A friend recently advocated his theory about the .410 in today’s America. He believed that as our wingshooting population ages it will find preserve hunting increasingly attractive. Knees and ankles not quite as sturdy in the rutted fields of South Dakota? That extra 25 pounds of belly fat making your Wyoming high country bird hunt more strenuous than you last remembered? Old eyes causing those explosive flushes to get away? Packing ibuprofen in the vest pocket next to your shotgun shells?

You get the picture.

His point: if you’re a veteran wingshooter wanting to recapture the challenge of wide-open upland hunting in a preserve environment simply switch to a smaller gauge. And with that idea in mind, he went on to say we have crossed into the era of the .410.

At the bargain starting price of $579.00, the PointerPhenoma .410 semi-auto makes for a compelling value proposition. In fact, I started practicing with it for the upcoming 2019-2020 bobwhite quail season here in Thomasville, Georgia. My first hunt on the calendar was slated for Southern Woods Plantation in nearby Sylvester, and my usual group of hunting pals who shot there was dominated by guys who proved themselves absolutely lethal on quail with a .410.

For an initial run-through, the best I could come to simulated quail shots was the 16-yard-line of the wobble-trap range at Flint Skeet & Trap Club in Albany, Georgia.

For starters, the Turkish-made PointerPhenoma semi-auto weighs about 6 pounds in the .410 configuration, benefitting from the diminutive gauge and a hollow synthetic stock. 

While basic black synthetic model costs $579.00, you can move up the price ladder a bit to the walnut with gray Cerakote for $689.00, the bronze Cerakote with a higher grade walnut for $769.00, the Mossy Oak Bottomlands Camo/midnight bronze Cerakote combo for $799.00 or the Realtree Max 5 Camo with burnt bronze Cerakote receiver also for $799.00.

All the PointerPhenoma .410 semi-autos ship with a 28-inch, chrome-lined, barrel and a single fluorescent muzzle bead. The five flush chokes packaged with the shotgun are compatible with the Benelli/Beretta Mobil choke threads. The shotgun’s shell capacity is 3+1, accepting 2½-inch and 3-inch loads. I shot my go-to .410 quail loads of 2½-inch Winchester AA Super Sports packed with ½-ounce of 7½ shot traveling at 1300 feet per second. 

On the wobble trap field, the first thing you notice about the PointerPhenoma .410 is the ergonomics. The slim, light shotgun prompted lightning-fast swings – to the extent that it would be easy to overswing through the bird. On a flush, your reaction time is instantaneous; having a flat-shooting shotgun helped align your instinctive point of impact when using a nimble shotgun like the PointerPhenoma .410. 

As with all gas-operated semi-autos, the cycling mechanism is under the forend – giving the typical forward-bias we’ve come to expect. I found that for fast, light, sub-gauge semi-autos, the front ballast helps regulate the swing. If you’ve ever used a .410 shotgun with a 14-inch length of pull, there’s a tendency to jerk it down when you trigger the shot. It’s helpful that the extra weight of the action gives ample heft in maintaining the swing along the target through-line. 

The PointerPhenoma .410 had a 7½-pound trigger pull with a very short, crisp travel. Plant the wedge-shaped recoil pad firmly in the shoulder pocket, take advantage of the front counterpoise, and let it rip. Although I was prepping on wobble trap, I’d expect the shotgun to be an easy-carry, especially with sling swivels in the stock and forend cap. 

On the topic of control, the PointerPhenoma .410 had a rubberized dimpling instead of checkering that proved quite comfortable during shooting. And if you needed to make the shotgun longer you can insert the ¼-inch plastic shim.

Andy McCormick, Executive Vice President of Marketing and Sales at Legacy Sports International, told me that the PointerPhenoma .410 is “selling fast.” He said that whenever Legacy Sports holds shotgun demonstrations, people are lining up to shoot it. 

Just as an aside, Andy is an avid turkey hunter and his shotgun of choice is the PointerPhenoma .410. This past Spring hunting season, he was posting photos of the huge Toms he had taken with the shotgun. To check out Andy’s .410 turkey hunting adventures, you may want to follow him on Facebook https://www.facebook.com/andy.mccormick.9638

Irwin Greenstein is the publisher of Shotgun Life. You can reach him at contact@shotgunlife.com.

Helpful resources:

The Pointer shotgun section on the Legacy Sports International web site

Irwin Greenstein

Irwin Greenstein is Publisher of Shotgun Life. Please send your comments to letters@shotgunlife.com.

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