My 10 yr old son can shoot a deer with me by his side this year.  We hunt in an area that is shotgun slug or handgun only.  I'm considering picking up a pump 20 gauge combo but I'm not sure if he is big enough to shoot it well.  

Looking at the curcuit judge, it's lightweight and short, A big plus for a boy.  The Bummer is he can't legally shoot 45lc out of it only slugs.  I can't find any reviews about shooting slugs out of one.  

I'm not worried about it being under powered because where I will take him to hunt is like the petting zoo, lots of whitetail under 50 yrds. It will be fun!  I will be with him so he won't get to shoot at unresonable shots, brushy, blocked or to far away.  

Anyway I'm gonna pull the trigger on probably both guns anyway and find out for myself.

Any input from someone who has shot the curcuit judge with .410 slugs would be helpful.

Is this like an airplane on a treadmill?

Only with deer and .410's with cylinders.

How much are those running for?

Doesn't Dicks Sporting Goods usually run a Fall Deer special of one of those combo single shots? Its a .243 and a 20gauge or something. Seems like that would be a great deal for something like this.

I cant comment on slugs out of a circuit judge,but I will suggest that a H&R or NEF 410 or 20 gauge is a lot cheaper and aside from being single shots,will work just as well.

I'm assuming you've already looked into whether it would be legal to do this(.410 for deer is NOT legal in IA)-Assuming it's OK, try to get your hands on a smoothbore circuit judge, or better yet, an Enfield single shot .410 conversion that's had the chamber reamed to 3". When I've fired .410 slugs with rifle sights(using the Enfield, not the judge) accuracy was great, power was not. I'd say the .410 slug would be borderline at best, but if he keeps his shots within a reasonable distance and puts the hole in the right place they'll work.

Do you have any friends who have a 20 gauge(any configuration) he could fire a couple slugs out of first to see how he does? Don't spend $500 on a .410 unless you have to. If that's what it takes to get a gun he'll enjoy shooting and hunting with so be it, but if he can handle the 20 get an 870 combo, a couple hunts' worth of ammo(shot and slugs) and have some money left over from your $500 for a father/son trip to McDonald's.
ETA-When my nephew was 10 I let him duck hunt with my 20 gauge 870 and adult stock. He did fine. Get the youth model and the fit will be better, but I didn't have a youth model and he wanted to use my 20 gauge pump instead of his single shot. Best thing will be to try someone else's 20 before spending the money on one.

IMHO .410 slug is fairly underpowered for even a small whitetail. 88grs @ 1650 or so? iirc. Is that even legal? I don't believe it is in Ohio.



Perhaps there are newer/better .410 slugs on the market I'm not aware of.



My boy has a rem870 youth in 20gage. Slugs are pretty stiff and he's a big boy for 11. 5'7" 110#. I think getting a ported barrel might be on our list. Not that he couldn't shoot and hit a deer, but he won't shoot it enough in practice to be as proficient as I'd like. Keep in mind that he puts 20-40 rounds through his 98 mauser (with a steel butt plate) each range trip.



This is a perfect example for advocating pistol caliber carbines for deer where rifle calibers are deemed unsuitable. (nevermind that it's been proven that shotgun slugs and some pistol calibers are more likely to bust further through the woods and be potentially more dangerous than a high velocity rifle round).



In any case, I couldn't recomend either the judge or a .410. There are some 20ga slug guns that are heavier than the 870 youth. That could be an alternative.

From what I've seen the .410 looses energy very rapidly. Maybe for less than 50 yds but I don't think I'd try further. A 20 gauge would be much more effective with a lot more options.
Brenneke Ballistic Data .410 / 3”


EDIT also from Brenneke:

I wouldn't want to shoot a deer with a .410.

I will probably go with a mossberg youth model combo.  The rifled slug barrel is already ported and has good sights, shooting sabots through it should be less than shooting slugs through a smooth bore.  All for about tree-fidy(350.00) at Feet Farm.  It will be a few years to grow out of it and if he's not big enough to shoot it this year he will have to wait one more year.  I think I am more excited about it than he is!