I finally have it, my dad came over this weekend and brought my grandfathers old Stevens model 520 28" 12ga that he (my grandfather) was given for his 12th birthday. The gun was second hand then (my family was oftypical means for a southern family during the Depression) and ithas a 5 digit serial number that begins with a 4. My dad was given the gun before my grandfather passed away in 93 (much too the anger of my uncle, I already was given my grandfathers deer rifle, a Marlin 336 35 but I am the only serious hunter and collector in the family so I think it best that way ).

Anyway this gun isn't marked chokewise (I am gonna put a digital dial caliper on it at work tomorrow) but my grandfather took it too a turkey shoot in Arkansas back in the 60s and after winning three turkeys he was asked not to come back with that particular gun! He grew up during the Depression in the Mississippi Riverbottoms north of Memphis, TN which is an area that has always been LOADED with turkeys even when the rest of the country nearly saw them too extinction back then. He smoked many a turkeys heads with it in his youth. But after he returned from WWII and Korea he had a wife and eventually 6 kids to care for so he rarely hunted much. In fact he re-blued it (he was an old gearhead and machinist so the gun looks brandnew even today, I wish todays bluings were of such color and quality) when my dad was still young but the gun has basically sat in a case in the closet for the last 40-50 years.

I am considering taking it to Missouri with me this spring for old times sake. I never got to hunt with my grandfather (he was in poor health during most of my early and teen years) so this will be the closest thing too it for me. I will still have my usual plethora of red dot, Rhino and Nitro equipped longrangers like my870 and 835 but I think a morning or two I can coax a bird into range for the old Stevens. It will even be amore unique (or should I say antique?) tripsince I am taking Nationals callmaker champion, the legendary Robert Cliff of Bolivar, TN with me. Mr. Cliff is in his 80s now but builds boxcalls like NONE OTHER!!!

What load should I shoot in this gun? Even though the gun is in extremely good and strong condition I still don't think I should stick a fully modern 1 5/8oz fullboat turkey load through this old gun, it isn't a 3" gun either. What were some of the turkey loads available for the first half of the 1900s? I am thinking something along the lines of #4s between 1 1/4-1 3/8oz. I remember my grandfather talking about how well it shot but I noticed the tap for the bead is visible in the last 1" or 2 of barrel so I don't want to stuff it full of the most possible and possibly blow that bead out (non ramped barrel).

I even question about using copper plated shot, should I stick with normal lead and count on the shotcup to protect the barrel? I will probably only do this once just to say I killed a bird with it. Maybe somewhere in the next few years I will let my sons use it for the same, once.
RA