A 410 bore shotgun operates with the same velocity as the larger gauges but with a much smaller payload of shot. This limits the effective range somewhat as the lack of pattern density beyond 25 yards becomes a concern. The 410 bore was developed primarily for upland game hunting and clay target shooting.
A garden gun is meant to be used at short range to eliminate vermin from the confines of ones own garden or yard, generally at distances of 15 yards or less. It is made purposefully low power so that it will create as little noise as possible or damage to fences and other property. That is not to say that one of these shotguns is safe to use in a suburban setting as the lead shot still has potential to injure some distance away.
The best known cartridge of this type is probably the 9mm flobert rimfire which in modern loadings fires 1/4 ounce of shot with a muzzle velocity of 600 feet per second. This is about half the velocity of a standard 410 shotshell.
Although a standard factory load in a 410 gauge shotgun, does not a garden gun make, it is certainly is feasible to load down brass 410 shells to 3/8 ounce shot and a muzzle velocity of 700 feet per second or less.
In "The History of Winchester Firearms", Author, Thomas Henshaw writes that after the First World War, Winchester Arms sought to utilize some of it excess production capacity that had previously been devoted to producing military arms. Winchester decided to produce a series of inexpensive small bore shotguns of simple design which would require only a minimum of retooling. So Winchester came out with the Model 20, 36 and the model 41. The shotguns were designed to fill a perceived demand by an increasingly suburban American population for inexpensive short range smoothbore firearms with a relatively low noise signature for hunting and pest control.
Winchester Model 20
The Winchester Mode 20 was the first single shot break open shotgun produced by Winchester and their first shotgun chambered in 410 Gauge(Henshaw 79). Full choke only
| Winchester Model 20 | |
|---|---|
| Overall Length (inches) | |
| Weight (lbs) | 6.0 |
| Action Type | Break Open |
| Barrel Length (inches) | 26.0 |
| Cartridge | 410 gauge 2 1/2 inch |
| Magazine Capacity | Single shot |
Introduced 1919, discontinued 1924
| Winchester Model 36 Garden Gun | |
|---|---|
| Overall Length (inches) | |
| Weight (lbs) | 3.0 |
| Action Type | Bolt Action Turn Bolt |
| Barrel Length (inches) | 18.0 |
| Cartridge | 9 mm Rimfire shotshell |
| Magazine Capacity | Single shot |
The Winchester Model 36 was the only mass produced American gun chambered for 9 millimeter rimfire shotshell. Manufactured from 1920 to 1927 (Wahl 471), a little over 20 thousand of these diminutive shotguns were produced
| Winchester Model 41 | |
|---|---|
| Overall Length (inches) | 44.5 |
| Weight (lbs) | 4.5 |
| Action Type | Bolt Action Turn Bolt |
| Barrel Length (inches) | 24.0 |
| Length of Pull (inches) | 13.5 |
| Cartridge | 410 gauge, 2 1/2 inch |
| Magazine Capacity | Single shot |
Introduced by Winchester in 1920, this was the first bolt action shotgun design made by an American company (Clark 60) . The gun is cocked by pulling on cocking knob on bolt. Produced from 1920 to 1934 (Wahl 471), only the last two years of production were chambered for the larger 3 inch shells.
| Mossberg Model 173 | |
|---|---|
| Overall Length (inches) | |
| Weight (lbs) | 5.5 |
| Action Type | Bolt Action Turn Bolt |
| Barrel Length (inches) | 24.0 |
| Length of Pull (inches) | |
| Cartridge | 410 gauge, 3 inch |
| Magazine Capacity | Single shot |
Made from 1957 to 1969 maybe up to 1973 depending on what source you trust.
