.410 on full sporting clay course

[Hoxviii]

Gentlemen,

Question involving sporting clays on a full gauge course.

Last Thursday I got a call from a friend to "go shoot clays" on Saturday. Said of course and looked in the safe. Have a sxs .410 that hasn't seen action in 8-10 years, grabbed it and figured if I ran 50% on skeet i'd be happy.

Well, show up and it's a full gauge sporting clay course. I'll call the experience humbling to say the least. Ran 25%, now mind it was A LOT of fun only hitting 1 in 4, but I'm used to running about 75% with a 12 GA.

I realize this means I'm using the 12GA spread to overcome accuracy (that's the point and all), but I guess what's a "decent" .410 score on a sporting clay range.

I'm hanging my head at the 25%, but I will say most of the stands I saw I said "I'd NEVER take that shot in the field!" As I fired away to not waste the bird.

Justin

 

[jbkebert]

We went and shot sporting clays last weekend. I decided to take my old 870 wingmaster 28ga. This gun has been given to my oldest son as it was my first gun at the age of 10. When I was 10-12 or 13 I shot this gun tons and dropped alot of dove, quail, and several pheasant. However not shooting this shotgun at all in the last 10 or 12 years. Well I made a humble man out of myself. I managed to hit 21 out of 50 better than nothing but I will let the kids take over from here.

 

[ledheplin]

I love shooting clays with my .410 and I'm actually a lot better with it than 12. On a bad day I'll get half but I've gotten up to 43 out of 45 one day. Should've seen the looks on all the other guys faces....

 

[Hoxviii]

Subgauges are fun, I have a matched pair .410 and 28 wingmaster, love the 28 for quail and dove.

But pretty much I know I had the wrong gun for the situation. A 28 or 20 would have been a godsend, but again it was a fun shoot so I had fun with it with what I had. Did solid on the close stations, but those high long shots just made me shake my head at the wasted lead.

Justin

 

[One_Jackal]

Skeet are manageable with a 410. Clays are much different. Many of the traps are out of 410 range before they present the clay. I have only shot with one man that consistently scored well with a 410. He is the 65 and over national sporting clay champion, Larry Corbett. The old buzzard was blessed with fantastic reflexes. His course is rose hill in nashville, NC. Rose Hill is a wonderful facility.

 

[oneounceload]

Folks a pellet traveling 1200 fps knows not whether it was fired from a 12 or a 410 - the distance is the same. The issue is the payload and the subsequent pattern with large gaps in it. If a station calls for an IC choke with a 12, then you will need a Mod in 410 and you will need to be on your game and centering your hits to do well - it IS harder, but not impossible.

A SxS is the hardest type of shotgun to shoot well, fit is absolutely critical, as is shot placement, reading the target line, ammo selection and choke

As long as you had fun, don't worry about it, but if you are shooting for score, next time bring the 12

 

[jbkebert]

Heck I had a ball shooting my old 28. The score was not great but shooting a sub-gage with a fixed full choke isn't the smartest either. Heck if I could master this gun again just think how I could shoot a 12ga with interchangable chokes.

 

[Tom Held]

just point the gun right

One Ounce is right. I shot sporting clays this past Sunday with our group of nor-do-wells and two of them brought out their 410s: one was a beautiful Iver Johnson Skeeter, and the other an equally nice Levefer both well over 60 year old side by sides. All of us are old farts, into our 60s, but these two were breaking birds even on the springing teal station, easily 30 yards out but yes, they missed their share of close in birds. We never bother keeping score, just more fun lying about it later. But I would guess they were shooting 70% on a average course. We also shoot simo pairs on every station. So it can be done.

 

[BarkeyVA]

I shoot wobble clays from time to time my .410 Marlin model 90 choked F/F. Most shots are 20-30 or at most 35 yards shooting 1 single and two report pairs at 5 stations. Using 2-1/2" shells I can consistantly hit 18-20/25 and occasionally a 21 or 22 with it. I shoot about the same scores with my 28 ga. CZ bobwhite SxS. Definitely a lot fun. Have never taken the .410 hunting.