410 for a single rabbit hunted/shot

Brutus

Brutus

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West of most places....and in Alberta
Sounds boring huh?
Well a half ounce load of 7.5 birdshot from the small 2 1/2 inch Challenger shell did the trick at a whopping 9 yards.
Launched from my latest acquisition, a Springfield/CZ M6 Scout in 22 Hornet/410.
Worst part was waiting for the #1 Wolves, #2 Coyotes, #3 Deer hunters, to give me some breathing space to hunt.
Best part was returning from a hunt without a sore back. (10 gauge at 10 plus pounds!) :(

let the games commence!
 
Brybenn, there is just too many varmints up here for my solo day hunts up here in NE Alberta for me to be comfortable with a 22 LR only.

Bears and wolves used to often shadow me in the fall, especially on late afternoon/early evening bunny hunts in my most fruitful hunting spots.
(coyotes and lynxes too, but they don't carry the same respect) Once I was about 6 feet from a black bear at dusk and I wished at that very moment that I had something with more clout then the otherwise fine Ruger 10-22 rifle.

It might sound kind of silly, but even the little 410 gives me some extra measure of personal warm and fuzzy with the ability of the second barrel holding a single slug or five 000 buckshot pellets as an option. Doesn't hurt that the rifle barrel is the smallest centrefire 22 bore either. The Hornet is on standby for Mister Wile E as the MD of Bonnyville awards a bounty for them up here. Wolves too. Ontario residents have not enjoyed this for wolves since 1988.
In backwoods boreal forest Alberta, this fine little firearm could fill your larder and pay for gas too! ;)

These days it's one of the two 20 gauges or this 410 that are my own very frequent hunting choices.

Cheers...
 
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You are lucky.

When I'm up north I carry my sxs 45/70 with 405 gr cast bullets. Rabbits and grouse with head shots and a very warm sense of security when the light dims. I know exactly what you're talking about
However I live in the real south west Ontario where coyotes are the biggest predator in the bush. This is where I do most of my small game hunting
 
There is some steel shot .410 loads that could work good in your firearms since it's

should be a modified choke on it ( if I remember correctly). Those steel shots should

give you an advantage since they are lighter and the shotshell could carry more

pellets for the same weight! Use 3 inch cartridge!

I bought some but haven't tested it yet! I wanted to get denser pattern out of my M-6...
 
enoch said:
There is some steel shot .410 loads that could work good in your firearms since it's

should be a modified choke on it ( if I remember correctly). Those steel shots should

give you an advantage since they are lighter and the shotshell could carry more

pellets for the same weight! Use 3 inch cartridge!

I bought some but haven't tested it yet! I wanted to get denser pattern out of my M-6...
Click to expand...

How the heck do you figure steel shot is an advantage??? With a .410 on rabbits and hares pellet count is irrelevant, energy is where it's at...

3" lead #6's from a .410 has accounted for hundreds of bunnies for me... a single .410 is a great bunny gun... a SXS or O/U .410 is a "greater" bunny gun... a pump or semi .410 is pretty nice on bunnies also... and then you have 28 gauges, which maybe the best all round choice on bunnies, given their varying (no pun intended) habitats.
 
Always found it interesting that 410 routinely comes in 2 1/2 inch or 3 inch. 410 is already pretty light and then to put out a 2 1/2 shell seems odd. I always carried slugs when using a 410. At short range they do have some punch. Found some 1/4 oz slugs once but only 1/5 oz lately.
 
hoytcanon said:
How the heck do you figure steel shot is an advantage??? With a .410 on rabbits and hares pellet count is irrelevant, energy is where it's at...

3" lead #6's from a .410 has accounted for hundreds of bunnies for me... a single .410 is a great bunny gun... a SXS or O/U .410 is a "greater" bunny gun... a pump or semi .410 is pretty nice on bunnies also... and then you have 28 gauges, which maybe the best all round choice on bunnies, given their varying (no pun intended) habitats.
Click to expand...

I was thinking it but I figured you'd get there first Hoyt!! Laugh2Laugh2

Come on Hoyt think about it......by going to steel you pick up all those extra pellets in the same weight of charge/shot size. They may be 15% lighter but think how much faster they are. You have to look at this from all sides. Now the OP stretched his shot out to 9 yards so that may be pushing the envelope!! ;)
 
I just wanted to test the patern because with the M-6 there is hole in the patern so

I thought that with steel shot it would make it more effective all around (grouse,bunny,,,).

Wth steel being lighter you could play easily with shot size, but again as I said I didn't had the

time to test it!

By the way I know that energy is important. But so is pattern and penetration!
 
enoch said:
I just wanted to test the patern because with the M-6 there is hole in the patern so

I thought that with steel shot it would make it more effective all around (grouse,bunny,,,).

Wth steel being lighter you could play easily with shot size, but again as I said I didn't had the

time to test it!

By the way I know that energy is important. But so is pattern and penetration!
Click to expand...

Energy = Penetration ie: let's say a #6 lead pellet has 2.6 pounds of energy at 30 yards and a #6 steel has 1.8? In theory which one has more penetration factor behind it? So now you have had to drop down two shot sizes in steel in order to have the same energy as the # 6 lead pellet. That means you have just given up the pellet numbers because you have gone from the diameter of a #6 pellet to a #4 to get the equivalent amount of energy sacrificing pellet numbers. It's a vicious cycle......why anyone would voluntarily buy steel shot in a 4.10 shell is beyond my reasoning after 25 years of non-toxic shotshell technology proving steel cannot outperform lead.
 
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Just info, but I found that the 7.5 lead gave me excellent & evenly spaced patterns at 10 yards at the range. On a adequately sized target.
Hence this choice.

I miked the bore two weeks ago, .387ish (A full choke I think?)
 
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Superbrad said:
Any signs they are starting to turn Brutus?
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Yes Brad, they certainly are turning. Earlier in this afternoon hunt I missed one purely because he was white and against a wall of white. I was only about twelve yards (I had stopped and I was looking around) from him when his movement caught my eye. And then he totally disappeared into another wall of white, never to be seen again.

About 30 minutes later I got this one instead. And he was in the very light grey and turning to white color phase.

Cheers
 
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