smokems

I was in Sportsmans Warehouse last weekend and they hada tc shotgun that looked nice. I am in the market for a new turkey gun and it has really caught my eye. Has anyone had any experience with their shotguns and would you recomend them? I like the idea of being able to spend a couple of hundred dollars and buy a new barrel when my lil boy gets big enough. Also, how durable is the camo finish on it? If it helps the part number is 3902. thanks

SwampCollie

My fiancee shot her first turkey last spring with a borrowed TC Encore 12 gauge. She absolutely loves it!

I have one in 7mm-08 that doesn't shoot worth a crap. It seems to be an isolate case, and I am in the process of getting that fixed (I think its a barrel issue), but she doesn't know it yet, but I have a 12ga bird barrel on the way for it so she can use it this spring. I'm sure she will enjoy it.

smokems

Thanks for the reply swampcollie. I am tossed up between it and a mossberg 835. The t/c is $200 more, but will cost less for "another" gun in the longrun. One thing I am not sure about though is the frame is camo, I dont know if you can get other barrels camo. Might not look right with a stainless barrel with everything else realtree hd. The other thing is, the mossberg takes a 3 1/2 and the tc only goes to 3.

SwampCollie

If YOU want a just turkey gun... the 835 is pretty much unbeatable in my experience. I have an 835 grand slam I have been using for the past four springs. Its awesome.. Light weight, throws AMAZING patterns, nice and short. Fairly inexpensive too. Kicks like a newly branded mule though.. its not one for the daughter to use.

There are a limited few barrels that are dipped in camo for the TC... but most are blued. I would recommend not getting an all camo, but its purely cosmetic anyway. Camo guns tend to fade to white with the years. That 835 GS is the only camo gun I ever have and probably ever will own. I think camo on guns is rather silly personally. But thats just my flavor of choice. Nothing wrong with them at all. They are more expensive though, and that is a consideration.

3.5" shells are only advantageous for turkey hunting as well (again.. this is my opinion...plenty of my waterfowling peers will say I'm blastpheming... but I think its pretty much useless on anything but turkeys). I've shot lots of turkeys with 3" shells... and my father (who by my count has killed over 75 just since I was born.. and who knows how many before that) has never used anything but his 2 3/4" 1100 with a modified barrel. It is certainly doable, don't think you MUST have a 3.5. As well.. most 3.5 guns don't shoot (pattern) 3.5" shells all that great anyway. The 835 is the exception, because it has a 10 gauge barrel on it. A 10 is the ultimate turkey gun. The only problem is, they are expensive to buy and expensive to feed (compared to a 12 that is) and a "light" weight one tips the scales at about 9 pounds. But even my 835, which is extremely good even for any 12 gauge.. is only about as good as an average 10.

smokems

I havent ever shot one, but I dont believe that I want to be squeezing off rounds with a 10. I already have an old school 835 that has like a 1982 camo pattern on it. I am debating between a thumbhole stock model in breakup or the encore in hd. The encore is looking really good because I can get a 7mm08 barrell when my son is old enough to start deer hunting.

SwampCollie

Well I gotta tell you... if you've shot 3.5" roman candles out of your 835, then you have probably already experienced a fair amount more recoil than you would with a 10 gauge. Those heavy guns soak up a lot of that punch, and the 12 gauge 3.5" are loaded to much higher pressures.

If you go with the Encore... don't wait to get a 7-08 barrel... buy one now for yourself! Its a sweet caliber. I wish my 7-08 Encore would have shot good enough to be proud of. I'm interested to see what TC is going to do about it.

The only issue I see with the 835 thumbhole is the top tang safety. I have wide hands and short fingers, and my grand-daddy took a stick to me when I took the safety off my bird gun before bringing it up to my shoulder... a lesson that has stayed with me. I personally wouldn't be able to take the safety off, just because habit would have my face on the stock, my thumb through the hole and my fingers are too dang short!