Chuck, I have shot three flats of Rio .410 non Bismuth, none of the Bismuth shot. Was not impressed. I'd buy a box and pattern it before I bought a flat. The Bismuth might be better. Hope so for your sake as there are few non tox options in the .410 priced reasonable. I expect you will be happier to reload your own in the end. RIO hulls are near the bottom of the list on my reloading desirability list. I'd take Remington, AA or Federals first.
You can find Remington 3" 410 hulls on Gunbroker for $160/1000 if you wait, which is a good price for them. Most sellers want .30 each plus shipping. I load the Hodgdon recipe or 5/8 ounce Bismuth, Lil Gun powder and orange PC wad. I used seven of these yesterday on pen raised pheasant. No complaint by the pheasants but the guide was quite whinny. I thought six for seven was good. Better than his mutt, which kept bumping birds wild deserved.
Funny how guides can be. I've watched countless "hunters", on a "game farms", blow through three 12 ga. shells, often with poor or no results, too many times to count. But show up with a .410 or 28 or even a 20 and they think this is not going to be worth a damn. News to them, I don't come out to hear the gun go off and birds fly away laughing at me. I get all of that I need at home. Thank you very much. I am not a World class, expert .410 shooter but can hit just about anything I shoot at within 25-30 yards if I do my part. Like Clint says a man needs to know his limitations. I do. 30 on a good day, maybe 33 yards, much closer to 25 or even 20 on a bad day and I always try to start as close as I can. Like Clint says a man needs to know his limitations.
