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CHAPTER ONE

THE GENESIS OF THE 410 GAUGE

The 410 is not a bore or a gauge but a caliber that measures the internal diameter of the barrel in thousandths of an inch. Gauge or bore is based on the inside diameter of the barrel at 9 inches fromording to London Proof House research the breech. It is calculated from the number of “pure lead spherical balls”—each of which fits the bore—“that makes up one imperial pound in weight [1].” For example, it takes 12 balls for the 12 bore and 20 for the 20 bore. However, in this book, we will always refer to the 410 as either a bore or a gauge.

The precise origin of the 410-gauge shotgun is unknown. Jack O’Connor believed that the gauge in America was a “direct descendant” of the 44/40 rifle cartridge. It was initially loaded using the standard 44/40 bottleneck case with the shot housed in a paper container. Indeed, at one time the shell was called the 44 XL. This was followed by the 2-inch straight brass case. The brass case was succeeded by the 2-inch paper case. Circumstantial evidence for this recently surfaced in a possible Annie Oakley-pedigreed Harrington & Richardson smoothbore hammer gun marked “410-44 cal” on a 26-inch barrel, made after 1900 and before 1903.

Based upon review of the British Proof House documents and gunmakers’ records, it would appear that the first documented conventional 410 appeared in the 1870s (Photo 1). According to John Wilkes’ memory of a gun passing through for repairs years earlier, the first Wilkes 410 was manufactured circa 1870s [2]. It was a 2-inch hammer side-by-side back-action shotgun. By the turn of the century, 410s, at least in England, were being made in measurable numbers. They were either of the hammer or hammerless configuration and the important actions included the boxlock and the sidelock. The latter action was usually back-action, rarely bar-action before World War II.

By 1925, the 410 gauge dotted the British Empire. This far-flung colonial leviathan, the likes of which was never seen before and will never be seen again, included Africa, Asia, Middle East, Australia, North America, the Caribbean, etc. Administering these vast territories required a modestly sized but very efficient British civil and military population. Many British subjects took with them a sporting gun and, for small camp and roadside game, a 410 was often included.

This was usually an inexpensive hammer back-action side-lock or Anson & Deeley (A&D) boxlock and, rarely, a “Best” quality boxlock or bar-action sidelock. Many such guns were sold through Army-Navy Cooperative Stores that were developed by overseas’ officers in such then God-forsaken places as Khartoum, Bombay, Calcutta, and Fort Said. Conversely, Boothroyd noted in the 1920s that the United Kingdom imported a number of “Tukaway” double-barrel 410 pistol smoothbores made in Belgium, with “Tukaway” stamped on the barrel [3].

The 410 was generally a modestly priced boxlock, but it was produced to a high quality by such great firms as Holland &Holland, Watson, Greener, Churchill, Westley Richards, John Wilkes, William Evans, Webley & Scott, Cogswell & Harrison, and W.J. Jeffery, often for their export trade. Many manufacturers often had 410s made by small artisans and then “shot and regulated” them and placed their own name on the guns. Smaller firms, such as the Watson and Wilkes firms, were distinguished in that many components of their boxlock 410s were made in their own factory, with the frequent exception of the action. The action, usually an A&D boxlock, was supplied by such firms as Webley & Scott, Midlands, Carr & Son, A.A. Brown & Sons, and John Harper.

According to Richard Moore, lately of Greenfield, Ltd., Salisbury, England, Mr. Joseph Asbury (“JA” on the barrel flats before the lug), Midland Gun Company and Webley & Scott forged and machined the actions of a majority of all boxlocks made for the trade [4]. Both Moore and Tate [5] report that some of Watson Bros. A&D actions were made by George and Sidney Holloway; W.J. Jeffrey’s by Webley Scott or John Saunders, and, for best quality, D. Leonard & Sons; and Holland & Holland’s Northwood boxlocks after World War II by a Vic Simmons-led consortium. Watson, Jeffery, and Holland & Holland, all London firms, relied upon Birmingham artisans for the heart of their boxlock smoothbores.

There is some evidence in the British Proof Houses that a single firm, the Midland Gun Company, made a good majority of all the back-action 410s for a substantial period of time before and after the turn of the century, and sold them to other gunmakers for their regulating, precise fitting, and naming [6].

By 1910, Greener, in discussing the small bore 24- and 32-gauge guns, was able to say, “they are mostly exported to the Brazilian and Argentine markets” and, together with the 410 bore, are principally used by naturalists or used for such weapons as a “walking stick gun” [7].

Greener argued that the small-bore shotgun is not a toy and is, in the hands of a good shot, an efficient weapon. He discusses those who championed the 28 bore in the 1879 London Field Trials. He also lists game shooting testimonials for the 28 bore but none for the 410. Apart from the brief comments noted above, the 410 goes unnoticed in the 9th and last edition of Greener’s compendium [7].

