This is the first shotgun I've owned, although I have fired a few over the years. Overall, I'm pretty satisfied with it, especially for the price. I have only fired it a few times so far, but it seems to perform as I would expect. This was also the first shotgun my wife had ever fired. She originally said she was a bit nervous about shotguns in general, but after firing this one, she had a great time. I would definitely recommend this to someone that is being introduced to using a shotgun.

Bought this gun for squirrel hunting. Bought all 3 inch ammunition: Win Chester #4, Rem #5, Federal #6 (basically all that was available at local Walmart at the time.) Shot over half the ammunition, but unable to get the gun to pattern well. The pattern at 25 yds looked more like what you should see at 40 yds. Then I bought Hevi-bismuth #4 & #6; Hevi-shot #7 and Hevi-strut #6 ($108.00). the Hevi- Bismuth didn't pattern any Better than the loads first tried. The Hevi-shot &strut patterned well, however I'm not willing to pay 4 to 6 dollars a shot for a squirrel. So I started looking for different chokes and stumbled across this NRA American Rifleman test article for this gun: https://www.americanrifleman.org/articles/2019/8/30/tested-s-
tevens-301-turkey-bottomlands-410-shotgun/. Of the LEAD ammo I had shot, the best results was with the Federal #6. So I bought a box of Federal # 6 and Federal #71/2 as used in the article. I followed the same routine as in the article. After 3 hours, I was getting consistent pattern from the Federal # 6 (28 to 33 pellets in a 5 inch circle at 25 yards). Then I tried the 7 1/2, to my surprise, it did not pattern as well as the #6. Then I tried a couple of rounds from the previously purchased loads. None patterned as well as the Federal #6. Not the Hevi-shot nor Hevi-strut. I would have to re-adjust the scope to use any loads other than the Federal & #6, #7.5 or the Remington #5. The #7.5 or #5 don't do as well as the Federal #6, but are acceptable. Sticking with the Federal #6, they are less than$10.84 for a box of 25 at Walmart including tax. Had I known I would have to spend this much time and money to select a hunting load, I would never have bought the gun. I haven't hunted with it yet. Hope the #6 will take down a squirrel, their skin is tough. Another issue I have had is getting the for arm back on once removed to break the gun down for cleaning. It is easy off, but difficult to put back. Hoping this will get better with age. If your not planning on turkey hunting with this gun I would not recommend it. The SST's are about $7.00 a shot.

I've harvested gobblers with both 12ga and 10ga shotguns in the past and would like the challenge of harvesting a bird with a .410. I searched to find a Stevens 301 Turkey 410 at my local shops and Sporting Goods chain stores with no luck. I have purchased firearms from Bud's in the past so I checked the website and they happened to have several of the Mossy Oak versions in stock. The price was better than I would have paid locally even if they had the item so it was a no brainer. As before the transaction was quick and secure and it was shipped to my local FFL quickly. I'm sure i"ll buy from Bud's again in the future.