On Feb 13, 11:34*am, Jim Stewart wrote:
Watching Alaska State Troopers yesterday and saw
a .410 shotgun revolver. *I didn't know such a
thing existed. *So this raises an interesting
point. *When does a pistol firing shotgun shells
become a sawed-off shotgun? *Or when does a sawed-
off shotgun become a legal pistol?

This gets by the NFA regs on short-barreled shotguns and Any Other
Weapons because it's rifled and fires .45 Colt, so it's considered a
regular revolver with very long chambers. If it was a smoothbore, it
would have to be properly registered as a NFA weapon and have a tax
stamp issued to be legal. Legal length for a shotgun barrel is 18",
overall length has to be =26". Rossi/Taurus started this crap with
The Judge, S&W has The Governor, there are "self-defense" .410 shells
now being made for both. I really don't see the utility, myself, but
they sell like hotcakes so somebody does. I've done enough testing 30
years back with shot handloads in a .45 revolver to determine that
they don't really have any utility for anything I'm likely to do. The
donut effect is still there and a one-piece .45 Colt slug is still
likely to be a lot more decisive than a shower of shot. Kind of
expensive fun for just plinking, too, .410s aren't cheap. Even .410
components aren't cheap. It's a novelty item. Keeps the wheels of
industry rolling though.

There are no legal 20 gauge or 12 gauge pistol rounds, so .410 is
going to be it for this sort of gun. Half-inch bore size is the legal
threshold for being considered a Destructive Device. Such things can
still be made, by those with the proper legal blessing, though.

Stan