First time out with Taurus 410

[PennsyPlinker]

First time out with Taurus 410 and Questions

Greetings all

This afternoon I got my first chance to take my brandy new Taurus 410 out to the range. It was fun while it lasted, with a little bit of disappointment at the end. I read a little bit about it here and other places, and am wondering if anyone else has any updates on their own experiences.

I had several different loads for it. The .410 #8 birdshot fired just fine, and made a real nice spray of holes in the target at 21 ft. The casings ejected a little on the stiff side, but no problem. The .45 Long Colt made nice big holes in the target, and were reasonably well grouped so that if it had been a real bad guy, he would have been Tango Utah in very short order. Those casings ejected very easily. Then I stuffed some .410 rifled slugs into the thing. It made a very impressive boom and an equally impressive hole in the target, but all five casings were stuck in the cylinder!

Fortunately I had taken my EBR along and so finished up my trip making noise with it for a while. When I got home I took a 1/4" wooden dowel, and the .410 shells popped out with almost no effort at all. I will be down to the gunshop when he opens up again this week, but in the meantime, I was wondering if anyone else here who owns this thing has come across this problem and if so, have you solved it? Not that it makes any difference, but I hace the 6" barrel version.

Thanks.

 

[Beagle-zebub]

Not to highjack this thread, but can someone comment on the effect on rifling of the use of shotshells, as in this case?

 

[PennsyPlinker]

Bump. Doesn't anyone else here have one of these things?

 

[461]

I'd have one if they were legal in CA. I have a very big soft spot for .410's.

 

[MCgunner]

Bump. Doesn't anyone else here have one of these things?

Nope, hell, I ain't figured out what they're good for, yet.

 

[461]

Good for? Why's it gotta be good for something? just plain sounds like fun to me.

 

[mnrivrat]

Just a quick question so we don't overlook the obvious - were the .410 rounds 2&1/2" ?

 

[SteelyNirvana]

The June 2006 issue of GUNS Magazine ran a short article on this .45LC/.410GA gun.The test model they used was a 3" barreled version.The author tested 4,6, 7 1/2 and 9 shot.Using anything other than the no.9 shot he was having trouble hitting the target from 15 yards.The Taurus is rifled with a right-hand twist.His theory for this is:in a short 3" barrel,the shot cup is acting more like a solid projectile.It is being engaged by the rifling,and the shot load is being spun off to the right.His goes on to state that the much lighter no. 9's are immediately being dispersed upon exit by air resistance and therefore giving a usable pattern.

Now my question about this is: Couldn't you reload some 410's and just use one of those fiber wads, like they use in black powder shooting, to separate the powder and shot.Therefore there won't be a shot cup to get engaged in the rifling to spin off? and giving more accurate shot placement?

Brian Craig

 

[PennsyPlinker]

Well, there are a couple of non shell related issues here. First is, the "what is it good for" issue. If I had to pass that bar, I would have a lot smaller gun collection than I do now! But it really is good for something - at least I think so. I have a wife and three daughters who like to shoot a little, but not a lot. They recognize the need for home defense, but put the burden on me, like I am going to be here all of the time. That is not the case, so they have had to learn to operate all the guns, and become at least proficient with the ones in the quick open safe.

Second is the accuracy. I cannot speak to the 3" barrel, but with my 6" barrel, I was hitting the bad guy target very easily at 7 yds with #8 shot, rifled slugs, and .45 LC rounds. I dug my target out of the truck where it has been riding around for the past few days. Before anyone wants to criticize my marksmanship, I do not claim to be a deadeye, and this shooting was done in extremely cold weather just before sunset with a brand new gun. I suspect I will improve with a little bit of practice. But if it were a bad guy, there would be one less bad guy in the world, and that is what counts, right? The big holes are .45 LC and .410 slugs. The little ones are birdshot.



The .410 rounds were all 2 1/2" long. I had two brands available to shoot. The birdshot was Estate (never heard of them, but it was what little was available at Cabela's). The offending rounds were Federal Classic rifled slugs I got from the dealer who sold me the gun. He was also very low on .410 and completely out of .45 LC.

If I can get this problem solved, I think it is going to be a great gun. Even if I can't, it is going to be a lot of fun to shoot (maybe without the rifled slugs) and it is going to be hell on those pigeons in my barn.

 

[iostorm]

wow that spread pattern was that big at only 7 yds?

i think the reality with that gun is it is really a very close range gun with the shot shells, like 8ft and under.

 

[El Tejon]

Pen, I have one. I purchased it as a Christmas gift to myself.

http://www.thehighroad.org/showthread.php?t=241338

I have the blue 2.5" version. It is a very fun weapon.