Indeed, it may have been Greener’s comment that “the 28 bore is the smallest caliber of any practical use as a game gun” that led to the general disapproval suffered by the 410 gauge over the next 50-odd years [8]. Greener did say that the small bore should be used by “either a first-rate shot or by a boy beginning to practice.” Attesting to the lowly state of the 410 gauge in bygone times was the phrase “410s as vermin destroyers.”

Photo 1: London Proof House records.

Paul Goodwin photo

Ultimately, the extremes of society generated the interest in the 410 bore: the gamekeeper and poacher for predator control and “fast” food and the aristocrat and gentleman landowner for collecting birds and ground game for taxidermy and self-protection.

In America, the 410’s traditional use as a rat and wildcat killer, buttressed by its otherwise presumed impracticality, was condescendingly celebrated by a generation of American shotgun writers including Elmer Keith, Jack O’Connor, and Charles Askins. These writers, all big-bore shotgun enthusiasts, dealt with the wide-open spaces of the American West with long-range upland game and waterfowl shooting of big birds including pheasant, chukar, grouse, partridge, duck, and goose.

America

Colt Firearms Company made a 410 smoothbore revolver for export to Great Britain and Europe as early as 1877, according to London Proof House research [6].1 In America, the introduction of the 410 gauge during and just after the Great War was in the form of the inexpensive and mass-produced single-barrel shotgun. For example, the Iver Johnson Company introduced the 410-gauge Champion in 1916. Other American companies also made the 410 by this time. Geoffrey Boothroyd reports a British “Remington” catalog of 1915 offering a single-barrel hammer top-lever breech opener 410 smoothbore [9]. In 1919, Winchester introduced the Model 20, which was a single-barrel, break-open, boxlock, hammer shotgun. These shotguns were truly meant as a “kid’s gun, a woman’s gun, or a pot gun for the barn and camping trip...” [10]

However, by the middle 1920s, skeet shooting as a recreational phenomenon had developed to such an extent that the expensive double shotgun manufacturers found an enthusiastic market. Hence, in the middle and late 1920s, Parker, L.C. Smith, and Ithaca introduced the 410 bore, initially in their less expensive grades but eventually in virtually all grades.

Parenthetically, it was in this era when Purdey made its first modern hammerless baraction sidelock double in the 410 bore, personally manufactured and assembled by perhaps the greatest shotgun artisan of his generation, Harry Lawrence [11].

The earliest American 410s, introduced at the time of the Great War, were chambered for the 2 1/2-inch shell. This continued into the early 1930s for all 410s including one of the most interesting ever produced, the Marlin 410 lever action, manufactured from 1929 to 1932.

In 1933, Winchester introduced the Model 42 with 2 1/2-and 3-inch chambers, the latter for the new Winchester Western 3-inch 410 shell. Winchester pioneered the longer shell in the early 1930s, with 3/4 ounce of shot and designed the Model 42 Winchester pump shotgun for it. The earlier 2- and 2 1/2-inch shells were loaded with 3/8 and 1/2 ounce of shot respectively.

The explosion of interest in target shooting coincided with increased opportunities for both women and children to participate in the sport of shotgunning. The initial assumption was that the 410, because of its small size and light weight, was an ideal gun for a beginning shotgunner. In time, however, it became apparent that the 410 was instead a gun for the expert marksman. It is not difficult to appreciate that the smaller the pattern and firepower, the larger the need for accuracy and judgment in the use of a 410.

By the middle 1930s, the tremendous popularity of target shooting compelled manufacturers (especially Parker and other double-barrel gunmakers who appealed to shotgun target shooters, a generally affluent middle-class lot) to introduce a shotgun choked Skeet & Skeet to serve the needs of the amateur and professional shooter. A philosophical change in American society transformed hunting into more of a recreational pastime and less of a mode for survival. This change resulted in shotgunning becoming, in part, the province of the target shooter and the finesse game bird gunner, rather than the subsistence hunter.

The development of the double gun served the purposes of conservation as well as recreation and the introduction of the 410 bore increased the challenge of shotgunning. An additional phenomenon was the developing American taste for a sense of aesthetics in her guns that was grandly realized in the delicate, subtle, and svelte lines of the 410.

However, its apparent refinement proved to be a most difficult characteristic for the typical shotgun writer in the middle 50 years of the 20th century to cope with. Indeed, machismo was a sine qua non for a successful gun writer who wished to flourish during this era.

Major Charles Askins groaned as early as 1929 that the 410 was “fit only for women and children,” because it “kicks” like a 22-caliber rifle. He further observed that the 410 has become “strangely popular” for a “full-grown man” who wished to use it to bag game. Such a man “had really never grown up” or “nature made a mistake in fixing his sex.” He did allow that a boy could use the 410 until his mid-teen years without contempt from his elders [12].

An Askins’ progeny still laments “the tragic mistake” to introduce shotgunning to a beginner with a 410 [13]. The American skeet-shooting mindset, where you have to shatter 100 successive targets to have a good time, reflects this attitude.

