RE: Heavy Shot # Suggestion
Well I hate to toss an ice cude in your fire , but I have to disagree with your opinion on number 6 shot. I would not even consider a shot at 50 yards with a 4 let alone with a 6. I can not tell you how many hunters and turkeys I have seen shot at and the resaults in nuber 6 shot just makes me sick. I've got I don't trust number 6 at 35 yards or 40.
The problem with turkey hunters and their shotguns are that they seem to fall trap to the #6 shot loads , Why ? because it seems to be the only load that will shoot in anygun and achieve a percentage rate of shot in a target.
Patterning guns is the idea , and starting out with 4-5 is the best. No your not going to get the percentage count as you would by #6 because there is a higher amount of shot in a number 6 load, but find something in a little larger that will have the energy to make a impact on the birds at that 40 yard shot.
The thing you have to remember is how many times have you seen the Miss or hit and not get shots. This is something that hunter don't talk about let alone bring up to anyone, but I know for a fact it happens to near everyone. No matter what gun you shoot and the distance your shooting at , you are not going to get the same shot pattern everytime.
Chokes are the big factor in finding the right shot pattern in any load. There is some great shooting chokes out there and I have used and tested some of the top chokes one can find. In order of my findings in testing turkey guns, Precission ,Rhino,Comp-N-Choke are three of the best shooting chokes out there. Each constriction with handle different shot loads in a different way. The best Combo finding I've had are ,
Precission .660 with Winchester Copper #5, 12 gauge
Rhino .675 with Winchester Copper #5 20 gauge
Precission .675 with Nitro Company # 4-5-7 20 gauge
When shooting Copper shot you can use that tigher choke , but always keep in mined Tigher is not better. The taper of a choke will create a different pattern aswell. Thin wall chokes cannot compete with the exstended chokes because of this such tapper that is set in the extended choke design.
Hevi-Shot is a large Diam choke in the .675 - .680 this is because the shot is hard and does not give in the choke. Some guns will shoot better with the tigher choke constriction , but the quaulity of steal used in these chokes are important. The best steal with withstand the harder shot. With this being said steal quaulity is going to cost in the price of the chokes.
When I started turkey hunting back in the 80's/90's I started with a 10 gauge. I have since built turkey guns and worked with testing untill I could find a smaller gauge that would out shoot the gauge I had. I have since went from the 10 to the 12 and from the 12 to the 20 with each gun out patterning the one I was using...BT