.410 on Snipes

[FourBee]

    Went out this A.M. with my little .410 O/U loaded with 2 1/2" #6, to do some Snipe hunting.    A set of doubles went up, and I was dead on, and was surprised when nothing dropped.    Flushed five next, and shot one going straight away over the water which showed he was definitely in the pattern. 'ZIP' ! ?.

  Already, I was aware that I wasn't loaded heavy enough for these little fellas, and probably wouldn't hurt if I went to a #7 1/2.  One bird flew away out, circled, returned and landed, then keeled over dead.   Next go-round I'll have some 3" shells.

[moxgrove]

I respect you for using a 410 on the fast movers. I got frustrated and switched to a 28 gauge for my light gun and have never looked back.

[Questor]

FourBee:

Awesome! Excellent! I'm assuming they are woods dwellers like woodcock, which they appear to be. I can't think of a better application for the 410 than for woodcock hunting. Now I pine for October again. The ground is frozen here now and the woodcock are gone.

Is that a Mossberg? How do you like it?

[Graybeard]

Three inch shells would be better especially if you're gonna go with large shot. I use no larger than #8 in the .410 myself. If it can't be taken with #8 then chances are you need more gun than a 2-1/2" .410. It's an excellent little skeet gun and to 30 yards with #8 it's a good killer on birds the size you were hunting. Over 30 yards and on game requiring large shot it's a bit anemic.

[FourBee]

Stopped by Academy to pick up some  3"  (#7 1/2) shells.   They didn't have any 3" at all on their shelves.    May end up using #8's, but to me it seems a little light.  

Questor:    ~   The Snipe is more of a Shore Bird.   They seem to like beach like areas with nearby tall grasses.

                      This is a Mossberg Silver Reserve, and it handles great for a gun of its price range.  A little polishing on the hinges would help the barrels to open the last 1/16".  
This was my first time out shooting at live game, and with that first double it was right on, but I hesitated with the 2nd shot.   Then, I jumped 5 at once, and they split in every direction.  I hesitated again.   The next set, I was more settled, the gun was right there, and I was able to rip off two fast shots. All I can say is ~Neat.  

[Questor]

FourBee:

If it's like other O/Us, you don't want to polish the hinges or do anything else to break the gun it. They build them tight so they last. The down side is that it takes a while for them to lose their initial stiffness.

[Graybeard]

Number 8 shot is entirely adequate on birds the size you are shooting and gives you a much denser pattern. Back in the days when we used to do so much crow hunting my cousin used #8 show exclusively on them and killed plenty out to some really extended ranges. Don't under estimate #8 shot as a killer of birds.

Rudy what you say is correct on O/Us such as your Beretta or Browning but not so on the cheaper guns. On the higher priced guns some good grease is all that's needed. But on the lower priced guns quite often more is needed as it's not wear but like of fine polished finish that's at fault. On them a good coating of JB Bore Paste or some such very fine abrasive is good and then open and close it 100 or so times, wash it all out and relube with proper grease and they will be much more smooth and no harm has been done to the life of the gun.

I do it to all lower priced guns I bring home. Never the expensive ones tho.

[Questor]

GB:

I'd really want to handle the gun in this case. Those Mossbergs are surprisingly well made for their cost. I've handled them and opened them and the ones I tried had the typical stiffness of a good O/U. My take on the Mossbergs is that you don't get stellar cosmetics and some of the componentry is not as nice as you get with a more expensive gun, but the basic gun is well made and quite a bargain.

Somebody posted a complaint that there ain't no innovation in shotguns. I disagree. Getting decent O/Us into the hands of anybody with $500 to spend is a heck of an accomplishment, and a real innovation.

[Graybeard]

The ones I've seen and held look surprisingly good for their price and they actually feel as good as my Brownings in my hands. I recommended one to my friend Barry up in Pa when they came out. He bought a 20 gauge and it almost immediately began to double. I forget which barrel that if he fired it first it would almost always double but if he fired the other it was much less likely to do so.