Elmer Keith represented an archetypical example of such attitudes when he huffed that no bore smaller than the 20 gauge should ever have been made. He mocked Frank Pachmayr’s 410 “close range” and “easy shooting” of pen-raised and liberated chukars in an alfalfa field. “Trying to shoot big upland birds with a 410 bore” he growled, is like using a “270 on elk.” Yet, he describes having patterned a “3-inch” cartridge with the lever-action Marlin 410 with 7-1/2 shot. “No bird the size of a pheasant or mallard could have gotten through this 30-inch circle without receiving three or four” hits. “Just the same,” he “never could see any earthly use for the 410” except for the taxidermist [14]. By the way, the Marlin 410 was never chambered for the 3-inch cartridge.

It was a mistake, Keith carries on, to ever “arm anyone for game shooting with a 410 bore.” He went on endlessly about never seeing “any reason for the tiny 410 gauge.” “The 410 is all right for shooting rats in the barn or in the basement, but that about lets it out, to my notion.” Even the fair-minded Jack O’Connor, when describing the origins of the 410 shell, considered it an embryonic form in the shape of “such little pest cartridges” as the 44 XL [10]. He acknowledged it was a “gun for skeet shooting” but then lamented that it was “not a man’s gun.” In a delightful O’Connor hagiography, a listing of over 20 “favorite” shotguns listed the smallest bore as a 28 [10a].

Even a modern premier gun writer offers a similarly caustic refrain but with a tincture of fondness. He refers to the 410 as a “Little Bitch” (a term of endearment normally reserved for female dogs and human harlots) [15]. He complains, “it’s bad news for beginners.” He further laments that, “Boys have given up shooting forever” because the 410 was their first bore. This is haughty nonsense. His first bore was his granddad’s single-shot 410, and shooting his first quail with it is “as clear now as it was then.” He waxes on proudly recalling, “rabbits and squirrels were dead meat.”

McIntosh’s nostalgia finally overwhelms his prejudice and ends in affection, as it does for many American and British gun writers. Though big bore shooters as hoary adults, they started as 410 shooters and look back wistfully and with profound sentiment in the pages of their books and magazine essays.

With these early endorsements, it is a wonder that the 410 gauge survived its maiden voyage in America. Although the writers’ antipathy may reflect their degree of marksmanship, it more likely reflects the ambivalence, even aversion that the American male had toward those aesthetic characteristics traditionally attributed to the feminine domain. Yet, how many of us started shooting with a single-barrel hammer 410, wisely selecting our targets for an effective kill and to husband precious cartridges? The 410 gauge forced us to be accurate, disciplined, and quiet stalkers of small game. All of these attributes were traditionally male.

Today, certainly, the collector/investor interest in the 410 gauge is testimony to its existence as the ultimate embodiment of beauty and function in a double shotgun. This, together with its rarity in all makes and grades, makes the 410 vulnerable to the verbal extravagances of the aficionado. It certainly has “come a long way” from a pest control walking stick to its present day financial and artistic apogee.

In summary, the earlier single-barrel and well-made American 410s, made in the second and third decades of the 20th century, were in response to the needs of predator hunters, pot shooters, bird collectors, and the young. These were guns such as the Iver Johnson Champion, introduced in 1916, and the Winchester Model 20, introduced in 1919. The expensive doubles responded to the desires of the increasingly affluent American target and small game shooter who wanted a challenge wrapped in a mechanical work of art.

The 410 Collectable Side-by-Side

This phenomenon began to occur in America in the 1950s and 60s among the 410 game and skeet shooters and the rare pure collector. Such a collector was Leon Kelly who had at one time over 30 Parker 410 shotguns, many upgraded models by the Robert Runge and Larry DelGrego cottage industry [16]. Shooting small-winged game with a 410 became sporting and challenging. Simultaneously, the 410 collector began to have an impact upon and, at times, to dominate the gun-collecting fraternity, by setting new market trends aesthetically and economically. By the 1970s, the 410 collector fancied himself among the elite.

Early 410 collectors such as Otis Odom of Georgia, William Jaqua of Ohio, Leon Kelly of Alabama, and Alan Phillips of California, set the agenda. These men were of such high repute and credibility that their knowledgeable opinions informed the next generation of collectors. Their dicta often assumed near biblical importance to those they mentored.

The press and professional shotgun writers in the 1980s began to catch up with what the shooter and collector had known for several decades. Don Zutz, now deceased, was one of America’s greatest modern shotgun writers. He waxed deliriously when he described the 410 as the “epitome of line, proportion, grace, elegance, fit, balance, and finish.” He called it the “gun-maker’s toughest challenge and his greatest pride” [17]. In fact, Harry Lawrence, Great Britain’s great gunmaker of the middle half of the 20th century, built Purdey’s first hammerless bar-action sidelock 410 in 1927 and, together with his building three miniature working guns for King George V, called it “my greatest gunmaking feat” [18].

Zutz, the man with the big-bore name and a technical mastery of the American shotgun scene, continued poetically on behalf of the 410 in which smallness becomes appealing, “... something apart from the gross, the bulky, and the ordinary ... a collector’s dream, an investor’s hedge and a hunter’s joy.” His recent death leaves a large void in popular shotgun writing. He wrote about shotguns with such joy that he filled his readers with a great emotional satisfaction.

