Alot of my shotgun shooting nowadays is for pigeon and crow control. Some of the areas I shoot are noise sensitive and a 12-gauge is too loud. In the past I would have avoided these areas because it is not worth the hassle of public complaints. However, the Mossberg 500 Bantam .410 gauge Hushpower has changed the game.
I have been using this little moderated shotgun for sometime now and it has become an incredibly effective tool. The 14" sound moderator, in conjunction with 3" subsonic cartridges, reduces the noise so much that the shot is virtually unheard 200m away. Some of you may be thinking that a .410 isn’t going to kill birds as well as a 12-gauge and this is exactly what I thought. But after using the Hushpower on quite a few outings decoying crows, I can tell you that this is absolutely not the case.
First impressions
This gun is a pump-action shotgun that is available as either a wooden-stocked or black-composite model. It loads very similarly to a semi-automatic shotgun – one cartridge in the chamber and two in the magazine underneath the barrel. It has a fixed full choke that throws a devastating pattern and a fixed sound moderator that covers the barrel.
What I like very much about this Hushpower is that the safety sits on the top of the receiver like most over-and-under shotguns, as opposed to it being on the trigger guard like most semi-automatics. I find this a lot more practical as it is what I am used to.
The gun is very well built and handles better than most other .410s I have previously used. It is great value for money compared with other shotguns in this price bracket. Even though it realistically won’t have a lot of use, it isn’t a lot of money sitting in the cabinet and it is there for when it is needed. The big sound moderator on the end makes the gun very front heavy, but I don’t believe this is a bad thing. The gun only weighs 6lb and the extra weight at the front makes it a lot easier to control.
The biggest issue I have found with this gun to remember to pump the forend after each shot. For those that don’t know what I mean by this, a pump action cycles by manually pulling back the forend to eject the spent case and then sliding the forend forward to load the next cartridge. I found this very off-putting to start with because it disrupts my movement onto the next bird or a follow up shot. I also quickly learned not to be too quick when pumping the empty shell out. The problem I found was that if I was too quick, the extractor claw would slip over the brass of the cartridge and I was left with an empty case stuck in the chamber, which as you can imagine is very frustrating.
It has been a very practical gun for hide shooting. Par ticularly in how easy it is to load and not having to break the gun over the hide like an over-and-under. A common issue that myself and a lot of others have had with the chunky sound moderator is that it blocks a lot of your vision of the target.
As standard, this Mossberg has a very low comb height and a short stock, which meant it was a very poor fit for me. I resolved this issue by adding a rubber comb raiser to increase the height and a slip on stock- extension pad. By doing this I have raised my eye over the barrel, which has firstly given me my desired point of impact but also a very clear vision of the target I am shooting at.
This is a really important point – .410 is an incredibly hard calibre to shoot effectively and having a good gun fit will help you to the best of your ability.
In the hide
With the alterations I had made to the gun I was happy with the fit and ready for action. Before heading out in the field to shoot crows, I tested a few different cartridges to see which performed best. I needed to find one that had a good pattern to dispatch the birds cleanly but also was quiet enough for the noise sensitive areas.
The first cartridge I tested was the Eley Extra Long Magnum Subsonic 6 18g fibre, and it patterned really well at 30yd. As for the noise, I genuinely could not believe how quiet they were. I would have liked to have tried another subsonic load as a comparison but there were no other subsonic loads I could find on the market.
Other Hushpower users I spoke with recommended the Hull High Pheasant 6 18g fibre, which when tested patterned equally as well as the Eley cartridges but were much louder as they are not subsonic loads.
Knowing that both cartridges were going to be a solid choice, I chose the Eley cartridges because they were the quietest.
I didn’t test any 2.5" cartridges as I wanted as much lead in the cartridge as possible. If I was only using the gun to shoot clays I would have tried some, but as I was intending to shoot live quarry I wanted the densest pattern possible to dispatch them cleanly.
The first day on the crows with the Hushpower was on a failed crop of maize next to a dairy farm. Apart from not pumping to reload the gun on more occasions than I would like to admit to, it was a very successful trip. I managed to clear up 53 corvids for the farmer, who was working not 200yd behind where I was shooting and didn’t hear a thing. The Hushpower I had on loan for this review convinced me so much that it was going to be an effective tool for my shooting trips that I bought one the following week.
My second trip out with the Hushpower was one I will remember forever. If I hadn’t recorded the day, I doubt many people would have believed how amazing it was. You can check out the video on my Fieldsports with Speed YouTube channel. I finished the day with 106 corvids and a magpie.
At the start of the day I was cleanly dispatching birds at 20-30yd to great effect and then began to increase the range to what I felt the combination I was using could manage. I actually dispatched some crows cleanly out to 40yd, which I didn’t believe was possible with this little calibre.
From my experience I would advise anyone to start by shooting birds within 25yd when using a .410. They throw an incredibly tight pattern and a short string of shot, so to ensure you don’t injure birds, starting at a short range will build your confidence in how incredibly effective this little calibre is.
Another key factor I have noticed when using the Hushpower is how the birds have continued to decoy for longer. Obviously because the shots are so much quieter than the normal 12-gauge loads I fire, the potential for birds staying in the area has been greatly increased. There have been multiple occasions where I have shot a bird over the decoys and another group 100yd
behind continued on their flightline straight into the pattern.
Conclusion
The Mossberg 500 Bantam .410 gauge Hushpower is an incredibly effective little tool for pest control in noise-sensitive areas. At £845 I think it is very good value for money and guaranteed to put a smile on your face. The two negative points I have are that you have to be extra careful when ejecting the empty cartridge so as not to get it stuck in the chamber, and the stock dimensions are completely wrong for most adult shooters.
It is important that you make all alterations necessary to the gun before heading out to shoot, as without a good gun fit you might as well not bother. The .410 gauge is an incredibly challenging calibre to shoot and you need a good gun fit for the best results.
I do like how the gun handles. The extra weight of the sound moderator makes the gun front heavy and increases the ability to control it. It is a lot lighter than most shotguns, so slow down your hand speed and see the same sight picture you normally would. Also one last thing, remember to pump the forend to reload. It is incredibly annoying when you go to pull the trigger on nice left and right birds and nothing happens. I know someone who has done this a few times.
Tech Specs
Mossberg 500
Make: ............................... Mossberg
Model: ............................ 500 Bantam Hushpower
Calibre: ........................... .410 gauge
Mechanism: ................. Pump action
Orientation: .................. Right handed (left handed available)
Barrel length:............... 25"
Stock length: ............... 13"
Weight: ............................ 6lb
Chamber: ........................ 3"
Choke: .............................. Full
Steel proofed: ............. Yes
Importer: ......................... The Saddlery & Gunroom, 01959 573089
Warranty: ........................ 3 years
Price from: £845