[Jody Hudson]

I've not had a .410 in years, but had one shortened on both ends for my youngest son and he did VERY well on ducks, geese all sorts of targets, clay targets, and a deer with his tiny little single shot .410 with the 18.5 inch tube and short stock.

We have a few folks here who hunt with the .410 for ducks and geese still. Many folks used to hunt quail with a .410. There are a few who shoot trap here with a .410 and swear it's the favorite. They admit that the shot column is smaller in diameter but they say they get just as many targets as with the 12 gauge.

For years you could not legally own .410 slugs here in Delaware because they were the choice of deer poachers. The .410 slug does tend to be very accurate for some reason out of a smooth tube.

I will not have a chance to do sheet rock tests with the .410 but since it is the same speed and the shot is the same, just less of it in a smaller diameter; I'll bet a steak sandwich that the wall board tests will be identical with that of the 12 gauge but with a smaller diameter hole.

I'd love to hear someone build some "walls" and test some of the .410 shot shells on them.

So, my unfounded evaluation... is that the .410 is just a smaller shot column of the same size pellets going the same speed and thus I strongly suppose that the difference is one of diameter of wound channel and number of pellets in the would channel only. The up side is less recoil and thus the person is more likely to practice with it. And, perhaps if a pump is used, several shots would be more likely and thus stopping power may even be enhanced as a result of multiple hits!