Can I do some skeet shooting with my .410?
it’s a great little gun for busting clays. the “hand launcher thing” is not the best idea though, neither my wife or son was able to throw clays successfully with one, so I went out and bought a mechanical launcher, it was on sale at Big5 for $20, it is much easier to use. they can’t set it themselves since it uses what is basically a shortened garage door spring, but I can set it then have one of them pull the cord, which beats throwing a clay by hand, then dropping the hand launcher and shouldering the gun, then trying to hit it. One other note, while the .410 is a cheap gun, ammo is expensive, you can buy a Remington 870 or Mossberg 500 in 20 ga. for a couple of hundred bucks, with .410 shells at $10-12 a box, the new gun will pay for itself pretty quickly and the recoil on a 20 gauge is still quite light, especially with low base target loads. Have fun!
Yes it will be fine. But it will be difficult, and that will only make you a better shooter in the long run. The hand thrower, well than can get tricky and will wear you out after a long day of shooting. But they get the job done after a few wild throws and a lil practice. Choke set for bird shot should be ok. Nothing wrong with a single shot break. That’s what i started with, a gift from my grandpa. Far as loads, i usually buy whats on sell, lol. If it fires, i can hit something with it.
Yes, you can shoot skeet with a .410. The .410 is really an experts shotgun when shooting trap or skeet. Your only throwing up a half of the amount of shot as 12ga. I’ve been give two trains of taught on choke for the .410. Some claim improved, others modified, is the best. An open choke while usually the best for skeet on the .410 leaves gaps in the shot pattern. Thus the modified choke is the best for the .410. On ammunition use the smallest shot you can find #8 or #9 more pellets per oz, thus more chance for a hit & better pattern. Look for a shell with more than a 1/2 oz of shot. Lastly price the box of .410 to an similar box of 20 or 12 gauge shells. Your paying almost twice per box for .410. The savings in ammo alone could make a new or used shotgun in 12 or 20 pay for itself in little time.
Yes. Buy shells with #9 shot for Skeet and #8 for Trap. What you are proposing sounds more like Trap than Skeet. In Skeet you move around 8 stations and shoot single clay birds and/or doubles, depending on the station that your are at. The birds are doing everything from flying away, straight at you or across your view. Trap is shot with a clay bird fling away from you at different elevations and azimuths. There can be multiple stands or pads (ex: 5 stand Trap) but the bird is always flying away from you. You can not shoot Skeet properly with a single shot shotgun. (Doubles) When you shoot either Skeet or Trap with a .410, you experience more fun when you hit a clay bird and don’t feel as bad when you miss. Just don’t let your lack of hits detour you from shooting as often as possible. A modified choke will work. The only advice I will give you on the launcher is that you are limited by distance and speed with a hand launcher, but the upside is that you do not have to adjust any equipm
