410 --- any thoughts ???

[Purebred Redneck]

www.taurususa.com/products/product-details.cfm?id=201&category=Revolver#

What do you think about this as being an all around walkabout gun???

I think it's going to be comparable to a 38 or 45 cci capsules in terms of snake killing - when you look at the distances snakes are shot.

In particular though, what do you think about shooting squirrels with a 2.5" shell out of a 6.5" barrel with the bore being 45cal??? It makes for a pretty wide pattern doesn't it???
Think you can kill a squirrel (routinely) at 20-25 yards with #6 or 7.5? or is this patern going to open up too far past 20-25 feet?

[dakota]

Before the 68 gun control act Dad had a single shot break open 410 pistol. Back then he picked corn with a two row mounted corn picker - he often shot pheasants with that pistol - while picking corn.

That Taurus aught to be a real decent snake gun. What scares me is that someone my slip a 460 in those chambers.

For squirrels and what not I suspect that a screw in choke similar to the type contender uses on the 45/410 should work. Take a little smithing though.

[Bill]

I've sold a bunch of those since they came out. All have been to people that live in snake country. One guy bought a holster and riveted it to the fender of his ATV and thats where the gun stays. He says when he is fixing fence and ridding the fenceline he is always running into snakes and that the gun is be best thing he has found to take care of the big ones. Little ones it kind of chews them up. ;D ;D ;D
Some of the guys have tried the .45 LC's in them and said their not the most accurate gun on the block but do the job but most are buying the .410 shells and calling it good.

[Purebred Redneck]

Bill, do you know the pistol is rifled all the way through or is there some type of choke system for the shotshells?

So Dakota, basically I could take the gun to a gunsmith for him to tap the end of the barrel to accept the T/C choke??? Does this come with different chokes? www.tcarms.com/firearms/images/detailG2Choke.jpg

That's really the only option isn't it???
Can you tap the 45 bore and get a regular 410 choke to screw in???

[dakota]

I think the present rules say the barrel must be rifled, Which sort of screws up the shot pattern outa ways. The way contender got around it was their screw in choke had rifling, but the rifling was parrellel to the bore.
As far as a installing that choke, I would talk it over with your gunsmith before you purchase.
A friend had one of those 45/410 barrels and shot 45's in them without taking out the choke. I would not recommend that. The choke really tightens up for one thing. I would gues that there would be increased stresses to all things involved.

[Purebred Redneck]

This sounds like a royal pain.

I think this potential idea is just about over ;D

[dakota]

I don't think threading a barrel to accept a contender choke would be too hard, but I don't have the dimensions of the choke threading and the taurus in front of me.

[Purebred Redneck]

I wonder what choke the contender uses (mod, full, etc).

How much would it cost approx. to get a smith to do the work (labor only. not the cost of the choke).
Two moons might be able to give a more accurate quote.

[Bill]

I wouldn't worry about the rifling in the barrel. Most of the guys that have them arn't complaining one bit about the patterns. Where the problem is, is the big jump between case and the forcing cone for a .45 Cal bullet. It isn't the greatest thing for accuracy. But the gun is performing great when it comes to snakes and shot.

[dovehunter]

I've used the .38/.357 snake loads in my Ruger Security-Six before on snakes (and a quail or 2 - don't tell anyone) and they work fine, at least out to about 10-15 ft. or so. I've not tried them beyond that. The shells I used, as I recall they were CCI, had a plastic capsule over the shot to keep from leading up the barrel. But they actually did work.

[jimiowa]

Why would you even care abour a choke.
410 is about a 25-30 yd cartridge in a shotgun.
In a sixgun I would guess 10-20 yds, I don't think the shot colum would spin enough to effect the cgarge.
I think this would be a fine combo for pot hunting

[dakota]

There was an article in one of the gun magazines lately regarding just this. As I recall the rifling made a big difference. A large hole in the middle of the pattern past about 15 - 20 feet.

[Jack]

My experience with 38/357 and 44 Special revolvers and 45 ACP autos and shot loads is that they are a 10-15 foot device. Past that, the rifling spinning the shot (it does, believe me) has the effect of spreading the pattern so widely that you get a 'donut' effect- a hole in the middle of the pattern. The farther the distance, the bigger the donut.
I really like shot loads in revolvers, and have used them for a long time, usually using the CCI shotcups.
It's been my observation that a 44 bore or 45 bore is a much better shot pistol than any 38 or 357. Pattern density is much better- BUT, the range does NOT increase, IME.
I suspect that Taurus shooting 410 shotshells would make a really nice snake pistol at 10-15 feet. How much better it would be than a 38 or especially a 44 or 45, you'd have to let the pattern board tell you.
20-25 yards? You'd have almost zero chance of hitting a bird at that distance, I think. If you did hit one, it would be with one lucky pellet, rather than a killing hit.

[Purebred Redneck]

Why care about the choke? A full choke 410 would put more pellets in the same target than a more open choke (in a full length gun at least). The choke on this gun is VERY WIDE OPEN so I thought maybe if you can constrict the pattern the killing distance will be extended greatly compared to the factory setting.

unfortunatly I think the gun won't work for me. I was hoping for something to kill snakes with AND kill squirrels at 20-25 yards (something that the 410 is normally capable of out of a full length shotgun).
Most of the time when you jump shoot squirrels they'll be about 20 yards away when they jump up on the trunk of a tree and look at you.

I was just curouis what the pattern might look like.


I'll have to go back to the drawing boards because I'm not going to buy a gun specifically for snakes...especially when a 357 or a 45 will do the same thing.