Circa 1957 from Thomas Bland & Sons Ltd. London

Cracking a clay target with a FourTen (.410) gives a satisfaction and pleasure that far exceeds the same shot with a more usual 12 bore.

That satisfaction is magnified again if the cartridge used is one that you have hand crafted and not an expensive factory load.

The Four-ten is often seen as a beginners gun with its light load and minimal recoil but it is also very difficult for a beginner to actually hit clays with such a small shot load and they may become disillusioned

The Four-ten should be seen as an Experts gun for someone looking for a challenge on closer clays or on the Skeet range ( .410 on the skeet range is more popular in America than here in the U.K.).
The Four-ten can also be the 'Right tool for the Right job' for, say, close range vermin around farm buildings.

.410s are also know as 36 Gauge in Europe from the fact that a pound weight of lead divided into 36 balls should produce balls of 0.410 inches diameter ... but doesn't!
Nearer 68 balls can be made from a pound of lead, each with a diameter of .410 inches! See The Mythical 36 gauge

As Four-ten shooting is such a minority sport in the U.K. (Few guns, Expensive cartridges (due to small production runs) and a general lack of information. We are trying to pull some of the available information together, especially how to get the required 'bits and pieces' (and what those' bits and pieces' are!)