Bond Arms, perhaps more than any other single firearms manufacturer, breathed not only new life—but new utility—into the once lowly .410 shotgun round by chambering it in their high quality over-under derringers. They managed to stay in compliance with federal law that prohibits “sawed-off” shotguns by developing a rifled combination .45 Colt/.410 barrel. Because the .410 has a base diameter similar to the .45 Colt, it is easily chambered in Bond Arms .45 Colt diameter barrels.

I have fired a number of the different .410 self-defense specialty loads through my Bond Arms USA Defender derringer with the 3-inch .45 Colt/.410 barrel. These loads use a combination of slugs and smaller shot. While they do ok, there is quite a bit of spread of the smaller shot behind the slugs—more than I like to see. A shotgun, even a handgun like the Bond Derringer, should not be thought of as an “area fire” weapon. Shotguns need to be aimed. Their multiple projectiles should be thought of as giving the defensive user increased terminal damage—not an increased chance of hitting what they are aiming at. You alone are responsible for damage caused by every single pellet launched. It will not matter if the main charge is fired into the “target” dead center.

I was waiting for a defensive load that patterned tightly and would be effective from the 3-inch Bond Arms barrel. My wait is over. Hornady’s .410 Triple Defense has arrived.

Leading with a .41 caliber non-jacketed Hornady FTX Slug that engages the rifling, and backed up by two .35 caliber (000 Buckshot) balls, velocity of the Triple Defense is rated at 750 fps with 394 FPE. It is likely that Hornady measured velocity from a handgun barrel because normal .410 velocity is 1400 fps at the muzzle.

I went to the range with my Bond USA Defender, the requisite 25-pound block of clay, and NRA B27 silhouette targets. I decided to trust Hornady’s velocity figures, as I didn’t want my chronograph pinged by the shot wad.

Hornady claims to produce a .410 load that will keep all its pellets on a man-sized silhouette at 7 yards, and boy did they ever. At 9 feet, the three projectiles easily grouped into 3-inch groups. At 20 feet, the groups opened up to 8 inches. At 30 feet, the groups opened up to 9 inches, but became erratic in dispersion. I would feel most comfortable using the .410 in a 3-inch barrel at a maximum distance of 25 feet. While Hornady exceeded their projectile spread goal, none of that matters if the terminal effect is poor.

For the clay block test, I stood 5 feet from the 8×12-inch 25-pound block of moist modeling clay, which is much closer than I normally stand. I wanted to make sure that all three projectiles entered the center of the block. I set the block on the cardboard box it came in.

I loaded the top barrel of the USA Defender, sighted, and fired. My reaction was “wow!” The pellets blew a gaping entrance wound in the block, and sent pieces of modeling clay onto me and my glasses. The cone-shaped entrance wound channel was 3.5 inches in diameter. About one third of the way in, the channel narrowed to 3 inches and gradually narrowed to the diameter of the .41 caliber main slug. All three projectiles exited the 12-inch block, with the .41 caliber slug making the biggest hole. None of the projectiles were recovered. The wad punched through the cardboard box and was recovered inside it. Truly impressive performance.

Truthfully, before I ran this test, I thought the 2.5-inch .410, at least in standard 00 buckshot guise, might be a little less than desirable for defense in the USA Defender. (Because I wasn’t sure, I mostly carry .45 Colt loads in it for defense.) But I’m sure now…at least with Hornady Triple Defense shells stoked in it. For more information, go to: www.hornady.com.