What I find...
Winchester 410 AAHS is the best 410 hull ever made, which isn't saying all that much since compared to 12 and 20 gauge, 410 hulls are lousy as far as reload life. I don't see head splits on new 410 AAHS shells, but then I'm only one data point.
I use a hot load in 410 since speed kills in that gauge. I use 2400 (and bought a goodly supply last time I found it) at 1250 fps, a claybuster wad, and a full 1/2 ounce of hard #9. It fits fine.
The load works great, crimps are factory like the first load, and reload life is not all that bad at perhaps 6 cycles before case mouth splits render the case useless. They aren't pretty after two cycles, but they work. Forget a 410 automatic after the first reload.
STS 12 & 20 gauge are way, way better than anything else for reloading - the Gun Club hulls second. Gun Clubs (and the Sport Load and Black Beauties which are the same) are preferable to even AA hulls in 12 and 20. Winchester blew it when they ditched the compression formed AA for an 'improvement' (read here to cut costs).
I don't have any 28 gauge equipment, so I can't comment on that except for what I've seen on the skeet fields. Yes the 28 gauge as a whole seems to suffer many case burn throughs, like the old Peters 'Blue Magic' did. This might be mostly since people push the 28 gauge empties beyond maximum life because they cost an arm and a leg for no good reason.
I do agree on the performance of new small gauge STS shells. It's beautiful ammunition, almost too pretty to shoot, but the fired cases are mostly just trash.