There are two reasons why the collectable 410 began to sell at a premium. First, is its rarity. The era when the quality double 410 was being built favored the big bore. In part, this was because of the attitude of an earlier generation of gun writers and in part because it remained for many a hunter a time of hunting out of necessity and quality double 410s were an unnecessary luxury. Furthermore, the 1930s was not an extravagant time. Just ask the many still-living sons and daughters of agricultural produce pickers of the California Imperial and Central valleys who lived in tents in the blistering hot summers. Many of them supplemented the meager family table with small game shot with their single-shot, single-barrel 410.

In America, the double 410 did not make its appearance at Parker, Ithaca, and L.C. Smith until the mid to late 1920s. This was soon followed by the economic straits of the 1930s in which few could indulge in an expensive small-bore shotgun. By the early 1950s, the great American double shotguns, with the exception of Olin-Winchester’s Model 21, had essentially ceased production.

A second reason the collectable 410 sells at a premium is that the aesthetic aspects of this bore are most compelling. As Zutz continued in his own hyperbolic prose, “gun fanciers cherish the small bores.” It is “a matter of profile, trimness, and size.” The “artistry of gunsmithing, assemblers and finishers and engravers” is “truly electric”—all on behalf of the 410.

Personalities and Influences

One of the most important 410 collectors in the world has been William Jaqua, the fabled shotgun dealer from Ohio. At one time, he had, without question, the finest 410 collection in the world, encompassing American, English, and European shotguns. This included perhaps the greatest high-grade original Parker 410 that can be confirmed with factory records, a CHE, number 241429. It features a ventilated rib, a single trigger, and a beavertail forend (see Parker chapter). As the dean of American shotgun dealers, Jaqua represented the best in knowledge and honesty and their application to the treacherous field of shotgun collecting.

Alan Phillips, president of the Gray Truck Company turned gentleman gun dealer, had a deep and varied collection of shotguns including unique Parker and Model 21 410s. He also shares Jaqua’s value system. Kelly, at one time, had the major collection of Parker 410s, several of which were upgrades that he had commissioned by Runge and DelGrego (see Parker chapter). Other Parker 410 collectors include the remarkable Otis and Ruby Odom who became, by the 1970s, the pre-eminent Parker collectors with a subspecialty in the 410 bore. This uniquely traditional and unsurpassingly hospitable couple acquired a singular expertise in all phases of the Parker, especially the 410.

A number of dealers and gun writers highlighted the desirability of 410 collecting, especially the Parker. These include writers Peter Johnson and Larry Baer and the prolific dealer and universally known Herschel Chadick. In recent times, Chadick has managed to raise shotgun dealing to a near religious experience. Current shotgun dealers, known for their reliability and large fund of knowledge of the 410, include Michael Weatherby and Don Criswell of California, William Larkin Moore of Arizona, and Marshall Field of New York.

Two articles appearing in Arms Gazette gave specific impetus to the world of 410 collecting in the 1970s. Alan Phillips’ article on the Model 21 Winchester 410 was well researched and succinctly written. It has stood the test of time now that complete factory data have surfaced.

A second article on the Parker 410 further stimulated popular interest in this gauge as an important objective for the serious shotgun collector. However, it is a minefield of data requiring considerable critical scrutiny, particularly with respect to the guns pictured and identified as original high-grade 410 Parkers. At one time, to this writer’s knowledge, not a single factory-documented original Parker 410 bore on a triple 0 frame above a CHE grade had surfaced publicly to allow for a consensus and/or record authentication. In fact, Charles Parker, a grandson of the founder who oversaw the sale to Remington in 1937, has stated that Parker never made a 410 that was originally in a grade above CHE [19]. This, at times acrimonious debate, has had some closure now that the Remington-Parker records have been fully collated (see Parker chapter).

These important collectors, dealers, and writers, and those that followed, have developed a love affair with the 410 because of the gun’s inherent quality, rarity, and beauty. Above all other gauges, the 410 has been most vulnerable to embellishment, alteration, re-finishing, and upgrading. The Parker and the Model 21 Winchester have been most subject to this peculiar but understandable post-World War II development in the aesthetics of shotgunning. Fortunately, Winchester kept very detailed records of the Model 21, and it is possible to identify virtually every 410 that has been altered, upgraded, or otherwise changed from the original. In the case of the Parker, public access to the historical records was denied for decades. Authentication of specimens relied upon the word of experienced dealers and collectors and whatever records that fraternity could develop. Virtually every other manufacturer of the 410 in this century has kept excellent and available records. Their guns are relatively impervious to the machinations of those engaging in the craft of shotgun “upgrading” for either aesthetic, impulsive, and/or economic exploitation (see Parker chapter).

The Great American side-by-side double 410 ceased to exist when the various companies liquidated. Even the Model 21, the last fine side-by-side double 410 introduced in America and the last to be discontinued, is no longer made by Winchester. In fact, Winchester discontinued the Model 21 410 in the 1960s, except for very special circumstances (see Model 21 chapter). They sold the rights of the Model 21 in the early 1980s to the U.S. Repeating Arms Company who began to advertise the 410 and 28-bore Model 21 in the middle 1980s. This appears to have been a short-lived effort for as of 1992, they were no longer offering these gauges.

