What is the Use?

[Pfletch83]

.410 shotguns : Small payload,small case,almost useless to most for small game hunting with birdshot.

20 Gauge : Larger payload than a .410, it has a mid. size case,lighter recoil than a 12 gauge,it gets very high marks for pattern density for small game hunting.

12 Gauge : The most powerful of the three,these guns have been used to hunt small as well as deadly game.

The 12 is highly respected for it's capabilities,but with those capabilities come a few drawbacks,heavier recoil,and more weight to lug around,as well as bulkier ammo.


Defense Gauges.

The .410 with it's smaller load of shot (#4 Buck or '000' buck) in my opinion is best used for close range room to room defensive action.
With the right choke and ammunition, the .410 is more than up to the task.

The 20 has a larger shell and more shot capicity (#3 Buck and '00' Buck) which would be a better social shotgun,due to the lighter weight and reduced ammo bulk (suburban truck/trunk gun).

The 12 is heavy but at the same time highly effective,which is best used for hunting dangerous game (though it is the standard for police and military for offensive use)

[bohoki]

i too am of the opinion that 410 is useless yet i have one somewhere just to have oneright next to a 10 ga which i use just as much

[chris10]

I have grown up with a .410 and have taken many animals (no big game yet) with different loads. I also had some 12's and a 20 available to me and shot the heck out of those. But I prefer the 410. So yes, it can be useless in some hands.

[aippi]

Sorry but it is not useless in hands of someone that knows how to use it and makes a fine small game shotgun with less shot to pick out of the game. It puts meat on table in the right hands.

So, maybe for some it is useless for small game but not for me and I am sure many others that will post in defending this great little shotgun.

[Revoman]

I agree, a 410 is a great bird bore along with a fun bunny getter.

A 28 is just as fun with a little more juice, but not by much.

In the right hands, the 410 is awesome for small game.

[Pfletch83]

I'm not saying that there aren't some folks out there that hunt with a .410.

All I'm saying is that most folks think of the .410 in that way.

The .410 in my opinion has more of a use with larger shot at close distances,and if in a state where it's legal to do so as an open carry option.

[BigDogatPlay]

.410 are generally an absolute kick in the pants to shoot. One of my favorite guns to shoot is a way too small for me now single shot .410 with an exposed hammer. I learned to wingshoot with it. For wingshooting on birds or clays it's in many ways an expert's gun, but it gets the job done with authority. Not a defensive gun, IMO, at all.

20 vs 12 is an argument largely on size of the gun. For a smaller statured person a youth model 20 gauge makes a great all around package. If you're an average sized person or larger I believe the best choice all around is a 12.

[ElToro]

taking small game without blasting all the meat. believe it or not back in the day people ate wild rabbit and squirrel and didnt want to destroy the animal. not every critter requires an ounce of shot to bring down.

i was shooting skeet one day and an old guy showed up with a well worn 410 wingmaster. proceeded to bust 25 out of 25 for the 3 rounds we shot together.

[Thefeeder]

><

Yo, put on the breaks. Some of this makes no sense....just an observation.

[Distro]

.454 Casull out of a .410 for ultimate destruction.

[Pfletch83]

taking small game without blasting all the meat. believe it or not back in the day people ate wild rabbit and squirrel and didnt want to destroy the animal. not every critter requires an ounce of shot to bring down.

i was shooting skeet one day and an old guy showed up with a well worn 410 wingmaster. proceeded to bust 25 out of 25 for the 3 rounds we shot together.

Most folks can't shoot that well,which is one of the reasons everytime a discussion on a shotgun for {Insert reason here} is started the "12 gauge only" crowd pops up.

I'm saying that each gauge has a use,the .410 is best suited for close range defensive work because that is where the smaller payload will be most effective on target.

The 20 gauge is best for outside the home but still in cluttered urban surroundings.

The 12 gauge is best for situations that require more firepower (in other words 1oz Slugs)

[chad68]

Since we are talking about too small of shotguns, let me throw this out.

I was at Bass Pro Shops last weekend and they had an over under Stoeger in 20 gauge. The same sized Stoeger (OAL) also comes in a .410 as well. After looking it up, it was actually a youth model 20 they had in the store. It was almost the same length as the 12 gauge coach gun they had.

I thought it was cool as hell for a cheapy over under and the compact size was kinda cool.

Question is, how lame would it be for a grown man to buy and use a youth sized shotgun for informal plinking and maybe small birds if was needed for that? I don't have any use for a .410 or a over under but wanted a over under and a 410 anyway and the over under .410 kills two birds with one stone (shotgun).

