doublegunshop.com - home Forums General Discussion DoubleGun BBS @ doublegunshop.com .410 Spreader load ?

A friend has a Merkel .410 with very tight chokes, he shoots quail and does not want to open the chokes. I told him ,I would ask if anyone makes a spreader load for .410?

Thanks in advance

PDD

Tight .410 choke pattern much better than more open chokes in that bore size.
The .410 does not follow the same choke course as the larger gauges.
I suggest he leave it as is or open one choke up to no more than Mod.

If you find or have someone make some spreader loads up for your friend he had better pattern them before he tries them on game. I found that the SpredR did increase the pattern from tight full to Modified with my 16 gauge but at 30 yards with 7/8th ounces of shot I had pattern sheets with strong center cores but with multiple (4 and 5) voids in the pattern at the periphery that would have allowed a bird to pass through unscathed so that even though I had overall pattern density which should have given solid 30 yard performance I was actually getting only effective patterns at 22 yards or less.

I did not think about the shot string in a .410 being so small that a spreader or super open choke would really be a negative with a .410

thanks

PDD

For a spreader load in a .410, using the simple method of a card wad separator may be the easiest to produce. I suggest starting with but one in the middle of the shot column and going to the pattern board to see & judge the effect.

BTW, You can make an arch punch by champhering the edge of a suitable dia tube and punching the card wads from shirt boards or any suitable card stock, inclusive of index cards. Chosen card material & thickness will likely affect dif results.

I use .003 choke in my tubes for skeet. Nothing patterned worth a darn until we polished the factory forceing cones.
bill

PDD,
Your friend should have his gun rechoked to skeet/modified and use #8 shot, limiting his shots to within no more then 25-30 yards. Full chokes on .410s are based on faulty logic that since the shot load is so small it must be concentrated. Full chokes might be okay for squirrels, but that's about all. Based on current technology, the .410 is not a reliable 40 yard gun, with that in mind having a full choke is useless.
Just my not so humble opinion.
Steve
PS I had a .410 NS and the modified choke gave beautiful patterns at 25-30 yards.

PPD,
I am very familiar with the use of very tight chokes on quail. It can be very distructive on birds with shots in the 17-18 yrd and less area. I am not familiar with spreaders in a .410 either. Given the long column of the shot in the shell/bore, I'd lean toward trying what TW proposed. You might also check over on the .410 forum.

If he is shooting 3" shells, I recommend he go down to a 2 1/2" shell for the short shots and also go up, yes up, in shot size. This reduces the pattern density. I've found Winchester 2 1/2" #6 shells at discount stores and they were great on quail at close range.

I do have a gun that I hunt quail with that has a cylinder bore in the right barrel. I have a long forcing cone in that gun and shoot 3" shells. The cylinder bore produces excellent patterns at 25 yrds. It has killed a lot of quail this past season, but the first thing it killed was a farm raised rooster inbound at about 20-25 yrds with a 3/4 oz Win #6 load. I agree with Bill S., forcing cones on a .410 are very influential in the pattern, especially as distance increases and damaged shot start flying astray. There is a high percentage of the shot that makes contact with the forcing cone/bore in a .410 (especially a 3" shell) compared to larger bores.

A good point, often overlooked. You can just about scare a cottontail to death with a loud yell, but I used to hunt them with #4's in an open choke. Pattern density, not shot size, mangles game.