Am I losing it? I’ve turkey hunted for 62 years. Turkeys are the smartest and toughest birds in the world. Even with my 12 ga. semi-auto with 3” HEVI-SHOT, they can be a challenge. And yet, at SHOT, I met with Daniel Clayton-Luce. In talking, he showed me the new Henry .410 single shot shotgun, which is the new rage for turkey hunting. I had to test one out.
Henry .410 Single Shot Shotgun
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I soon had the Henry single shot .410 in my hands and grabbed some 3” HEVI-SHOT shells. If you’ve never turkey hunted with modern turkey shells, you’ve got a lot to learn. With a tight choke, you’ll need a scope for hunting. Scope on a shotgun? Yep! They shoot such a tight pattern that if you don’t get a good aim, you’ll miss or, worse yet, just wound the turkey. It’s almost like shooting a rifle.
Plain old bead sights won’t cut it either because you can’t adjust them. You need to mount a low-power scope (like a 1-4x or a red-dot scope on your shotgun) and sight it in. If you’re not a turkey hunter, this may shock you, but as tight as the shot pattern is, you have to aim at a body part.
Don’t aim at the head. Here’s why I say this: If you aim at the head, half of the BBs fly harmlessly over his head. So I recommend aiming 8” below the top of his head. That way, the bulk of the BBs hit from his head/neck down to the heart.
Again, if you’re not a seasoned turkey hunter, this will sound crazy, but you need to go sight in your turkey shotgun. You’ll want to know where it hits and how it patterns. With the proper choke and shells, you should be able to roll a turkey at 50-60 yards with a 12 ga. with 3-inch or 3 ½-inch shells. So, you’ll want to test your pattern at 30, 40, 50, and 60 yards to determine what your range is.
But we’re talking about a .410 in this Product Review, so what is the longest range at which you can obtain an adequate pattern with the Henry .410 Single Shot? Well, first, let’s back up a little and start at the beginning.
Upon receiving the Henry .410 Single Shot, the first thing that I did was to put a picatinny rail on it so I could mount a scope. This is an easy task. Remove the three screws and lay the picatinny rail in place. Use Loc-tite when screwing it down to hold it firmly in place.
Now, to decide which scope to use. A red-dot? A low power scope? Too many good choices on the market. Finally, I decided to go with a Vortex DEFENDER-CCW MICRO RED DOT. That turned out to be a great choice. I love it. Install it like you would any optic, screwing it down to factory specs.
Now, to sight it in. HEVI-SHOT is expensive, so after mounting a scope, I use low-base 7 ½ shot (they’re cheap) to get it on paper. After I get it in the ballpark, I switch over to HEVI-SHOT. I recommend using Birchwood Casey Shoot NC Turkey Targets to sight your turkey loads. Counting how many BBs hit in the zone is super easy.
It is now Saturday, and I am flying down to Oklahoma to turkey hunt on Tuesday. I am taking this Henry .410 Single Shot as well as their 12 ga. Single Shot (which I will write about later). After testing the Henry .410 Single Shot, I discovered that it had a good pattern out to 30 yards, so that is what I will limit myself to. Now, due to testing, I know exactly what it is capable of.
At 40 yards, only five BBs hit the body, and two of those would only cause flesh wounds. The shotgun comes with a nice set of fiber optic sights, but still, for pinpoint accuracy, I wanted a scope. But you could argue that since I am limited to 30 yards, the fiber optics would work fine.
Henry Single Shot Steel Shotgun .410 Bore
- Model Number: H015-410T
- Action Type: Break Action
- Caliber: .410 Bore
- Chamber Size: 3″ Shells
- Capacity: 1 Round
- M.S.R. Price: $597.00
- Barrel Length: 26″
- Weight: 6.55 lbs.
- Rear Sight: Fiber Optic
- Front Sight: Fiber Optic
- Ability to Add a Scope: Drilled and Tapped
- Scope Mount Type: Weaver 82
- Stock Material: American Walnut Mossy Oak® Obsession
About Tom Claycomb