Recently, however, this version of the Model 21 410 bore has resurfaced on the commercial market through the efforts of Tony Galazan and his Connecticut Shotgun Company. Galazan, who is now America’s premier gunmaker, has resurrected Fox and the Winchester Model 21 and has patented a unique over and under, all available in the 410 bore.

The Browning over/under double 410, an American invention made in Belgium, is a unique story. It had a quarter century run from 1959 to 1983 and produced some of the most spectacular 410s in existence (see Browning chapter).

Great Britain

In Great Britain, the 410 smoothbore has a much longer and more revered early history. The naturalist, the taxidermist, the small bird collector, the poacher, and the gamekeeper used it readily and pleasurably as early as the last quarter of the 19th century.

It seems quite clear that the 410 smoothbore is not mentioned prior to 1874 in the surviving gun literature. However, small-gauge smoothbores were produced in antiquity. A 32-bore shotgun was produced by London gunmakers in 1660 and Joseph Manton made a 22 bore in 1785 [20]; however, not a 410. A Surrey, England, dealer had for sale in 1992 a beautiful “John Manton” 32 smoothbore made in 1785. It is a muzzle-loading flintlock with a splinter forend and a straight stock. There is a reported Holland & Holland 69-bore smoothbore musket. If anyone has discovered that a 410 smoothbore shotgun appeared prior to the last quarter of the 19th century, please enlighten me.

The Beginning [21,22,23]

The non-trigger matchlock gun with its “glowing smoking mouth” appeared in 1300, followed by the trigger matchlock in 1450 [24]. These included the Snap Matchlock.

The wheellock gun, first described by Leonardo de Vinci, appeared in 1530, and the flintlock in 1550. The matchlock and wheellock guns had essentially vanished by 1725.

The flintlock was mainly a muzzleloader; however, by 1775 a breechloader ensemble had been developed but unsuccessfully marketed. There was a perceptible space of time between ignition of priming and the explosion of the main charge. A piece of flint striking steel immediately over the priming pan generated the sparks necessary to ignite the priming powder.

In the early 1800s, Alexander Forsyth paired the flintlock with the percussion ignition system he developed in 1807. This ignition system utilized the detonating powers of a fulminating powder (fulminate of mercury) to ignite the charge in the barrel. The falling hammer detonated a small quantity of fulminate and the flash was then diverted into the touchhole. This led to the 1850 to 1870 era, a cradle of modern shotgun development. Throughout this period, various smoothbores were described from 4 bore to 32 bore. Yet, there was complete silence on the 410.

The artistry that so beguiles the present generation of writers and aficionados is all the more remarkable when its progenitor is explained [25]. “Barrel setting” or straightening was done by visual examination, a technique discovered in 1770 by an unknown Birmingham, England, artisan. He used natural daylight and interior barrel surface shadows to achieve the necessary result.

This method is still in use for quality doubles in the great gun houses of England. Through the 1850s, the locks and plates were handmade at the forge and anvil. This, the most difficult task for the gunmaker, was followed by the hand filer. Then the fitter, assembler, polisher, engraver, and hardener completed the task. After the 1850s, the steam hammer and stamp started to replace the forge and anvil, and the milling machine, the filer.

After the 1860s, machine-equipped factories emerged simultaneously with the acceptance of the breechloader gun. No wonder the 19th-century doubles are valued often as much for their history as for their intrinsic value.

The 19th-century muzzleloaders ranged from the 10 bore to the 30 bore, according to old auction catalogs in the Sotheby and Christie archives. Yet, no 410 smoothbores are listed.

From 1850 to 1870, an explosively active period in shotgun development, the centerfire, the breech-loading, and the hammerless shotguns were developed. During this time, there is no mention of the 410 smoothbore in the historical shotgun record, the British Proof Houses, or the cartridge/ammunition literature [26].

However, during the period of 1871 to 1890, the 410 finally emerged in the British Proof House records, in shotgun and cartridge literature, and in the production records by British gunmakers of serial-numbered shotguns that are traceable to their production dates.

Although Kynoch, a leading cartridge maker, was not offering the 410 bore cartridge in an 1882 poster, the British Proof House records showed that the 410 bore was available by importation from Europe as early as 1874 [26,27]. In the “London Notices of Importations” in August 1874, William Whitmore imported “410 guns.” On September 30, 1874, Robert Hughes brought in 16 walking stick 410 smoothbores from Europe. In April 1877, 100 Colt 410 smoothbore revolvers were shipped from Colt Firearms Company in America. In December of 1878, Thomas Bland & Sons imported 410 smoothbore pistols from the continent.

Cogswell & Harrison, a prolific gunmaker in the late 19th and early 20th centuries, records its first 410 smoothbore in 1880, serial number 10311, a “410 walking stick” [28].

