.410 for home defense?

[milky7272]

I carry a g33 .357 sig for home defense . Just picked up a .410 cai coach gun with rabbit ears for a steal. Would the 410 loaded with buck shot be a good choice as a second home defese weapon? or would i just **** someone off? thanks milky

[ar15chase]

I think it will work just fine for HD, as long as you arent loading bird-shot in it.

[Scattergun Bob]

My First rule of a gunfight is "to HAVE A GUN, within reason most any gun will do."

I caution that a .410 bore is close to the outside edge of the "within Reason" clause of the above statement. At close range .410 bore could be effective with the right load, however your SIG would do much better.

Coach Guns by their nature amplify one of the fundamental limitations of scatterguns, limited ammo supply. After two rounds it makes a reasonable club:eek:. Also, rabbit ears are hard to work with (in comparison to modern action types) at 3AM startled awake!

I am not fond of leaving a chambered round in a scattergun for long term storage, what condition of readiness will you use?

Hope this helps

Good Luck & Be safe

[milky7272]

will leave two in the action, im just thinking of it as a back up. Great points thanks milky

[James R. Burke]

I dont think fine shot is a bad idea. It will stay together almost like a slug a close range, and it wont go thru other walls where people might be. Not to found of rabbit ears or leaving a gun loaded all the time. Just my thoughts I am sure alot of people wont aggree with me.

[Jon1911]

410 is the same dia as 45LC, so it's not like it's a joke.

I'm not familiar with the specifics of the ballistics of different 410 loads, I think most of the home defense related ballistics tests I've seen were just on 12 ga.

[ar15chase]

I went to junior high with a kid who got shot in the neck and face with a 410 loaded with birdshot I guess it must have been about 12 years ago. He was trying to break in to an old mans house, In Levelland, TX. I think he learned his lesson, but he was back at school in 1 week.

[zippy13]

I am not fond of leaving a chambered round in a scattergun for long term storage, what condition of readiness will you use?
A very good question!
What's the equivalent of cruiser ready with a coach gun?
With a rabbit eared coach gun, if you store with the hammers down over loaded chambers do you create a significant potential for a fall-and-fire incident? Does this gun have true hammers, or are they external cocking levers, pretending to be hammers, that can't be lowered after being set?

Pete

[Housezealot]

this might help you selecting shot type for a HD, it made me change my load.
http://www.theboxotruth.com/docs/bot3_2.htm

[Willie Lowman]

.410s can be loaded with three pellet 000 buck shells. Three 36 caliber balls going 1,000+fps. Danger Man says NO!

As far as birdshot wounds go, two kids I went to school with got shot accidentally. One boy got a 16 gauge to the side of his head at very close range. It fractured his skull and he nearly died. A girl was shot in her right butt cheek with a 12 gauge on Christmas day. I saw the scar a few years after the fact, entire right cheek looked like purple hamburger.

Birdshot can kill people. That said, birdshot is not a good choice for stopping attackers. It simply isn't the right load.

[Alamocdc]

If it will take 3" shells, you would have 5 pellets of 00 buck shot IIRC. I use a bolt action .410 as a backup HD weapon. It does take 3" shells and I have it loaded with 00, slug, 00, slug and 00.

[grymster2007]

00 lead buckshot pellets weigh ~54 grains each. At 1230 fps each one would deliver about the same energy as typical 380 ammo. But if one counts all five pellets in a 3"er, that would roughly equal 44 magnum energy.

[obxned]

You have a really nice shotgun, but for home defense a 12 or 20 is so much better. Make a trade.

[Bill DeShivs]

I can promise you that you won't just **** them off!

[familywgn]

I'm dure you'll be fine. I have a G19 and a Mossberg 500E on standby with 3 2.5" OOO and 2 3" 00. Why no 12 gauge? My wife doesn't like it

[apr1775]

I've heard reports of the 3" 5 pellet 000 buck load being very deadly on deer. It's a tends to be a tight pattering load, so not ideal for short range SD, but it would likely drop an attacker dead in his tracks with decent shot placement.

I just might start using it as my deer load.

[ATANRA]

Buck shot load is pretty devastating from all calibers. I am not sure the multiplier of multiple hit shot but it is really not linear. A 45ACP double tap quadrupples the impact force of the hit in foot/ lbs.

[seeker_two]

What's the equivalent of cruiser ready with a coach gun?


I keep a butt cuff with 5 rounds on my 12ga. Coach Gun and two shells tucked under the cuff. When I need it, I load those two first & keep the five for reloads. With a .410, you could probably use a 6rd. cuff for a rifle and do the same thing....

[Kmar40]

The rifle butt cuff works for a .410, just so you know.

[familywgn]

+1 on the rifle butt cuff. Mine holds 9.