| Savage Stevens Model 58 | |
|---|---|
| Overall Length (inches) | 43.0 |
| Weight (lbs) | 5.5 |
| Action Type | Bolt Action Turn Bolt |
| Barrel Length (inches) | 24.0 |
| Cartridge | 410 gauge, 2 1/2 and 3 inch shells |
| Magazine Capacity | 3 round detachable magazine |
| Savage Stevens Model 59 | |
|---|---|
| Overall Length (inches) | 44.5 |
| Weight (lbs) | 6.0 |
| Action Type | Bolt Action Turn Bolt |
| Barrel Length (inches) | 24.0 |
| Cartridge | 410 gauge, 2 1/2 and 3 inch shells |
| Magazine Capacity | Tubular Magazine holding six round 2 1/2 or 5 round of 3 inch shells |
Both the Stevens Model 58 in 410 gauge and 59 used the same action. They were made with fixed full choke barrels only
| Winchester Model 37 A | |
|---|---|
| Overall Length (inches) | 42.25 |
| Weight (lbs) | 5.5 |
| Action Type | Single barrel break open |
| Barrel Length (inches) | 26.0 |
| Cartridge | 410 gauge, 2 1/2 and 3 inch shells |
| Magazine Capacity | Single shot |
First introduced in 1937, the Winchester model 37 was made in other gauges as well as 410.
| Winchester Model 42 | |
|---|---|
| Overall Length (inches) | |
| Weight (lbs) | 6.0 |
| Action Type | Bolt Action Turn Bolt |
| Barrel Length (inches) | 26 or 28 |
| Length of Pull (inches) | |
| Cartridge | 410 gauge, 2 1/2 and 3 inch |
| Magazine Capacity | 5 rounds 3" or 6 rounds 2 1/2" |
Produced from 1933 to 1963, this was the first shotgun chambered for 3 inch shells. It was enormously popular as 410 shotguns go.
Rimfire Mouse Guns
In a related category are what I like to call the rimfire mouse guns. The small volume available in these cases precludes the use of all but the smallest shot sizes available, size 11 or size 12. These diminutive shotguns are perhaps most useful for dispatching mice or small birds within the confines of a barn or other structure without doing damage to sheathing or metal roofing.
| Stevens Favorite Model 20 | |
|---|---|
| Overall Length (inches) | |
| Weight (lbs) | 5.5 |
| Action Type | Lever operated falling action |
| Barrel Length (inches) | 24.0 |
| Length of Pull (inches) | |
| Cartridge | 22 or 32 Rimfire Shotshell |
| Magazine Capacity | Single shot |
Manufactured from 1895 to 1935.
In the first half of the 20th Century, many American firearm manufacturers produced smooth bore versions of their low end 22 rimfire rifles. Often these were marketed as introductory hunting firearms for children but they had little practical value for hunting as they contained less than 35 grains of tiny lead shot. By comparison, a half ounce load of shot in a 410 weighs about 219 grains.
Marlin flirted with concept once again in 1999 with the bolt action Model 25 MG but they were only produced for one year, 1999 - 2000.
Sometimes refered to as snake shot, CCI still manufactures shot cartridges in both 22 Long Rifle with 31 grains of #12 shot and 22 Winchester Magnum with 52 grains of #12 shot. Both of these rimfire shot shell loads are subsonic, generating a muzzle velocity of about 1000 feet per second.
My personal experience with the 22 long rifle shot loadings left me unimpressed. Fired from a rifled barrel, the effective range is 12 feet or less.
The tiny no. 12 pellets might only enrage some of the larger rats rather than killing them cleanly.
# 9 shot with a muzzle velocity 600 feet per second, pellet velocity will slow to 500 fps after travelling 20 yards.
Display ad for Stevens Small Shotguns from Hardware Dealers Magazine June 1905 p. 1094 Googlebooks
Works Cited
Clark, Laurance T. Ed. "New Goods,Specialties, Inventions " Hardware Review December 1919 p.60 Google Books
Henshaw, Thomas "The History of Winchester Firearms 1866-1992 " Winchester Press 1993 p.79 Google Books
Wahl, Paul "Gun Trader's Guide No. 13" Stoeger Publishing Company 1987 p.470-471