A 410 hammer gun by Charles Osborne of Seven Whitehill Place, London, was traced by Boothroyd to a production date of between 1885 and 1892 [29]. This was a typical Victorian bird collector’s gun used for taxidermy. Brass 410 cartridges were introduced in the 1880s. An Eley Ammunition Display Chart, circa 1890, showed 410-bore cartridges [30].

Edward Booth, the greatest of the Victorian bird collectors with 236 species to his credit, used a 410 air rifle and a 410 smoothbore walking stick sometime between 1865 and 1884 [31].

William Evans, who started in 1883, made his first 410 in 1884 and his second in 1885. Both were “walking stick” guns with “moveable butt” and “patent safety trigger” priced at two pounds, five shillings. His first breech opener 410 had a side-lever and was made in 1887 [32]. Greener first lists the bore in his 2nd Edition of Modern Shotguns in 1891 [33].

The marriage of the walking stick with the percussion ignition in an 1876 patent led to a “410 walking stick gun” manufactured by a French gunmaker, Celestin Dumonthier, and sponsored in England by A.M. Clark. With this gun, the barrel sleeve is pushed forward to open the chamber in the side of the barrel. It is then pulled back to close the chamber. Releasing the firing pin occurred by one of several methods. One involves blowing the firing pin against the base of the shell as you would a “peashooter”! [34] This comes under the author’s chapter heading “Interesting Types of Smoothbore 410s.” Remember that Greener’s reference to the 410 was under “Odd Size.” Such is the literary ontology of the Zutz’ “Truly Electric” bore, a “collector’s dream.”

The pinfire breech-loading shotgun, introduced by LeFaucheux at the Great Exhibition of 1851, was manufactured as late as 1896 in Great Britain. Dickson & Sons produced the last one in Britain, but manufacturing continued in Europe into the early 20th century [35,36]. However, no English-made pinfire 410 has surfaced in the records or in the marketplace. The pinfire cartridge, patented in 1836 by LeFaucheux, was manufactured well into the 20th century, at least until 1935, by Eley. It was available in the 410 bore by 1895.

Daw introduced the centerfire cartridge in 1861 and Greener describes many centerfire field trials comparing 12, 16, 20, and 28 bores under varying conditions. These took place from 1879 through to the end of the 19th century without mention of the 410 bore.

In 1885, G. Fosbery, a Victoria Cross winner, Great Britain’s highest award for valor under fire, patented a Paradox barrel. This allowed a shotgun barrel to fire a solid bullet accurately by rifling only the constricted muzzle portion of the barrel. It stabilized the solid bullet without distorting the pattern of the shotgun cartridge. By 1899, Holland & Holland had produced approximately 5000 Paradox guns from 8 to 28 bore, with and without exposed hammers, almost always a back-action side-lock for added stock strength, both black powder or nitro [37].

410 Cartridge (see 410 Cartridge chapter)

Exploring the cartridge and gun barrel literature helps in dating the time period for the advent of the 410 bore. In 1882, Kynoch Ammunition Company offered shotgun cartridges from the 8 bore to the 28 bore and 36 caliber (.36-inch), pinfire or cen-terfire, brass or paper bodied. A recapitulation of this literature emphasizes the nearly nonexistent use of the 410 bore in conventional shooting circles prior to 1882. It also illustrates that because the pinfire 410 cartridge exists—and they do in small numbers—one cannot conclude that the 410 pinfire shotgun cartridge dates back to the 1860s.

In fact, Eley offered a pinfire 410 shell in a 20th century pre-World War II flier supplied by Boothroyd. At least one pinfire 410 shotgun is known (see Interesting Types of Smoothbore 410s chapter). It has European proof marks but no maker’s name and the date of production is unknown. Alas, the provenance of this gun cannot be traced. It is clear though that the pinfire shotgun and/or cartridge were made in Europe well into the 20th century.

410 Transition

From 1870 to 1890, the sale of British gun licenses almost doubled from over 90,000 to over 170,000, and many 12 bores were downsized from 7 pounds to under 6 pounds [34]. These two facts certainly reflected the advent of the breech-loading centerfire gun and cartridge that enormously simplified and made safer the art of shotgunning. It also reflected increasing numbers of women and boys entering the recreational shooting arena. The downsizing in weight of a given bore and improved ballistics of cartridges and barrels eventually led to a smaller bore acceptable to the game and target shooter. This gradually led to the acceptance of the use of the 410 bore in both pursuits. Indeed, Purdey sold a few wonderfully crafted “E”-grade 410s in the late 1880s and early 1890s, both in single- or double-barrel hammer back-action smoothbores (see Purdey chapter).

Before the turn of the 20th century, the system of serial numbering guns in England was as follows: “Best” quality guns had no letter with the serial number; “B”-grade guns were made in the “trade” (local artisans and gunmakers) but were finished and regulated by the principal firm; and “C”-grade 2nd quality and “E”-grade 3rd quality guns were similarly produced for such firms as Purdey, Westley Richards, and Holland & Holland on occasion (see appropriate chapters). Alternatively, the gun may have been made entirely “in the trade” and sold as a “gun made for” a specific firm such as Cogswell & Harrison (see Cogswell & Harrison chapter). This designation would appear on the rib of the barrel.