He took it back to the dealer to have it seen about but they were unable to fix it so he traded it back to that dealer for a CZ Huglu and has not looked back a time. Dunno if his was the ONLY bad one that got out or what but his was not right and the local folks couldn't fix it. Dunno what ended up happening with it as I lost info on it once it was no longer his.

I sure believe I could shoot one well as long as it functioned correctly. But then the Ruger Red Label 20 gauge feels like I could never miss with it but it's more a case of I can't ever hit with it. Dunno why. I love the feel of that little Ruger but can't hit a bull in the butt with one. I've owned two hoping on the second things would work better for me but it didn't.

I don't recall the Mossberg O/Us I've held being that tight but I've only handled a few. Around this area the Russian guns seem to be what folks wanting a cheap O/U buy.

[Questor]

I don't doubt the doubling problem, but I do doubt that the problem will persist. It's probably the typical teething pains associated with any new product. 

[Graybeard]

Dunno but I hope you're right. That's a good looking and good feeling gun for the money they charge BUT ONLY if it works right.

[Brithunter]

Hmmm Snipe are marsh dwellers, in fact I put one up whilst walking our back field the other afternoon, even though I had my Baikel O/U Mdl 27 in my hands I just watched it flit over the neighbours field not even lifting the gun. I like to see them as they are not that common here. We see them every year but not many just the odd ones. I was not close enough to see which Snipe it was, one species is protected the other is on the quarry list so that's another reason to not lift the gun. We live on the edge of the fens so it's Snipe habitat the reason we don't get more is that it's intensive farming here and they don't like the disturbance.

Now as for the last bit of opening being stiff, well the Baikel is still like that and this one is about 30 years old and it shows no sign of "breaking" It only notices if you open it slowly in normal use I don't notice it and as for polishing it..................... nope I will carry on using it as it is. Anyway I won't be using it for a little while most likely as yesterday I picked up the Browning A5 so will be trying that out so I can get used to it.

[FourBee]

Brithunter; I don't know much about the Snipe.  I have seen one or two in marshy areas around here too.   Why they have congregated on my 3 acre pond is beyond me.   It has been losing water these past couple of years, so it has receded several feet.

   I was checking on the pond back in September, and I estimated between 20-30 Snipe at that sighting.   Usually when flushed they're gone, but most of these just went from one side of the pond to the other as I trodded around the rim.  I figured cool weather would run them off, but it didn't.

   I've got some #7 1/2 in both 3" and 2 1/2"now.  Think I'll put one in one barrel and one in the other, and check on them again.    Its amazing how well they(Snipe) blend in with the mud and grass.    And just about the time you think you miss judged where they are, they jump up from nowhere.

    After reading Questor and Graybeards posts, I'll not do anything to my gun's mechanism , because it breaks just as you said.

    LG

[Brithunter]

Hi There,

     Snipe like damp to wet mud so they can probe with their long bills for works and grubs in the soil, hence their liking for your pond margins, the most Snipe I ever saw in one place was a marshy field in Scotland near Lynthahern  (spelling) in Galloway. There are at least two species of Snipe the Common and Jack with a size and marking difference. Yes the do blend in well like Woodcock but then nature meant them too! Typical Snipe flight is fast low and twisting/turning which makes shooting them testing. We don't see enough of them here to treat them as quarry so I just watch them and enjoy seeing them. Our field is not wet as such this year at least. Last winter was exceptional and it flooded as did part of the garden and we lost lots of established trees and shrubs. Mother is heartbroken as 23 years of work has been undone in one winter and it looks lik eour two Yew trees are also dying.

    It's very windy with rain this morning (10:00AM) as I type this and later on when we have had more rain we will likely get teh Curlew back on the field, not a quarry species anymore as it's on the protected list. Strange as they are common here on the East Coast. Hopefully we wil also get the Duck (mallard) again so I can take a few.