JW

Ps - I use the same target every year. My rule of thumb more than 8 pellet holes in the neck vertebrae, skull only determines my lethal range.

I sight in the gun holding at the base of that picture and that is where the feathers stop and skin starts. that is the very bottom center of my circular pattern.
Does a couple of things you might want to consider;
1. I see the head the whole time I am holding on the bird. I am holding on the base of the neck.
2. Puts the dead center of my circular pattern in the middle of the neck.
3. Once I shoot the my pattern Allows me to cover the whole head.
4. Gives me a consistent area to target on the bird every and each time I have it in range.

After all with our tight patterns with these high speed loads to me it is just like we are shooting a slug. Aim at the whole bird you will miss it -Aik at one tiny little consistent spot helps you focus.

By using this method I have yet to miss a bird. Not saying someday I won't but since I became deadly serious as to why I missed before and did some research - I find it unlikley it will ever happen again.

JW

rochelle

Thanks for the advice guys, would a pump 20 gauge be better then a single shot? I want my son to be able to hunt deer with the same gun.

X Legion General

I would prefer a pump over a single shot.

kevin1

I use a modified choke sometimes on my 20 gage pump. At 30 yards it will pattern a softball with 6s, with 7.5s it will take a squirrel right off a branch 100' up, if that ain't good enough then nothing will be. Keep your yardage under 40 yards and you should do just fine.

deerdust

Both my 12ga and 20 ga 870's are pump and I would hunt with either one, although the 20 is what I got for my daughter to use. I just added a recoil pad from Sims Vibration Labratories like this.

gmil6184

I think a pump 20 gauge would be a much better choice, that's what I started on. You can load it down to shoot light loads to get him started and then you can load it up for 3 inch turkey mags and you have a 35-40 yard turkey gun. With the fixed modified choke, my father had a shotgun barrel that he wanted to get cut and threaded for a choke tube (it was a fixed smooth bore slug barrel that he didn't use) but the steel was too thin. The gunsmith scored the inside of the barrel which he said tightened up the shot like a choke would. It shot pretty good and I took a bird with it that year, i don't know if anyone else has heard of this.

deerdust

Also added a fiber optic site on hers like this one from SVL. My 12 ga has 2 balls and I just stack my balls as I have done for years and shoot like I know how. End result has always been a dead bird flopping. I did paint my forward ball bright white, since it has yellowed with age. LMAOIt sounds funny, but I am serious about my balls. Just never felt the need to add a site to my 12ga.

UncleNorby

Sounds like a recoil pad may be in order. Won't matter much what pattern you get if the youngster develops a bad flinch.

I have heard that federal "flight control" shells,or something like that, help keep patterns tighter with more open chokes. Try them if you don't like the pattern you get.

dawei

Thanks for posting the photo deerdust!

deerdust

No problem David.