Virginia Gun Owners Forum - VGOF

One of my off-the-wall trades got me a .410 Condor (Brazil) double: 2 triggers, extractors, choked full/full, 3" chambers. Nothing fancy, but well made and solid.

The drawbacks are, of course, tight chokes and expensive ammo.

The benefits are: Funner than heck to shoot! No recoil and slick to point and shoot.

I got around the ammo cost by doing an extensive internet search at about the time Winchester had a $2/box rebate. Buying a case (Graf & Sons), I was able to get the price down to $7 for Winchester AA after rebate - 40% more than Dick's 12/20 ga specials ($5) , but I could live with that (Dick's was charging $11, I think). I chose 7.5 shot to give me a little more oomph on target, but with fewer pellets.

Also in my search, I confirmed a piece of information I thought I knew - a .410 is generally patterned at 25 yds vice 30 yards for the larger bores. That meant that just had to be a tad more patient to get a slightly larger pattern (but with less shot to be distributed).

I've only taken it to the wobble-trap range at Bull Run twice, but each time I broke the same # of targets as I usually do with a 20 (17 - I never claimed to be a crack shot!). I also carefully retrieved the empties in case I ever get the coin for a reloading outfit. I may even try out the skeet range, but with the expectation of lousy scores.

My first .410, a single shot at age 12, was a disappointment. With a bit more maturity on my part (read: old age), I really appreciate this one.

If you ever see an older gentleman with glasses at Bull Run, with a .410 double, it may be me! Introduce yourself and you can take a few shots!

John
Fairfax

It sounds like you got an interesting gun there!

To my own embarrassment I used to think .22 and .410 were youth guns, but really they're fun as hell. Without the hefty price tag of a larger cal. Plus my dad always told me you can kill things just as easily with a .22 as you can a .45.

I mean at the gunshop where I bought my recent pistol, I got reemed on ammo $40 for .45 lc and about $17 for .410. I could have just bought .410 slugs and had just as much fun as shooting .45s.

I think .410 is deffinatly under appritiated and doesn't get much respect.