Stevens 301 + .410 TSS + Red Dots for Turkey

[Skydog]

Based on comments on this and other forums, and lots of other internet research, it seems like a Stevens 301 in .410 with a red dot and TSS loads is a winning combination for turkeys. I am very interested in this setup and am hoping to get some feedback from folks who have experience with it.

How is the quality/durability over the long term? These are currently listed for $210 at Cabela's. The only negatives I've read about so far are:
1) Some folks say they are really bad to rust.
2) A few folks say they are really finicky, and some won't pattern well with any choke/load combination. However, the majority of them seem to pattern really well.

What chokes and TSS load combinations have you had the best results with? Please be specific. I know each gun is unique and what works for you may not work for me...but just trying to get some ideas of what seems to be working for others.

What red dot and mount are you using? Please be specific. I've read/seen a lot of complaints about the red dots sitting too high and requiring the use of a cheek riser on the stock. Will the red dots co-witness with the bead sight?

What is the max effective range with this combo?

Any other feedback, good or bad, would be appreciated.

 

[dtrkyman]

I recommend you look up Blue Collar outdoors on youtube, they have a couple of them and have shot a ridiculous amount of patterns.

I think most .410 are a little finicky, if you are looking for 40 yards patterns anyway.

I am leaning toward the Rossi Tuffy myself, only due to the lighter mass weight, the 301 might be a better quality gun?

As far as longevity, I don't think there is anything as simple as a single barrel shotgun, doubt you would have an issue!

I would get rid of their factory pic rail and get a Sumtoy mount, it will sit lower and eliminate a part on the dot.

 

[juju]

I know someone who hunts with one. He uses it as is with Federal. Other than one bad lot of Federal it's been plug n play for him. His patterns are adequate but I personally would have figured something else out. But, I'm prejudiced against heavy .410s. You can get a 3# Yildiz for $140.

ETA: No rust issues with Yildiz. They're finished in matte black chrome. Mine patterns better with a slightly fouled bored.

Unless you're dealing with a high quality, consistently built gun you won't get certain suggestions likely to be relevant to you. You really do have to pattern your specific gun and shell combo. If you can get 100 pellets evenly distributed across a 10" circle you're good to go. I highly recommend you test that at 40 yards, then increase by 5 yard increments until you find the point the pattern falls apart. Subtract 10 yards and don't shoot further. If it failed at 40 yards don't waste time on it.

The only cheat on this I can think of for .410 would be if you can get a 1oz load from Fox Trot. That load with T10s has a lot of pellets.

 

[satchamo]

I have a Rossi tuffy turkey in 410, a Steven’s 301 in 20.

Between the 2 here is the positives/negatives:

Rossi:

Positive
-light - like stupid light. Mine is 3 lbs with a red dot
-lop adjustment - it has a few ways to adjust lop for youth - my 8 yr old shoots it comfortably
-way better butt stock than Steven’s - vertical grip, the shell holders
-better pic rail- the rail on the 301 is entirely too tall where as the Rossi is just right

Negative
-cheap - like it feels super cheap.
-rusts way too easily
-machine marks in the chamber barrel - these babies are rough finished
-useless safety - it only prevents the hammer from being cocked by does nothing once the hammer is cocked
-some ejection issues - mine wouldn’t eject apex but I found out it was the ammo not the gun because it ejects everything else I’ve tried fine.
-patterns ok but nothing crazy

Stevens

Positive
-patterns well. My 20 ga with a sumtoy choke and apex 9s patterns insanely tight, probably too tight
-better built - this gun feels way less cheap in hand


Negative

-pic rail is way too high. You almost have to use a comb riser to run a red dot with this. Otherwise it’s not real cozy to shoot with how high the red dot sits
-the stock sucks - if you can find the thumbhole version it would be 100x better but the non version is pretty meh without a vertical style grip
-no LOP adjustment


As far as red dots go, I’m a fan of the sig Romeo. It’s not a reflex style so it’s better in rain. Then it can be had cheap on eBay. I’ve ordered 3 and none of them are counterfeit but you’d think they were for the price…. I run a vortex venom on my Franchi but it doesn’t have shake awake like the Romeo which is super nice.

 

[Skydog]

I recommend you look up Blue Collar outdoors on youtube, they have a couple of them and have shot a ridiculous amount of patterns.

Yes, I have watched a few of their videos. If I recall correctly, it was one of the guys from Blue Collar that said they rust really bad, and that he could never get his to pattern well...he called it a "lemon" in one of their videos.