In virtually all cases, the specifically serial-numbered and named 410s of the 1880s and 1890s era were single- or double-barrel back-action sidelock hammer guns or were “walking stick” guns. It would appear that the manufacture of great hammer or hammerless bar-action sidelock and “Best” quality A&D boxlock guns in the 410 bore did not begin in earnest until after the turn of the 20th century. For example, Greener manufactured its first bar-action sidelock 410 in 1914 (see Greener chapter). This was a double-barrel hammer gun.

The first hammerless bar-action sidelock “Best” quality 410s built by the London firms essentially began in the 1920s when Harry Lawrence created Purdey’s first “Best” quality hammerless sidelock bar-action 410. He called this his greatest achievement in conjunction with the three miniature guns that he built for King George V’s 1935 Silver Jubilee. Parenthetically, these three miniature guns were 1/6 the size of the 12-bore hammer guns that were used by the King in his recreational pursuits. All three work and fire cartridges specifically made for the miniaturized guns (Photo 2). Lawrence’s ranking of Purdey’s first hammerless 410 with the Silver Jubilee accomplishments is quite an accolade [18].

Photo 2: Harry Lawrence and one of the three working miniature guns for King George V.

Purdey photo

The American high-quality double-barrel 410 introduced in the late 1920s had a different genesis. This great American shotgun story, bought to fruition by the classic American manufacturers of double guns, does not begin until the late 1920s. Unlike their British brothers, the American double 410 bore was in response to the demands of the clay target and upland game bird shooter. Four companies manufactured these quality 410 double guns: Parker Brothers, Ithaca, L.C. Smith, and Winchester. The 410 story of each company, to the extent known, will be discussed along with those of other companies in lesser detail.

410 Rook Rifle Conversion (see Rook Rifle chapter)

An interesting side note is the evolution in the last three decades of the 19th century of the Rook & Rabbit rifle. These were made by virtually all quality gunmakers including Purdey, Holland & Holland, Westley Richards, Boss, and Rigby. William Tranter invented this centerfire rifle in 1866. They were bored for various cartridges from 200 to 300+ calibers. When the cheaper 22 rimfire cartridge came along, this class of rifle vanished [38]. Many of these Rook rifles, particularly those in 300+ bore, were converted to 410 shotguns. Very few Rook rifles remain today in their pristine and original form.

The Tranter connection is of further interest since the Rook & Rabbit rifle was sold by W. Watson & Son who appear to be the forerunner of the Watson Bros., a firm that specialized in small-bore guns.

Boxlock and Bolt-Action 410s

Before World War II, the British imported many low-priced 410s from Belgium as folding single-barrel or double-barrel boxlock guns with 2-inch chambers. For the most part, these were neglected, wrecked, or destroyed [1]. Between the two world wars, the British boxlock A&D 410 was a well-crafted high-quality double for local consumption and for exportation to Indian, African, and Australian markets. Makers such as Churchill, Jeffery, Wilkes, Westley Richards, Cogswell & Harrison, Webley & Scott, and many provincial firms such as Gallyon & Son, made the occasional 410 on the A&D action.

During World War II and after, cheaply priced European imports accounted for a large percentage of 410s in Great Britain, for the average shooter. These were used by young beginners, vermin and rabbit shooters, taxidermists, and during World War II to “feed the troops” [39]. Correspondence to the Shooting Times & Country Magazine frequently mentions with warmth the use of the 410 to “shoot a mink” [40] and to shoot “thousands of rabbits” for decades, and once mastered after “years of practice,” is a “brilliant little gun” [41].

In the immediate post-World War II era, the 410 shotgun made up 6 percent of annual sales of all shotguns in Great Britain. The large majority were single-barrel bolt-action guns built by such firms as B.S.A. and Webley & Scott.

Boxlock A&D double 410s continued to be made, though rarely, after World War II by the above-mentioned gunmakers. For example, the Webley & Scott A&D 410, which was started in the first quarter of the 20th century as a 400 series gun, found a market for only three 410s after World War II. It was by then called a 700 series gun, reflecting modest cosmetic advances (see gunmaker chapters).

Sidelock Guns

It was not until after World War II that the expensively made bar-action sidelock 410s became well known, mostly catering to the American market. The large majority of Purdey’s hammerless bar-action 410s were manufactured after World War II (see Purdey chapter). Holland & Holland manufactured its first recorded bar-action hammerless sidelock in 1963 (see Holland & Holland chapter). Large majorities of the rare “Best” quality 410s by Westley Richards, Wilkes, and Boss have been manufactured since World War II, again for the American market. The Westley Richards “Best” quality drop-lock is a singular exception in that they made several for export trade to an affluent clientele in India between the two world wars (see Westley Richards chapter).

