[R_che]

Yildiz 410 O/U

It also depends on the choke you are using. I know that almost all of the fixed choke 410s were made full choke, but todays 410s come with tubes. I have a Yildiz O/U with screw in chokes and hunt quail with it using IC and Mod chokes. Works fine out to about 30 -35 yards. As a kid I hunted with a Win Model 42 pump that is full choke and it would reliably reach out to about 50 yards.

I also use my Yildiz O/U .410 GA for quail...and I practice at 25-50 yards for clays...the effectiveness range is impacted by the difference between 2 1/2 and 3" shells.
I find that IC and MOD tubes work great...and I get great quail hunting drop effectiveness at 50 yards when I use 3 Inch loads (7.5oz)
Plus the light weight of this shotgun is a huge benefit when I get toward the end of the hunt...where as my 20GA O/U is about 1.5 pounds heavier and a lot heavier to carry over a 4-5 hour field hunt.
Now for Dove season...the 410 is my go to weapon...and very effective even with 2 1/2 inch loads. Not bragging, but I had a double-double with it last Dove season...so a .410 works well for my purposes.

 

[R_che]

I am intrigued by the .410 penetration testing posted by acctoml

Where you using 2 1/2 or 3 inch shells for your test?

I am more comfortable using a high brass 20GA when I get to shoot at Pheasants...which is a pretty rare hunt in Texas, unless you are at a private game preserve. I am not sure I would trust the smaller amount of shot from my .410?

 

[R_che]

Pattern Testing .410

My outdoor range only allows shotgun board pattern testing at 25 yards...so my results were limited to that distance.
The 3 inch shells (7.5) were consistently giving me a far more dense pattern than the 2 1/2 load (7.5) from either I/C & Modified choke tubes from my O/U

However, with a heavier shot (6) there was less of a difference in densities at that distance.

 

[R_che]

I absolutely love the delay firing tip!

I knew a guy that was a big time pheasant hunter who used a pump .410 exclusively.

He hunted over pointers and shot at preserves only. He handloaded and used 3" shells with #5 shot.

He said when a bird flushed, he said out loud "my what a pretty bird" before he shot to give the bird time enough to get far enough away that he wouldn't pretty much destroy it.

My experience with pheasants was all with 20 Gauge shells, 2-3/4". I used an ounce of 5s for the first shot and 1-1/8 oz. of 5s for the second shot.

Worked fine and I took a lot of pheasant over the years I hunted.

Awesome tip - I am going to try this phrase on my next upland pheasant hunt!