 

[Skydog]

Unless you're dealing with a high quality, consistently built gun you won't get certain suggestions likely to be relevant to you. You really do have to pattern your specific gun and shell combo.

Understood. But since there are so many options when it comes to chokes and loads, I was hoping to get some suggestions just to use as a starting point. Then I can tweak as needed.

 

[Skydog]

I have a Rossi tuffy turkey in 410, a Steven’s 301 in 20.

Between the 2 here is the positives/negatives:

Rossi:

Positive
-light - like stupid light. Mine is 3 lbs with a red dot
-lop adjustment - it has a few ways to adjust lop for youth - my 8 yr old shoots it comfortably
-way better butt stock than Steven’s - vertical grip, the shell holders
-better pic rail- the rail on the 301 is entirely too tall where as the Rossi is just right

Negative
-cheap - like it feels super cheap.
-rusts way too easily
-machine marks in the chamber barrel - these babies are rough finished
-useless safety - it only prevents the hammer from being cocked by does nothing once the hammer is cocked
-some ejection issues - mine wouldn’t eject apex but I found out it was the ammo not the gun because it ejects everything else I’ve tried fine.
-patterns ok but nothing crazy

Stevens

Positive
-patterns well. My 20 ga with a sumtoy choke and apex 9s patterns insanely tight, probably too tight
-better built - this gun feels way less cheap in hand


Negative

-pic rail is way too high. You almost have to use a comb riser to run a red dot with this. Otherwise it’s not real cozy to shoot with how high the red dot sits
-the stock sucks - if you can find the thumbhole version it would be 100x better but the non version is pretty meh without a vertical style grip
-no LOP adjustment


As far as red dots go, I’m a fan of the sig Romeo. It’s not a reflex style so it’s better in rain. Then it can be had cheap on eBay. I’ve ordered 3 and none of them are counterfeit but you’d think they were for the price…. I run a vortex venom on my Franchi but it doesn’t have shake awake like the Romeo which is super nice.

I appreciate the pros/cons comparison...very helpful info. I'm actually not a fan of thumbhole stocks, so I'm sure I would prefer the stock on the Stevens. And from some of the other comments it sounds like there are other mounting options to make the red dot sit lower on the 301.

 

[satchamo]

I appreciate the pros/cons comparison...very helpful info. I'm actually not a fan of thumbhole stocks, so I'm sure I would prefer the stock on the Stevens. And from some of the other comments it sounds like there are other mounting options to make the red dot sit lower on the 301.

Is this for you or a child or wife? I ask because a thumb hole or pistol grip typically has a friendlier trigger reach for kids. I didn’t buy a Steven’s for my son for that reason.

 

[Skydog]

Is this for you or a child or wife? I ask because a thumb hole or pistol grip typically has a friendlier trigger reach for kids. I didn’t buy a Steven’s for my son for that reason.

It's for me.

 

[Gmr777]

Steven’s makes a thumbhole version of the 410 and it’s great. I put a $150 (on sale from Cabelas I think) holosun red dot, guy on eBay or Etsy makes a single shell side saddle for quick reloads, and running federal tss with factory choke and it’s killed everything inside 50 yards. Think all in was under $400 for the setup and it’s my go to turkey gun now. Throw a bipod on the front and it’s great for kids as well.

 

[Honyock]

I picked up a 301 turkey 410 this year. The stock choke patterns well with Federal #9 TSS or Apex Ninja 9.5. You might find a little better choke, but I don't think it will be enough to make a difference. I'm going with the stock choke and the Apex just for a few more pellets down range. I put a Sightmark Mini-shot M Spec reflex sight on it. The rail height is not an issue for me with the reflex sight. Pros, lighter than lugging an 870 12 gauge, It's a $200 gun and it's a lot of fun to shoot. Cons, the stock could be better but again, it's a $200 gun. As far as max range, I'm not a "see how far I can shoot" guy and enjoy seeing how close I can call them in. It's good for 35-40 yards maybe further but my self imposed limit is 40 yards.

 

[180ls1]

I picked up a 301 turkey 410 this year. The stock choke patterns well with Federal #9 TSS or Apex Ninja 9.5. You might find a little better choke, but I don't think it will be enough to make a difference. I'm going with the stock choke and the Apex just for a few more pellets down range. I put a Sightmark Mini-shot M Spec reflex sight on it. The rail height is not an issue for me with the reflex sight. Pros, lighter than lugging an 870 12 gauge, It's a $200 gun and it's a lot of fun to shoot. Cons, the stock could be better but again, it's a $200 gun.

