While I can't speak directly to the triple ought, I used 00 buck .410's when I was first starting out. All I had at the time was a 12ga and two .410's, spent most of my time carrying the .410 because I wasn't big enough to carry the 12ga very far. Then as I got bigger, occasionally I'd loan the 12ga to buddies and I'd use the .410... Spent 8-10yrs doing that off and on? I know I took dogs farther than 30yrds, but I'd be hard pressed to say any were at or beyond 50yrds. One of my favorite sets was a "dead pit" where we dump dead calves from one of our feed lots. It was a dry creek bed that occasionally would flood and carved out this 15ft deep, ~40yrd wide bend, I'd sit on one side, wait for the dogs to come into the dead cattle at night, then drop them. I honestly can't recall now what loads I had used, but I DO know that "cheap and available" were my highest priority at the time.
Your effective range is really a factor of your pattern, not really a power factor. The .410 runs about the same SPEED as the big boys, just has less shot. 5 pellets of 00 buck at 1200fps out of a .410 is a wicked machine (2 3/4" 12ga is only 8 pellets at about the same velocity, but almost twice the choke diameter), so if you get them where you need them, the dog is going down.
I know that's not much help, but I'd say if it patterns well, it'll be just as effective, energy wise, almost as far out as a 20 or 12ga. You DO need a more dense pattern, however, than the big boys, since you're looking at a few less pellets punching holes in your dogs.
