I have a large population of fox squirrels. I have been using a 410 to shoot them with only because I have a neighbor about 200 yards from me, so I don't want to use my 22 rifle with shots in that direction. How far away can a 410 kill a squirrel with #6 shot, 2 3/4 inch shells?

Like most things, it Depends, lol

The shot has the velocity of any other gauge shot load, but you just don't have the pattern for longer shots, unless a pellet hits em in the noggin...

I'm guessing maybe 25 yds, if that....

20 yards is not to far in most of them. Get you a box or something and see how yours patterns

I've killed them out to 40 but realistically my gun can consistently kill them to 30 with good lead.

20 - 30 yards. Depending on shot size.

we've killed coon coming in/out of the barn at 50+ I think its a Savage single shot 410. I've never actually patterned it out

I've killed em at 30 or 40... Full choke

My experience with extensive patterning as my main squirrel gun from childhood until I left home was a M37 Winchester single shot is 35 yards with 7.5 on cat squirrels. It can reach 40 but patterns start to fall apart past 35. And that shot size is a compromise of pattern vs penetration as 6 gives much better penetration, pass through, but not enough shot in a three inch shell to hold patterns past 30. The 7.5 gives better pattern at a hair longer range but you get to pick shot out of the meat.


But no two guns shoot the same so pattern yours and see what you get.

Also the newer tss shot, if you got deep pockets, has pretty much rewritten the rules on effective shot sizes though the ability to pattern well will always be required.

about 35-40 yards if you have the pattern

the gun doesn't matter , shot size , shot weight and velocity does , 66 yards is max distance for #6 lead to be considered lethal , doesn't mean it won't go father it basically means it won't kill someone #4 is I think 77 or 82 yards

250 yards is the typically considered safe distance like the farthest it will go

I worked a range that had a bike trail and a road 350 yards away , there was nothing but distance from the trap range and you were shooting as people road bikes along , it was a max of 7.5 shot

here is the chart you want to reference a lot of work has gone into this data so that they can have safe trap ranges and skeet ranges on distance alone and not have to have a huge berm

https://rangeservices.nra.org/media/4074/shotshell-ballistics.pdf


drop down to 8 shot and keep your shots to 25 yards or less and you should be good at the 200 yards.
ideal shots are down into the ground or nearly strait up

I dont agree with most of these posts at all. A single #6 pellet from a 410 will absolutely kill small game at 40 yards if it lands in the right spot. Just because you have done it does not mean its effective. A single #6 can also cause an injury to the animal that you will never see again. Not many pellets in a 410 shell. You need to pattern your gun. A squirrel or rabbit or quail is not very big. The pellets need to be close to each other. Not scattered.

30-40 full choke

X2 20-25 yards tops for consistent clean kills. I prefer #4 shot for more energy myself but 6's are good too. Unless you're stupid enough to use those high dollar TSS shells on squirrels.

i wont use less than 4 shot on squirrel. which is hard to find these days unfortunately.

Midway has had it in stock for a long time. #4's at Midway many other places have it as well... https://ammoseek.com/ammo/410-bore?ss=4

I would say a reliable pattern could be had at 30 yards with a full choke, #6 lead shot. However, my experience has been with 3” shells.

If a squirrel could reliably be killed at 40 yards with #6 lead shot, there wouldn’t be any need for TSS to make a 410 a turkey gun at 40 yards. Everybody could still be using #6 lead.

I say make sure your gun is chambered for 2 3/4 inch or 3 inch shells if that is what you have 2 3/4 inch shells. Most 410's are chambered for 2 1/2 or 3" 2 3 /4 is not a common 410 length.

You are correct, my error. The shells are 2 1/2 inch. Sounds like #4 shot in 3 inch would be a much better option if I can find some.
I inherited this single shot 410 when my brother passed away. I never owned one before and wasn't very familiar with the caliber.
Thanks for all the responses. They have been very helpful.

I loaded some 3" 410 #4's up for Savell's boys one time. They could probably give you a pretty good estimate of the effective range

I was fixin to yell at my 9 year old son for wasting ammunition on a dove that we jump shot off the ground. It was a good 60 yards out, flying straight away.
Before I could holler, the bird fell out of the sky doornail dead,
He ended up with 11 doves that day before we ran out of daylight,

I had a pheasant flew up strait out and away from me I shot I saw tail feathers going all over , was sure I hit it and was waiting for it to drop , it flew 350 yards then folded and thankfully dropped right at the edge of a plowed field.
a single #4 pellet went through the thigh up through the gut , and took out the lung and was stuck against the top of the rib cage.
it was on a glide when it folded
I stood were I was and directed my hunting partner to where it went down using some trees for refrence he got to where I directed him he looked over about ten feet into the plowed field and there it was.

that bird was dead from a single pellet it just didn't know it was dead.
it only takes a pellet or two in the right place , you just can't guarantee right place after your pattern isn't good enough that you could lose the bird in the middle of the pattern.