The Caldwell .410
 

I received my latest DGJ yesterday and after thumbing through it completely I went back and read John Johnson's well done article on his three Parker .410s with a focus on the fully optioned VHE ordered by Caldwell Banker's first president.

It was a very nice and informative article John and I enjoyed it.

Tonight I'll read about a collection of four very high condition lower grade Parkers that look beautiful in the pictures.

I enjoyed it too. I always say there are no Parkers in Oregon but yesterday a gunsmith here showed me a beautiful Parker hammer gun and 2 hours later I came home and read Johnson's article. I guess I gotta get out more.

I have much admiration for those few who are excellent shots with a 410. I've shot Parker and other makes of 410's and struggle with them, and consequently am of the view that they are not a game or target gun for me. The story about his accuracy with a 410 for quail and doves was impressive.
While at the UP shoot, I listened to a fellow discuss that 410s should have a more open choke for a tighter pattern. I don't know enough to know, but these 410's are tough to use with any effectiveness. At the UP, I shot 410, 28, 20 and 12 ga's at the long range course, where you stepped back every time you made the preceeding shot. I struggled to get halfway back with the 410 and did incrementally better as the bore size increased.

I had the pleasure of shooting John Dunkle's skeet .410 at the Jan 1st Major Waldron shoot. I shot low gun American Skeet and smashed the first six targets then managed to miss most of the rest :eek:

A .410 is not an easy gun to be consistant with . . . unless it's consistantly missing :rolleyes:

The .410 is just like any other gauge. The more choke, the tighter the pattern until diminishing returns sets in. Bruce was talking to someone who has never patterned a .410. A .410 in the field should have a bit of choke, a lot if you use it at its limit of effectiveness. I sure would like to have one of those modified and full .410s in the article.

Bill, I can't imagine that he was not the expert on 410's that he purported to be. He wasn't shooting anything, just hanging around while Mike Koranda and I shot, but he seemed to know so much more than others, and I am truly a novice with 410's.

We offered to let him shoot the 410 and demonstrate, but unfortunately, he had some eye problems and wasn't able to shoot.

By the way, our member Mile Koranda is an excellent shot, and if I am not mistaken, won the 410 and 28ga distance events, I think I placed 3rd. Mike also did very well in the pigeon ring and sporting clays events. I placed at the 50% break shooting a Parker 12 C fluid steel with light loads at sporting and a Parker 12 C Bernard with heavier loads at the pigeon ring.

We both used Mike's AYA with 410 and 28ga barrels, as neither of us have the real small ga's in a Parker.

I know of a few "pilots" like that who hang around the airport all the time and never seem to fly anything. But boy do they have great stories of all their skills and exploits. "There I was, at 10,000 feet..."

Jim

I have found it a real pleasure to shoot and break bread with Mike Koranda. He is a real gentleman and a great shot.

The first time I shot my first .410 was at a box bird handicap shoot. The .410s were handicapped at 22 yards but we were allowed to use the big Roman Candle 3 inch loads. I went 5 for 5 with 3 second barrel kills, then blew the whole thing by chasing my surviving cripple around the ring like a girl instead of a grown man. I didn't fully understand that you had to bring your bird to bag INSIDE the ring to win it all! Nevertheless it was the zenith of my low-grade .410 Parker performances. Of course I shot my higher grade gun a lot better........Did I mention I once went a way-back-when limit of 5 Woodcock with 11 shells with an LC Smith .410? Or do I need to move that over to the other site? Greg is watching...........

Kevin. A great shot with a .410 is a great shot with a .410! I don't care what make gun you were using :bowdown: