Hushpower .410 gun review

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Hushpower .410

By Mike Yardley of The Field

Monday, 21 December 2009

The Hushpower .410 sound-moderated pumpgun...perfet for rabbit shooting

A long, long time ago, in a land that time forgot, I persuaded my late Grandma, Alexa, to apply to Kensington police for a .22 pistol and sound moderator for "vermin destruction". The application was not successful.

As a substitute, and because Alexa had a practical mind-set as befitted one of the first women ever commissioned, we acquired a push-on moderator for a single-barrel Cooey .410. It might have got more use had it not disappeared into the wide blue yonder on first being fired at her country place. Thus began my experience with sound moderators.

I have since shot a great many "silenced" guns, sporting and military. These have included shotguns, rifles and pistols, and everything from .38 Mac 10s to Tikka sniper rifles. Perfected by Hiram Maxim (to whom a patent for a "Silent Firearm" was issued in March 1909), there is something fascinating about these weapons. Though they are rarely as quiet as those seen in the movies - the phut, phut of Bond's PPK is mythical - it concerns the apparent paradox of silent power.

Enter the test gun, a Hushpower .410 seen on the shelves of the West London Gun Room. Based on an American Mossberg 500 pump gun, the Hushpower, RRP £540, is modified in England with a dedicated moderator made and fitted by the eponymous Kent-based firm. A range of sound-moderated guns is offered including pumps similar to that tested in .410, 20 and 12, single barrels and a new over-and-under 20-bore based on an Investarm folding gun.

First impressions are very good. It is well made, with business-like looks that include no fancy embellishment, and a plain, black, anodised, streamlined, aluminium action. The 3in-chambered and London-proofed 24in barrel (31in with the moderator) is conventionally blued and has a vented rib, the view of which is partially obstructed by the "can" (a plain barrel may be available). The magazine has been limited to two shots, giving the gun a three-shot capability with a round in the chamber (a five-shot FAC version is available). The stock is wood, quite short (14in) and finished with a ventilated recoil pad (unnecessary for a .410 but typical of Mossberg). Hushpower .410