 410 that they had sent to NEF and the factory had drilled and tapped it and the gun store had mounted a scope on it for "some crazy landscaper". I asked his name and suprisingly it was a local landscaper I had worked for when I got out of the Army about 10 yrs ago. I tracked him down and asked him about the gun and he said it was all he used for deer in Massachusetts (shotgun only state). He said he uses Brenekee 3" 410 slugs and is successful beyond 50 yds with this combination. I decided to send out a shotgun frame to have a youth 22" barrel fitted and to see if the factory would drill and tap it for me which they did for around $35 (this was about 3 yrs ago). I also put on a set of synthetic stocks (monte carlo).
When I received my 410 shotgun back from the factory I mounted up a 4x leupold scope and shot it a little but wasn't too impressed with the groups. At 25 yds. I was shooting around 3" groups and didn't even bother shooting it at 50 yds. I brought the shotgun to a gunsmith and asked him to cut the barrel down to eliminate the choke. The gunsmith cut 1" off the barrel making it a 21" bbl and told me the choke was only in the last 1" of the barrel. I put the shotgun back in the safe as I had put the scope from that shotgun on another one. Last summer I decided to bring the shotgun to the range and mounted another 4x Leupold on it.
I decided to shoot some cheaper Remington Slugger slugs to get the shotgun close and fine tune it with the Brenekees. I was pleasantly suprised to discover I was shooting 1" groups at 25 yds with the Sluggers and about 2- 2 1/2" groups at 50 yds. The 3" Brenekees didn't shoot that well- about 2 1/2" groups at 25 yds and I also tried some 3" Winchester slugs that were awful 8"+ groups at 25 yds. I decided to keep it sighted in with the Remington Sluggers as they are usually available in my area and can usually be found for around $3.00 a box of 5.
Now that I had the shotgun sighted in I had to decide whether or not to try hunting with it. About 95% of the hunting I do is bowhunting so I am used to getting close range shots and am very particular about shot placement. Throughout bow season 2005 I saw a big 8 pt. buck 3 different times while bowhunting but never got a shot. I hunted the same farm on opening day of shotgun season but brought my 12 Ga. and passed on a spikehorn and a few does. On the second day of the shotgun season I hunted a stand that I usually see does from and decided to bring the 410 to see how it would perform on a deer. About an hour into my sit I saw 3 does that came within 10 yds of my stand but something told me not to shoot one of them. About 20 min before dark I saw the 8 Ptr. I'd been chasing all bow season at about 40 yds. With my 12 Ga. I would have shot right away but I didn't feel comfortable taking a shot at that distance and he appeared undisturbed so I figured I would let him come in. He followed the trail the does were on and I shot him at about 10 yds. with the 410. I knew the slug would hit right where I was aiming so I decided to shoot him in the neck and upon the shot he dropped on the spot like I'd shot him with a 30-06. I reloaded quickly but he never so much as flinched. Although I would have liked to have shot him with my bow I was thrilled to shoot him with the 410.
I suppose some would ask why waste time with a 410. The primary reason I built this shotgun up is for my son to use when he is a little older. I think all beginning hunters should hunt with a single shot and the 410 won't beat him up like a larger gauge. Even if he hunts with a 20 ga I figured he could spend some range time with the 410 getting comfortable with the weapon, loading and unloading etc...
All that being said now I am on a bit of a 410 kick. I bought a new 410- a 26" bbl full choke. I brought it to the factory to have a scope base mounted and am waiting to get it back. Here is my plan.
1. I'm going to mount a Leupold VX2 3-9x33 scope on it to have the best possible scope on it during my accuracy testing. I plan on shooting all available slugs through the full choke barrel and hopefully can find a combination that shoots as well as my other 410.
2. Once I have the best slug combination picked and my accuracy testing is done I will mount a Leupold 2.5x compact scope I have sitting around.
3. I also picked up a few boxes of Winchester 3" 000 Buck - 5 pellets a few days ago and plan on shooting those just to see how they pattern.
4. I also bought a box of 10 Bismuth bird shot because I put in for a permit to hunt Federal land near my house for small game- rabbit, squirrel but you must use non-toxic shot.
If all goes well I will probably do most of my gun hunting with my new 410 this year. I will start the season with squirrel and rabbit and maybe mix in some pheasant hunting. I will take the 410 deer hunting but will try a more convetional heart/lung shot as that is where I will instruct my son to shoot and evaluate the performance of the slug on a convetional shot. I may go to upstate NY grouse hunting with my 410 as well. Among other stupid laws Massachusetts has you cannot hunt with slugs or buckshot outside of deer season. It's ok to go coyote hunting during the day with a 30-06 but no 410 slug. I'm disappointed with this because I do alot of predator hunting after deer season and have many coyotes hang up at around 40-60 yds, just out of range of my 12 GA with #2's (can't use BB shot in Mass either). I plan on researching the laws and maybe make a predator hunting trip to NH or Maine if they allow slugs for coyotes, I'll prob bring my .222 Rem and mess around with the 410 depending on how the hunting goes.
As soon as I receive my shotgun back from the factory I'll make another post (not so long) and keep you informed of my progress. It's been a while since I posted a picture but I'll try and figure it out and add some pics of my 410's and targets and hopefully some game later on this fall.
That's all Folks
