I gotcha. I do know there are different levels and classes of still targets... most folks when they refer to still shoots are still talking about the Tuesday night shoots at the Ruritan Club or the Firehouse... but it does get much more serious of course. Did the Hevi-13 world record get beaten? Or did someone beat the record they set themselves in the early 2000s?

Where'd you get that information from? Not being argumentitive but just curious if it was a generalization or a stated/printed industry figure?

I would've thought just the opposite would be true.

Little:

I would suggest before you start making any major changes or spending any $$ to shoot the pattern on a piece of paper or card board larger than the pattern. You might well find that your 3" chicle is not in the middle of the pattern. If this is the case a sight adjustment might do wonders and save $$..

I was thinking that barrel length really didn't matter so I just bought my friend's 20" 835. I tried various 3" loads in #6 and #5s and a few #4s, nothing put more than about 70 pellets in a 10" circle at 40 yards. Tried a pure gold .670, the factory stock .695 and a primos jellyhead .690 choke. Finally broke down and got some hevi-13s and with the jelly head, put 102 #6 pellets in the 10" @40 with a 2 oz 3" shell, and 165 #6 pellets in the same circle at the same yardage. Now I can sleep well until the night before the season opener.

Shorter berrels are also more menueverable, and easier tohold steady on target. this is also a great asset at 20-30yds, you won't need the longer barrel there,you'll need the maneuverability

You can't necessarily look at what those guys in still target competions are doing as the ideal example of what you should carry on a turkey hunt. In their game if a 30 inch barrel improves their patterns by an average of 2% then it's well worth using. On a turkey hunt however the inconvieniance of that longer, heavier barrel just isn't worth it for such a modest improvement. Besides most of the patterns those guys are getting in still target competions are far denser than what is necessary to simply kill a turkey at 40 yards.

I agree that we certainly can't use the still target championships as theONLY word, HOWEVER..... it is an excellent reference to suggest the highest quality chokes and most consistent shot material and pattern densities. One only needs to assume that our shot performance from shorter barreled hunting rigs isnt going to be as impressive. It does indeed tell us what patterns are consistently throwing better, tightershot groupswith less shot deformation. The highest quality equipment, be it chokes, shotshells, etc, will always be better than the rest and the equipment that I'll be sure to test in my own conditions. It would be stubborn and bullheaded to disregard any finding on the most impressive turkey rigs. Food for thought..... remember, it all comes down to ONE shot,...... whats your tropy Gobbler worth?

Good luck and good shootin'