Has anyone ever made a .410 handgun that wasn't also made to shoot .45 Colt. Did Thompson Center ever make a complete smooth bore barrel for their Contenders. I have wanted to try turkey hunting with a handgun for some time now.

Kauger Arms makes one,called the Tomahawk.

IF I AM REMEMBERING RIGHT, ALL THE TC CONTENDER .410 BARRELS WERE RIFLED AND COULD ALSO SHOOT 45 COLT. THE SHOT PATTERN WAS "STRAIGHTENED OUT" WITH A STRAIGHT RIFLING SCREW ON CHOKE.

Don't think they could get around the rifling issue due to ATF restrictions.

I can tell you that I had much better luck achieving a good shot spread at 20 yards with an older .45LC/.410 octagon barrel than I had with any of the conventional vent rib barrels I had.

Not sure if it's the difference in the type of "choke" each barrel uses or something else.

There's also a YouTube video floating around where someone used a 10' VR barrel with success. Talked about the loads and showed the groups he was getting prior to the actual hunt.

Good luck in your search and hunting.

John

Go into the members articles and look up "Most Challenging Sport?" It's a small write-up I did a few years back - it may be of some interest.

The link feature isn't working for me or I'd post the link.

There are 410 barrels out there that are not rifled. Of course with that being said they will be longer than 18" mostly in the 24" length. Im fairly certain as long as the barrel is over 18" (smoothbore) and the overall length is longer than 26" you will be fine to use as a handgun and no special permit is needed.

^^^^^^^Yeap^^^^^^^^^

Seems to me that Marbles made a .410 pistol many years ago called the Marble's Game Getter.