[Pfletch83]

Since we are talking about too small of shotguns, let me throw this out.

I was at Bass Pro Shops last weekend and they had an over under Stoeger in 20 gauge. The same sized Stoeger (OAL) also comes in a .410 as well. After looking it up, it was actually a youth model 20 they had in the store. It was almost the same length as the 12 gauge coach gun they had.

I thought it was cool as hell for a cheapy over under and the compact size was kinda cool.

Question is, how lame would it be for a grown man to buy and use a youth sized shotgun for informal plinking and maybe small birds if was needed for that? I don't have any use for a .410 or a over under but wanted a over under and a 410 anyway and the over under .410 kills two birds with one stone (shotgun).

If that's what you want pick it up.

[PEZHEAD265]

Where can you get 00 buck for a 20??#2 buck in 3inch #3 buck 2 3/4 is all I can find.The 20 ga is best for me because anyone in the family can shoot it and has 3/4 of the power and 1/2 the recoil of a 12ga.

[Richard Erichsen]

.410 shotguns : Small payload,small case,almost useless to most for small game hunting with birdshot.

20 Gauge : Larger payload than a .410, it has a mid. size case,lighter recoil than a 12 gauge,it gets very high marks for pattern density for small game hunting.

12 Gauge : The most powerful of the three,these guns have been used to hunt small as well as deadly game.

The 12 is highly respected for it's capabilities,but with those capabilities come a few drawbacks,heavier recoil,and more weight to lug around,as well as bulkier ammo.


Defense Gauges.

The .410 with it's smaller load of shot (#4 Buck or '000' buck) in my opinion is best used for close range room to room defensive action.
With the right choke and ammunition, the .410 is more than up to the task.

The 20 has a larger shell and more shot capicity (#3 Buck and '00' Buck) which would be a better social shotgun,due to the lighter weight and reduced ammo bulk (suburban truck/trunk gun).

The 12 is heavy but at the same time highly effective,which is best used for hunting dangerous game (though it is the standard for police and military for offensive use)

There are a few more gauges that while less common exist because one size does not fit all needs.

The first shotgun I ever fired was a .410 and for many uses, it's the equivalent of the utilitarian .22 LR Marlin single shot rifles you get to shoot in the Scouts. Both rounds are great at what they do best, with far less recoil and blast for introducing new shooters to the sport and make great small mammal and bird hunting implements. With less shot, you're forced to learn to point and lead, a useful foundation.

For defensive use at the typically close ranges of 3-7 yards, while it may not be quite as effective statistically, there are a few buckshot loads available that will certainly get the job done and the much lower recoil will allow faster followup shots if more are needed.

My favorite gauge of all time was the 16 gauge, now displaced by the 12 and 20. I had a Winchester 1200 in that gauge that I really liked. It was one of the few weapons that I really wish I hadn't sold. It was nothing fancy to be sure, was well used by the time I obtained it and a joy to shoot. It could do everything the 12 gauge did, but faster. With the reduced recoil loads used in 12 gauge, you'll find they are often less potent than the standard 16 gauge loads with roughly equal payload. It would seem the 16 gauge had it right all along.

I've shot the old Sears catalog 28 and 32 gauge single and double barrel break open shotguns and enjoyed them. The 20 gauge has for the most part displaced these fine sporting gauges.

The 12 gauge is a good all-arounder, but it's sometimes just too much gauge for the purpose. The advent of very light recoiling shells have made it possible to introduce new shooters to shotguns, but that too seems to assume the only "proper" gauge were a 12 and that's just not so.

The 410 and 20 are a better options for those new to shotguns and I'd dare say the 20 is probably the better choice for most HD purposes, for most people skilled and unskilled alike. Able bodied but elderly people, adolescents, small statured individuals often do better with a 20 than a 12.

There are also different lengths of shells to pack more payload into the length, so it's not accurate to say the 12 gauge always has more payload. A 3.5" 20 gauge vs. a 2.75" 12 gauge is one comparison.

There are reasons for why there are literally hundreds of kinds of hammers, saws and screwdrivers too, each type evolved to fit specific purposes well and others not so well. In a 12 gauge the extra payload, recoil and blast isn't as critical in HD because the pattern is golf-ball sized and if it hits, all the pellets are going to hit. Shot density and quantity is more important at the farther end of the effective range than point-blank 3-7 yards. The extra recoil, blast and flash can dazzle in the dark, not ideal. A smaller gauge will be more than capable of dealing with the threat.

R