[Littlehoov]

What about loading it with .45 Long Colt rounds instead? Would there be any advantage to that?

I suppose it would be similar to shooting .410 slugs, but whats the powder charge/bullet weight difference?

[a7mmnut]

2 1/2" buck is good for my oldest son's first HD gun, and extra-great on Spring gobblers!;)


-7-

[Bill DeShivs]

NEVER, EVER shoot .45 Colt in a .410 shotgun, unless the gun was SPECIFICALLY designed for .45/.410. The gun will probably blow up in your face, if the .45 round will even chamber.

[barnetmill]

NEVER, EVER shoot .45 Colt in a .410 shotgun, unless the gun was SPECIFICALLY designed for .45/.410. The gun will probably blow up in your face, if the .45 round will even chamber.

Apparently people use to shoot .44's, I assume .44 russian and special in the .410's. Never tried it and I do not recommend it, but it may be possible. .44 Mag is a no no.

[MagnumWill]

I think a .410 would be adequate, but nothing says "F*** you" like the gaping maw of a 12-gauge, pump or SxS. :D Probably won't even need to fire it, anyhow.

[jakethegreat4]

Well my mossberg 500a is definitely a gigantic f-u! but imma have to say, i have two break opens, and a 7 1/2 three inch shell will kill someone just as dead as a slug will in 30 feet or so, its just gonna leave a bunch of little tiny holes punched about 3 inches in. just put it on their head and snap the trigger down. end of story

[Katrina Guy]

I mean if the .410 is the equivelent of, why hassle with a long arm if it is no mo deadly then a handgun?

[Kmar40]

Well my mossberg 500a is definitely a gigantic f-u! but imma have to say, i have two break opens, and a 7 1/2 three inch shell will kill someone just as dead as a slug will in 30 feet or so, its just gonna leave a bunch of little tiny holes punched about 3 inches in. just put it on their head and snap the trigger down. end of storyWhat? What?

[wilson133]

Whatever you put in a shotgun and whatever gauge you use will work most of the time because most encounters with bad guys are ended by the prospective victim just having a gun and showing readiness to use it. Additional cases are ended by the firing of the gun resulting in resulting in no hits and the bad guys running away or some type of wound, resulting in the bad guys running away or surrendering. In all these cases, a .410 with 7&1/2 birdshot will work.
The problem arises when someone faces an assailant or assailants, who are loaded on drugs or just especially determined and the gun has to physically stop them. I don't get the whole birdshot for home defense thing. The studies are out there, easily found on the internet, where birdshot has been tested on ballistic gelatin and water jugs and other materials. Heavy clothing severely limits birdshot"s effectiveness, leather jackets especially. Birdshot gives a very nasty surface wound and very limited penetration even at close ranges. This is a fact as demonstrated by the above referenced tests.
The reason birdshot doesn't "over penetrate" is the same reason that it is so limited in it's ability to stop a real threat It doesn't have sufficient penetration to do the job.
For those who wish to beat their chest and declaim how deadly their birdshot loads are, what ever works for you is your business, and the odds are you will never have to back up those statements. There is a big difference between what people choose to believe and what can be demonstrated.

[Death from Afar]

Better than throwing rocks, and a dran sight better than a .25ACP pistola, but , well, its far short of ideal.

I have used a .410 a lot on game hunting and for hunting it really is an experts gun. YOur patterns are thin and streaky, and you simply dont have enough pellets to kill a rabbit or pigeon as easily as with a 12 bore. With only 3 pellets of buckshot the pattern wuill have big gaps in it and you are going to have problems ensuring all of them hit. Get a 12 gauge or if you dont like recoil, a 20.

[Bill DeShivs]

At home defense distances, there will be no pattern-maybe 4 inches.

[Death from Afar]

Exactly, and it will be tiny. Miss with that, and the VBG is that close, you are going to be in serious trouble.

[Al Thompson]

Pattern your shotgun! I tried some of the .410 buckshot and it spread badly - un-useable past 10 feet or so. That was my gun, hope yours works better. :)

[Skydiver3346]

Well, sure a .410 is better than throwing rocks and would work in most instances I guess.

However, when you mention "home defense" I am taking that as defending your life and/or that of your family as well...... Isn't it worth spending a few more bucks (and or selling that .410 to help with the $$) and get a proven self defense weapon? Example: .12 GA pump with buckshot is the best and next to that would be my choice of a .20 GA pump with buckshot. Believe me, you will feel much safer and more confident of those two shotguns than a .410 (when defending your lives/property). Good luck.

[Kmar40]

With only 3 pellets of buckshot the pattern wuill have big gaps in it and you are going to have problems ensuring all of them hit.But if your SG will chamber magnum shells, they have 5 OOO buckshot. Nothing to sneeze at IMO.