Shooting clays and skeet with a .410
- Thread starter guninhand
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Its a .410... I wouldn't worry too much about the pattern quality- you are going to need to center up the target to get breaks at distance. The pattern quality from a long column of shot vs a "square" load maybe measurable but probably not significant in your case. Shooting more targets will benefit your success more than the pattern quality, so IMHO just go shoot more targets and don't worry about what the interwebs say.
Check with your club before shooting 3" hulls. Clubs often have rules limiting shooting to 2-3/4" hulls only.
The clubs that I shoot at, limit shot size, velocity, and total shot charge volume, but some clubs may not allow 3" shells. You could always trim your hulls to 2-1/2". If you do start shooting skeet with a 410, you will discover that is isn't as difficult as some people make it out to be, the breaks aren't as dramatic, but the 410 can shoot good scores, if you shoot well.
As also stated elsewhere above, I wouldn't worry about the pattern. In fact 3" would be an advantage since with the 11/16 oz loads you are getting and increase of 37% in the shot count over the 1/2 oz loads. Good luck though in finding 3" ammo in .410 bore.
My most enjoyable rounds of skeet are with a 410 GA x 2 1/2", 1/2 oz # 9s (I reload AA hulls). I use a tubed K80 or a Browning Special Sporting Clays with 410 barrels. I especially like it if t's windy (or wobble skeet)!! Our local club doesn't limit shell length, just shot size.
I shoot sporting clays almost exclusively now with .410. If your gun has choke tubes, make sure to pattern. I was surprised at the results, finding F gave my worst patterns and LM was the best at 30y. I settled on LM/M as the best patterns from my 725 Sporting and have enjoyed the results using 1/2oz. of #8's.
I did pattern both 3" and 2.5" in our little Stevens 311 .410 out of curiosity, to see if I needed to pay the premium for 3" ammo for rabbit hunting (back before I was reloading). I found the extra shot in the 3" shell only transmitted to 1/2 doz. more pellets in the useful part of the pattern. That was #6's through F choke, but the takeaway from all my .410 testing to date is that 1/2oz. of shot through a 1/2 choke (-ish) is the most efficient combination, as you can only squeeze so much down that little tube.
I did pattern both 3" and 2.5" in our little Stevens 311 .410 out of curiosity, to see if I needed to pay the premium for 3" ammo for rabbit hunting (back before I was reloading). I found the extra shot in the 3" shell only transmitted to 1/2 doz. more pellets in the useful part of the pattern. That was #6's through F choke, but the takeaway from all my .410 testing to date is that 1/2oz. of shot through a 1/2 choke (-ish) is the most efficient combination, as you can only squeeze so much down that little tube.
Really only applies to 12 ga
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Has nothing to do with hull length. In registered skeet you can choose to shoot any of the 3 sub-gauges in all four gauge events provided you go under the gauge of the event or in other words its up to you if you choose to shoot 4.10 in 28/20 or 12ga events etc. you just can't do it the other way around and shoot 28/20 or 12 in a 4.10 event and same goes for all other guage events. The two years I shot registered skeet I always shot the 20ga for the 12ga events. 3" is not allowed in any event in registered skeet and in 4.10 a 2.5" hull with 1/2oz shot is the maximum allowed.
We have a handful of guys at our club shooting 4.10 and they shoot reloaded 3" hulls regularly but it's just casusl skeet, not registered.
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60 to 90 years ago?! That's a little outdated!
Those rule books would be a cool edition to a shooting collection but you may want to keep a newer one in your shooting bag?
The registered 12, 20, 28 ga and 410 bore skeet events limit the weight of shot used, not cartridge length, muzzle velocity, pellet size or whatever. The limits are 1 1/8 oz, 7/8 oz, 3/4 oz and 1/2 oz of shot, respectively. So in registered competition some shoot 20 ga in the 12 ga event to lessen recoil or whatever and you could shoot 410 in any event but would give up a tremendous advantage to anyone using a bigger bore. Serious skeet shooters will almost always use #9 shot for maximum pellet density: 1 1/8 oz of #9 shot is about 470 pellets whereas 1/2 oz in 410 amounts to 292 pellets....I have counted them too many times. A good12 ga skeet gun pattern will measure about 30 inches diameter at 21 yds whereas a reliable 410 pattern will be about 20 to 24 inches diameter. A 20" pattern has half as many square inches as a 30" pattern. Anyone who can consistently score 20/25 or better with a 410 is a good skeet shooter.
Actually 1-1/8 oz of #9 is about 658 pellets. I shoot most of my skeet with the 28 gauge and 410, and to be honest, my 28 gauge scores aren't much different from my 12 gauge scores, but my 410 scores average around 2-3 lower out of 100.
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