45 colt / 410 contender barrels

[historicfirearms]

A LGS has a nice looking 45 colt Contender barrel on consignment. It is one that is also chambered for 410 shotshells. How well do these typically shoot 45 colt ammo? It seems like the long jump to rifling would be detrimental to accuracy. Also, the rifling seems like it would mess up any shot pattern from a 410 shell. Are these barrels just a novelty, or are they actually useful?

[dubber123]

A friend rabbit hunts from snoe shoes with his. His specimen was very particular about ammo, and patterned one brand/shot size better than all others. He does very well on running rabbits within 25 yds or so. I have heard of others reforming longer cases to get the bullet jump down and it is supposed to help a lot.

[pietro]

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Any dual purpose/chambering will, of neccessity, involve compromises.


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[Lonegun1894]

I have a 10" .45 Colt/.410 for my contender. This is the only one I have used so my experience is limited and my theory may only apply to this particular one FWIW. I got it for the sake of using .410 shells in, and the choke allows shots on rabbits and squirrel out to 25-30 yards. Here is the catch. Just make sure you remove the choke before firing .45 Colts. Here is my theory as to why the accuracy of my example, well, SUCKS, with .45 Colt ammo. First off is the jump through the very long chamber that everyone mentioned. Second is the VERY shallow rifling. Remember that these were a way to allow the use of .410s, and not so much for accuracy of the .45 Colt, so the rifling in these is to fulfill a legal requirement, as in, it has to be deep enough to be visible to keep you and me out of jail, but being shallow enough to NOT spin the shot charge and give a better pattern with a .410 is an advantage in this case. Here was my solution: I have the .45/.410 barrel exclusively to have a compact light weight shotgun for small game, and then I have a .44 Mag barrel for accuracy with a solid bullet (and in a barrel that is very common and cheap, as opposed to trying to find a .45 Colt-only barrel and paying a premium for it).

[kenyerian]

I have two 45/410 barrels that I use to hunt rabbits with. One is a 10" for a contender frame and one is a 15" for an encore. Neither one is a tack driver with the 45. The 15" barrel does make a difference velocity wise and extends the shot range significantly. These barrels all have a removable choke that has straight grooves to stabilize the shot column. They must be removed to shoot 45's. I only use mine to rabbit hunt with as I have other calibers for deer hunting. I did have a barrel that was chambered for a 45 colt only that did shoot very well but I traded it off.

PS They are very handy to hunt small game with. I have a pack of beagles and carrying a pistol allows me to easily leash up the pack and get them back to the truck. Also this gives me the freedom to use a walking stick that doubles as a rest.

[725]

What lonegun1894 said. :)

[Tackleberry41]

If you want to shoot 45 colt with any amount of accuracy, don't get one thats 45/410. Had a Rossi, well still have it but it came in 45/410, I barrel stubbed it and rechambered in 45 colt. You would be better off throwing the bullets. 20ft it was lucky to hit a 12 in circle. Theres a good inch and a half of nothing that bullet has to travel before slamming into the rifling. Straight? Maybe. I tried 444 marlin shells, was still a good bit of jump, so accuracy really didn't improve. Some have used longer brass to get the bullet closer to the rifling, but a 410 chamber really won't take a 451 bullet and the brass case, mine wouldn't. Some might and why they get better results.

45/410 is just a fad that wont die. Place around the corner has a case full of them, one the new Taurus with the long barrel, because that will make it more accurate.

[quilbilly]

I also have a 10" 45/410 barrel and love it but almost never shoot the 45 because the accuracy is rather poor and the ejector doesn't always work (so I have to carry a rod). The 410 barrel has put lots of grouse on the table and it actually patterns well out to 22 yards on grouse/rabbit size game using the 2-1/2" shells and #6 shot. Using buckshot loads (00 pellets), it will keep all the pellets on a pie plate at 10 yards which I think is formidable. I have no experience with the Taurus pistols so cannot compare patterning. If you are looking at a vent ribbed barrel, you have to keep an eye on the screws that hold the vent on as they will occasionally loosen. That Contender barrel almost never leaves my side in the field between Sept 1 and Dec. 31 during the grouse season and mushroom hunting time. (Darn, I am already hungry)

[tward]

I have an octogon 45 Colt only barrel that is very accurate, I also have a bull bbl 45/410 barrel. The accuracy is not as good out of this bbl but with the choke it patterns very well at 50 ft. I reload mag tech 410 brass shells for these (the newer WW 410 plastic wads fit well). There are also 45 Colt barrels out there that are marked 45 Colt but are bored, at factory, to accept the 410 3" shell but are not threaded for a choke. So I guess I'm saying the bbl is useful mostly as a 410 but adequate as a 45 Colt. Heck, get 2 barrels! Have fun Tim:bigsmyl2:

[leadman]

I had the 14" 45/410 barrel and tried many things to get it to shoot 45 Colt decent. I even bought 460 S&W brass and trimmed it so it met the end of the chamber. Helped a little but still a poor excuse for a handgun firing a boolit. Even tried jacketed with poor results.

[tctender]

I have a 10" 45/410 barrel I have only shot 410 in. If I want to shoot 45 I have one of those also. When I got the 45/410 barrel I had read enough to figure it would not shoot the 45 very good at any distance. It should be a good knock around barrel for when occasional bird,rabbit, squirrel or snake gets in the way and you have to shoot them to escape ( ha-ha). If only the 410 shells were not so expensive. I may solve that in the near future if I can get a reloader for it.

[Tackleberry41]

I have a 10" 45/410 barrel I have only shot 410 in. If I want to shoot 45 I have one of those also. When I got the 45/410 barrel I had read enough to figure it would not shoot the 45 very good at any distance. It should be a good knock around barrel for when occasional bird,rabbit, squirrel or snake gets in the way and you have to shoot them to escape ( ha-ha). If only the 410 shells were not so expensive. I may solve that in the near future if I can get a reloader for it.

If you want some cheap 410, make some out of the 9.3x74 brass. You can really load em up with some shot. Or up to 4 of the .395 round ball. No loader needed, just a set of hollow punches to make wads.

Dont waste your time with 45 colt, you will be asking 'am I really that bad of a shot'?

[bearcove]

I think a lot of people missed the point of it being 45 Colt also. It was to make a legal 10 inch 410 pistol. Forget about the 45 Colt part and then you see the real point. A 25 yard 410 pistol.

[Lonegun1894]

Exactly what I think, Bearcove. Fed law says (unless you go get a tax stamp for it) a smoothbore barrel has to be 18"+, and a rifled barrel doesn't shoot good shot patterns, so these are just a legal loophole. Enough rifling so the ATF can't say they're smoothbore cause it's just deep enough to see, but not deep enough to spin a shotcharge (or do a good job of spinning a solid bullet either).

[historicfirearms]

Bearcove, I never thought of it that way. It does seem like it would make a fun little shotgun.

[bearcove]

We shoot clay birds with mine. A blast. My dad is amazing with it, never misses. I get 3 out of 4. That's off a regular thrower same as we shoot normally.

10 Inch barrel!