The 410 Bore
 

Why the never ending interest in 410 bore shotguns? I am referring to high-end 410s, not the children's variety. To me, the gun is fit for nothing more than hunting field mice and garter snakes. I understand they are rare, relatively speaking, but it seems the rarity is driven by lack of utility. I am not trying ruffle feathers. Enlighten me.

-Victor

Do you have one to sell?

No, never had any interest. However, after reading these pages for the past year, I have an irrational urge to buy one.

I wouldn't exactly say " Fit for Nothing ":rotf:

In the right hands a Parker .410 is a rare and dandy little bird gun.... as Russ has shown us.






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I love carrying the " Little Gun " I use it mostly for Woodcock ,and my Hunting Buddy and I do one Game Preserve shoot each season with our 410's and shoot Pheasant ,Hence the Photos !!!!!!!!!!! I have used it for Grouse on occasion but the heavy cover concerns me at times in case I would trip etc. ,I would be beside myself to fall and break the stock or worse !

The commonalty of putting them in the wrong hands concerns me.

I have taken my fair share of grouse with my .410s.

While I don't have a Parker in .410, in the right situation it is right at home for game. A few years back I took my .410 over-under skeet gun on three different dove hunts, on opening day and once in the freezing cold when the birds were much tougher. Each time I killed my limit of doves in far less than a box of shells, shooting only 2 1/2 inch # 8s. It was hard to miss as I was shooting doves at thirty yards or less over decoys. And the three inch shell contains only 1/16 of an ounce less shot than the 28 gauge. On rabbits in front of beagles in the thickets its just the thing there also.

A locally famous bird dog trainer, now passed on, told me his good friend who hunted over his dogs for years, left his .410 Parker with him and told him to use it. He used nothing else for years over his well trained dogs. Then his friend died and the son, knowing where it was, came and retrieved it from him, which he knew was not his friend's intention. He would have used it until he died.

I, along with my brother Tom also using a .410 side by side with our English Springer Spanials, have succeeded in shooting many daily limits of 6 cottontail rabbits each on his place near Cape Vincent NY where Lake Ontario becomes the St. Lawrence River.

Using my Ithaca Lefever .410 s x s, my choice of 1/2 ounce of number 4's in the right Modified barrel and 3/4 or 11/16 ounce of #4's in the left Full choke barrel was a great combination. The number 4's getting thru thicker brush and reaching out a little further. I was especially rewarded with my Springer Ted who not only flushed the bunnies but was equally useful in retreiving them back to me, in some cases, rabbits were still alive.

Shot good numbers of grouse with the gun also.

Sadly my brother Tom and my Springer Teddy are gone but definitely not forgotten. Made me feel good talking about them. Cheers to those delightful days.