I bought an older single shot .410 to take care of occasional groundhogs that dig under the baby barn. Would #4 birdshot be enough at 30 yds? or would #4 buckshot work better?

I'm going to keep some rubber ball loads around in case I need to run a bear out of the yard too.

quote:

Originally posted by Greg K:
I bought an older single shot .410 to take care of occasional groundhogs that dig under the baby barn. Would #4 birdshot be enough at 30 yds? or would #4 buckshot work better?

I'm going to keep some rubber ball loads around in case I need to run a bear out of the yard too.

If you cut the range down to 20 yards, I'd say the .410 with 4 shot would probably kill a groundhog, although I've never shot anything bigger than a cottontail with mine.

How many pellets are in a .410 load of #4 Buck? It would definitely work better and carry a bit farther.

9 pellets in a #4 buck 3 in. load

Rubber balls for bear? I would be inside a sturdy structure. They are powerful if riled... Salt works too.

Groundhogs? If you can find a Remington model 550 .22 with a clean "power piston" (they were discontinued while Ike was president, should be inexpensive) it will semi auto CB caps. 12 or 15 shots as quick as you can pull the trigger. Not over powerful but QUIET. Frankly I think my pellet gun (Benjamin from before Sheridan) is louder. The last production has a grooved receiver. One or two in a groundhog should ends its troubling. I guess apples are among the best baits if you like waiting. Luck. Happy Trails.

If your goal is to use your .410 to kill a groundhog, then my reasoning doesn't apply.

But if the goal is to rid your property of a groundhog, why not a .22LR standard velocity?

The accuracy would be greater with a .22, so you could make head shots and be sure of a safe backstop.

If ricochet is an issue for a .22, I'd imagine it would be for buckshot as well.

If noise is an issue, a standard velocity .22LR would be more quiet than a .410.

And if you wanted to achieve maximum noise suppression, fit a suppressor to a .22.

When I lived around other houses I killed many possums with .22 CB caps. Shots were within 20 feet and the CBs worked surprisingly well.

Since I have lived away from other houses I have been keeping a .410 double handy to knock off the occasional backyard varmint. Bird shot works great. I have killed things much larger than groundhogs with #7-1/2 and even #8 out past 25 yards. I had my doubts about what bird shot would do until I shot an overturned bucket with the .410 and saw just how powerful the little cartridges are. I've been using the gun on all sorts of things since.

Remember, the smaller gauges are only limited by shooting fewer pellets, not by lower energies per pellet. Each pellet of the .410, 28 gauge, 20 gauge and 12 gauge leaves the muzzle at comparable velocities and with comparable energies. Shooting groundhogs with a .410 is just like shooting them with a 12 gauge but with fewer pellets. But don't worry, the full choke of your gun will make sure more than enough pellets hit your groundhogs.

I would use the #4 shot without hesitation. The closer you can get, the better. In a neighborhood type area, I would be concerned about ricochets with #4 buck. In any case, I'd carefully double check my background before firing shot. Kids can be anywhere.

If you in a neighborhood of sorts, Id use the 2.5" round, and no. 6 shot and point it at the head..I live out of town more or less so I use a 22 or 5mm Rem. for our local Rock Chucks and an ocassional coyote, Badger, Red Fox or Bobcat.