 

[PennsyPlinker]

wow that spread pattern was that big at only 7 yds?

That's about it. I just got back from part deux at the range. My daughter needed to go to the library, and since the range is only half a mile from the library...

I had some more curious results. Shot patterns were about the same as they were in the picture above. I loaded the thing with another cylinder full of rifled slugs. I came prepared with my deadblow hammer and a wood dowel for removing them if need be, and fully expected to use it, since some of the shells took a prodigious effort to install them in the cylinder. I went through two cylinders just like that, and they all extracted just fine, with no real effort at all! But here is the curious part. After firing five shots, I stepped forward to examine the target, and counted eight holes. I looked at the box the shells were in again, and it said rifled slug. Those things are supposed to be one per, right? I wonder if somehow something got mixed up at the factory. There are no markings on the shells themselves, although the #8 shot is clearly marked.

At any rate, shooting it was fun again, and my daughter demonstrated her ability to plaster the bad guy target with shot if need be. Tomorrow I am going to stop by the gun shop and discuss all this with the owner.

 

[OpFlash]

From what I have read/heard about shot patterns through a rifled shotgun barrel, the pattern forms a doughnut shape.

Do not use .410 anything for defense from that pistol. A decent 45Colt load is way more powerful than shooting .410 shells from that short barrel. I've heard of buckshot bouncing off plywood.

Edit: regarding your post above, whatever they were using for wadding for those slugs probably made the other holes, don't know why there's not more of 'em though.

 

[PennsyPlinker]

El Tejon, I just finished reading through the thread you started on your own. You've got a lot more through yours than I have had time to do, plus it is way too cold here right now for shooting to be fun for very long. Finding .410 shells around here has been a real challenge too. Cabela's had bare shelves, something I am not used to seeing around here, and the dealer who sold it to me was real low too.

I bought two boxes of .45 Long Colt, which was enough for my lovely wife to encourage me to spend some more money on reloading supplies! Even the cheapest stuff was close to a buck a bullet. But hey, if it gets me permission to buy more gun stuff...

The only thing that really has my shorts in a knot about this gun is that the very first time I put it in the gun safe I dinked the end of the barrel on the outside, just enough to put a little scratch in the bluing. Other than that, it looks like it might settle down with the tight shell thing.

 

[PennsyPlinker]

I've heard of buckshot bouncing off plywood.

Yeah, but people ain't made out of plywood. Seriously, would you take a facefull of buckshot, or even birdshot at close range? You could put someone's eye out with that and still be able to club the guy with this thing. It is a serious blunt instrument when it runs out of shells.

 

[461]

For an avid .410 shooter, one must reload. It's the only shotshell I reload for as I can find 12 and 20 gauge for cheap enough to not bother with it but the .410 makes it very worthwhile. My son and I shot over a hundred rounds through my .410 the last time we went plinking and that much .410 would have really put a dent in the fun at local prices.

 

[El Tejon]

Bah, cold! Dan Flory and I were outside at the range all day Sunday when it was 13 below zero. No mud, no bugs and we had the range to ourselves. Wear a coat and cowboy up. Just don't put your tongue on the firearm.

Buck a bullet?!?! Buddy, you need a Rural King near you. I buy .45LC for less than a quarter a round.

Don't worry about dings on the gun. It's a shooter, not a safe queen. It will be used and abused. That's why I kick all my guns to the car from the store.

 

[Gaucho Gringo]

If I read your first post correctly you first shot the .410 birdshot, then the .45 LC and the the .410 slugs. If you shot them in that order then the .410 slug shell extraction problem is easily solved. The .45 LC are shorter than the shotgun shells. When shot they leave a ring in the cylinders. When you insert the longer .410 shells they go over the ring. When shot they expand and get caught on the ring. The same thing happens when you shot .38 spl and then try to shoot .357 mag out of the same revolver.

 

[PennsyPlinker]

Bah, cold! Dan Flory and I were outside at the range all day Sunday when it was 13 below zero. No mud, no bugs and we had the range to ourselves. Wear a coat and cowboy up. Just don't put your tongue on the firearm.

Yeah, but was the wind blowing? It was snowing sideways when we packed up.

461, (and El Tejon) - the upside to the expensive .45 LC is that I am able to resurrect my plans for reloading. I got off to a fale start a few years ago, and the stuff I bought has been sitting in the box. I got it out last night and with her blessing will be able to get it set up shortly. Reloading .410 may be a little ways down the road, but a possibility as well.

GG, I varied the same loads at the range yesterday, with no problems at all. Is the ring you describe something that is going to be permanent? I wouldn't have thought something like that would be a factor.