4patches

let the gun tell you what to shoot , theres no substitute for time patterning your gun with different size shot and brand even hand loads that you made up your self. what works perfect in one gun doesent mean its going to work perfect in yours. this is important because this is the link between you and the bird. try 4,5,6 and even 71/2 size shot if itsok in your state.the gun will show what it likes or dislikes.

Crazyfarmer

thanks for the help everyone.. I was brought up on 4's and like said above, if you shoot past 25 yards you dont have great patterns due to the lack of pellets. Im gonna try a box of 5's and see how they pattern anyway. Up to 25 yards 4's do the job well pattern wise, but if one holds up at 30-35yards I'd like to know that I have a well enough pattern to get the job done.

Like said up top, ill let my gun tell me what it likes best on the pattern sheet

thanks again everyone.. you have been a big help

RIStrutStopper

Right on. I'd love to shoot 4's for the knockdown power, but my gun patterns better with 5's so thats what I shoot.

bigpapa

Wait a minute. Knockdown power? Not to be odd about this but your talking about pellets to the neck and brain notto the body of the bird. If you get a #6 pellet in the kill zone then it will do the job just the same as if you get a #4. My feeling is that you want a shot size that will set a pattern to put as many pellets in thespine and brainnot knock the bird down. Use what will make the pattern work.

Dr Andy

Not to add some more confusion to this debate but I saw some loads that were a combo4/6 that had both 4's an 6's in it. Any input as how well these pattern?

mouthcaller

Farmer

I have used both in the past with success. I would urge you to move up to the "heavier than lead" shot and shoot #6 shot (which I did last year with devestating results. The idea is to get as many pellets in the head and neck. Of course those pelletsneed to penetrate, but my personal experience with Hevi-shot (although limited at this point) shows me that Hevi-shot #6 is more than adaquate

Another thing - I have read a lot of comments about "knockdown power" in this thread. What is the mathmatical formula for "knockdown power"? I am familiar with energy = mv(2), or mass X velocity squared, which puts an emphasis on the velocity componant but doesn't tell us how effectively shot penetrates a turkey's head.

Here are the average number of Hevi-shot pellets per ounce listed by shot size:

#4 = 107 pellets per ounce
#5 = 180
#6 = 237
#7 = 342

See what happens to pellet counts when you move down in shot size. This season I am making the switch to the Nitro 4X5X7 load, 2.25 oz. This load put a two-shot average of 255 pellets inside a 10" circle at 40 yards.

hootnscoot

I love this thread! Some great comments and most factual, but here is the bottom line.

There are three main variables, your gun (and condition of the barrel),the choke, and the shell (shot size, pellet count, powder charge. In theory, no two combinations shoot the same - even same gun, same choke, same shell.

Now you might not have the time, money or even desire to go out andbuy 6 different chokes and 12 different turkey loads for your single gun, and I'm not suggesting that you (or anyone)need to. But if you did youwouldprove what I am saying above to yourself. I did this two years ago (major effort) shooting three replicates of every combination. I just wanted to see what differences I would get for myselfand was amazed at how very well some combosperformed and how poorly others did.

One suggestion that I've heard guys talk about on here is tosplit the costs up. If you have a coupel of other fanatic buddies, everyone buys a couple different boxes of shells and you ALL get to try them all.

Sorry for jumping on after most of it has already been said but I just like this topic.

Good luck and once you find something that gives you a good parttern stick with it and bear donw on thoseToms!

RIStrutStopper

Okay, maybe knockdown power was a poor choice of words, but a number 4pellet will penetrate better at long range than a number 6 pellet will. Short range, I agree that #6 will do just as good of a job as #4s.

dawei

That's it exactly. Both my son & I use 20ga guns to turkey hunt; his a Winchester™ & mine a Mossberg™. My son's gun paterns Federal Premium™ 1 5/16oz #5's better than any other load or shot size. My gun won't pattern #5's worth worm spit; but, #6 is superb in my gun. It's all what your individual gun & choke combo produce.

Crazyfarmer

I saw some winchester HD extended range #6's but those shells were 30bucks a box. I didnt know if they were worth it over the plain shells or not.

thanks for then info everyone...

oh and does barrel length make a difference in patterns much also? I have a 26inch now but I have a 28 11-87 barrel here im gonna try