Great advice above.

#9 tss and any turkey choke seems to work well. You could invest a lot of time and $$$ to only have a small improvement. If a guy is worrying about max range, loads and different chokes it may be worth just grabbing a 20.

 

[Skydog]

Cons, the stock could be better

What don't you like about the stock?

 

[Skydog]

If a guy is worrying about max range, loads and different chokes it may be worth just grabbing a 20.

Very valid point...but I need to minimize recoil due to shoulder/neck issues, so I need something with less recoil than a 20. And I'm fine with a 35-40 yard max range.

 

[180ls1]

Very valid point...but I need to minimize recoil due to shoulder/neck issues, so I need something with less recoil than a 20. And I'm fine with a 35-40 yard max range.

Got it.

Honestly, it will likely do that without touching a thing.

Cant help on the scope suggestions. I pulled the rail as below it is cut/notched to work with the front bead. I'd say its 1/2 way between a dual bead setup and iron sights.

 

[Honyock]

What don't you like about the stock?

I don't dislike the stock but something like this would make it perfect.

 

[Irish Miner]

My Stevens .410 set up:

Polished the bore really well (something I read up on). Not that it was needed, but figured it couldn't hurt.

Started off with the Burris Fast Fire red dot and Sumtoy mount. Ran out of adjustment when adjusting patterns so I put the Vortex Venom on thinking it might adjust more than the Burris. Nope! Needed to get a shim to complete the required adjustment.









Left the Vortex on and replaced the factory choke with a JEB's X-Full. Really no noticeable pattern difference between the JEB's and factory choke. Factory choke is slot ported and is more than good enough. I've shot TSS 9's, 9.5's and 10's. All are good enough. This group is the Ninja 9.5's at 40 yrds.



Concur with the others about a good 35 to 40 effective range. Light and pleasant to carry. No issues with rust, just need to wipe down with a good silicone cloth after a day in the field.

 

[butcherboy]

I bought the Steven’s for my daughter. Put a Sig Romeo on it and it does sit pretty high. I just had her adjust from a cheek weld to a jaw weld and she does great. Using the stock choke and Browning tss #9.

 

[WoodDuck]

TLDR I love the gun, but it isn’t without fault.

Full disclosure I didn’t not read the whole thread, so if anything has already been covered I apologize. My 301 with factory red dot will be going on its 2nd year, so not a ton of hands on experience here.

My gun patterns great with the factory choke and Browning #9 TSS (Roger’s had it for $26 per box and I loaded up). The one caveat is you NEED to have a clean barrel for it to pattern well. I carry a bore snake when hunting now.

I had issues with the factory rail coming loose when first sighting in the gun. I also had to re-tap one of the 8-32 screws that held the rail because there were only a couple threads grabbing the screw before it bottomed out. Not great for a new gun but I didn’t want to ship it to the factory for warranty repairs. I ended up trying to bed the rail with JB weld and incidentally permanently epoxied the rail to the gun. The good news is it no longer comes loose.

The factory red dot isn’t great, but gets the job done. It sits high, so I ordered one of the cheek pad sleeves with different foam inserts from Amazon to adjust comb. The gun fits great now.

The gun killed 3 birds last year at 20, 30, and 55 yards, all bang flop (actually zero flop, which I had never seen before with a 12ga). The 55 was misjudged range on my wife’s part. Very impressed with the lethality of the caliber.

I don’t regret buying the gun, but would also consider other options if it had to be replaced. The ergonomics of the safety make it somewhat awkward for a right handed shooter. That being said, I will never carry another gun in the turkey woods unless it is a .410, and right now this is the only one I have.

 

[mgray]

I was a mentor in a learn-to-hunt program yesterday. These were all first time hunters, and 95% of them used 410. I have the Stevens, and I got to try one of the Rossis. My Stevens failed to fire twice, even though the safety was off. I’m thinking maybe it wasn’t completely off, but after recocking it, it worked. Thankfully. My hunter shot a tom at 45 yards, and it was dead before it hit the ground, a few flops and it was over. I’m a real believer in the .410 for kids and new hunters. The two things I liked about the Rossi over the Stevens were the hammer was a lot easier to cock for small hands, and the safety seemed easier to use. Also, a red dot really makes it dummy proof.