Conclusion

We have seen several transitions in the 410 bore. In England, they had been initially made as a walking stick and then as a back-action hammer sidelock gun. This was followed by the hammerless sidelock and boxlock doubles. There was a corresponding transition from a 2-inch to eventually a 3-inch shell. A further evolution occurred in the quality and in the nature of the action such that the post-World War II era 410s, most of the “Best” 410s of British manufacture, were bar-actions. This is not to say that they did not make a high-quality boxlock 410 for the domestic and export trade, especially by firms such as Webley & Scott, Churchill, Jeffery, and Westley Richards.

In America, the 410 was introduced as a single-barrel inexpensive gun during and just after World War I. The high-grade double 410s introduced in the middle to late 1920s in America were not manufactured to any significant extent after World War II. Various very well made 410s continue to be available in the American market from several popular manufacturers including Browning, Winchester, Remington, Mossberg, Stevens, and Marlin.

It was in the early 1950s when Ithaca and Smith ceased their double gun production of all gauges. The Winchester Model 21 410 was introduced after World War II and ceased effective production in the mid-1960s (see Winchester chapter). A Browning over/under, manufactured in Belgium, represented a high quality double and is still being manufactured under special circumstances (see Browning chapter). As in England, the shell progressed from a 2-inch to a 2 1/2-inch, and finally to a 3-inch shell with continued use of a 2 1/2-inch shell in skeet shooting.

In the following chapters, I will make an effort to detail and summarize existing knowledge of the 410 gauge for various important manufacturers. This will include the American and British firms with additional sections on the Browning Belgium 410. The intent of this book is to provide a substrate of documented and reliable data upon which others can build in the future. The hope is to provide some evidentiary basis for what is otherwise a pure art form of 410 shooting and collecting.

The final purpose of the book is to persuade the reader that the beauty of shooting a 410, especially for the young, is that the rewards of patience and good form are a broken target and harvested game.

The Genesis of the 410 Gauge References

1. Cradock, Chris, Cradock on Shotguns, 1989, B.T. Batsford, Ltd., London.

2. Personal communication, 1985.

3. Personal communication, 1995.

4. Personal communication, 2001.

5. Tate, Douglas, Birmingham Gunmakers, Safari Press, Inc., 1997.

6. Author’s review, London Proof House records.

7. Geeener, W.W., The Gun and Its Development, 9th Ed., 1910, Cassell & Company, Ltd.

8. Greener, W.W., The Gun and Its Development, 2nd Ed., 1884, Cassell & Company, Ltd.

9. Personal communication, 1996.

10. O’Connor, Jack, The Shotgun Book, 1965, Alfred A. Knopf, New York.

10a. Anderson, Robert, Jack O’Connor, 2002, Safari Press, Inc., Long Beach, California.

11. Personal communication, 1981.

12. Askins, Charles, Modern Shotguns and Loads, 1929, Small Arms Technical.

13. Askins, Bill, Petersen’s Hunting, December 1988, Petersen’s Publishing Company.

14. Keith, Elmer, Shotgun, 1967, Bonanza Books.

15. McIntosh, Michael, Shotguns and Shooting, 1995, Country Sport Press.

16. Personal communication, 1979.

17. Zutz, Don, The Double Shotgun, 1985, Winchester Press.

18. Personal communication, 1982.

19. Personal communication, 1978.

20.Boothroyd, Geoffrey, Sidekicks and Box Locks, 1991, Sandlake Press.

21. Hastings, MacDonald, The Shotgun, 1981, David & Charles, Newton Abbott, London.

22. George, J.H., English Guns & Rifles, 1947, Small-Arms Technical Publishing Company.

23. Pollard, H.B.C., A History of Firearms, 1926, Geoffrey Bles, London.

24. Blackmore, H.L., Hunting Weapons, 1971, Barrie & Jenkins, London.

25. Bailey, Dewitt and Nie, Douglas A., English Gunmakers, 1978, Arms & Armour Press, London.

26. Author’s review, London & Birmingham Proof House Records.

27. Crudgington, I.M., The British Shotgun, Vol. One 1850-1870, 1979 Barrie & Jenkins, London.

28. Maker’s record books examined by author.

29. Personal communication, 1996.

30. Akehurst, Richard, Game Guns and Rifles, 1969, G. Bell & Sons, London.

31. Jackson, Tony, Shooting Times & Country Magazine, 1990, June 21

32. Maker’s record books examined by author.

33. Greener, W.W., Modern Shotguns, 1891, Cassell & Company, Ltd.

34. Crudgington, I.M. and Baker, D.J., The British Shotgun Vol. Two, 1871-1890, 1989 Ashford.

35. Boothroyd, Geoffrey, The Shotgun History & Development, 1985, A. & C. Black, London.

36. Boothroyd, Geoffrey, Shotguns and Gunsmiths, 1986, A. & C. Black, London.

37. Maker’s record books examined by author.

38. Boothroyd, Geoffrey, STCM, 1990, May-June.

39. STCM, May 9-15 1991.

40.STCM, May 2-8, 1991.

41. STCM, November 21-27, 1991.

1 There is now emerging evidence that some of these guns were made in a Colt factory established in England.