Another vote for the 12 gauge.

With all the new Ammo makers, The new trukey shells out peform, the shells of yester year.
With the extended range of the new shells.
With that said, I do think that a 20 ga will do a good job.
Plus the reduced recoil.
Espeasly if you are older, or have joint problems.
I have had rotator surgery on my right sholder.
So I think 20 ga is a good one.

JMHO

LOL, I just love to read replies like this quote above,

To answer your question in my opinion, any shotgun that is truely tested and setup to cleanly take turkeys at an eithical range. I have worked from the 10 gauge right down to now the 20 gauge and because I had a goal in mind to turn a 20 gauge into a true 40 yard gun, I spent money and tested different chokes until I now own a 50 yard turkey killing machine in a 20 gauge. I tested the 50 yards, twice last spring on camera and dropped both like rocks. Now not that I want to shoot birds that far out, but when a 40 year shot presents itself, I don't have to second guess for one minute that my gun can't do it. I have seen to many turkey hunters tell me that their gun can pattern well to only see turkeys running off after the shot. The average turkey hunter will NOT spend money to find the best combo for their guns, they make do with what they think is the best and most times it will work in an average range.

So Todd, I hate to disagree with you, but I have a 20 gauge that will out pattern a lot of 12 gauges at 40 yards my friend.

I spend a lot of time on these forums only giving my opinion to these type of questions to save most of the guys expence as I have been at the range with a lot of turkey guns and have seen what these guns can do when tested properly....

I am going to agree with Adrian here. I love the 20ga for turkey hunting, and I have several that will out perform a lot of 12ga's. It is very hard to beat the 20ga for lightweight, ease of handling, and pattern.

I fully concur with your assessment. having rotator cuff repair surgery, and a subsequent total shoulder replacement; my days of shooting a 12ga are over! The type and quality of Turkey hunting ammunition is leaps & bounds of what it was just a decade ago. The 20ga will kill turkeys graveyard dead to 40yds all day long.

Todd

I don't disagree entirely with what you are saying about the 20, but take a look at these patterns from another site (scroll down the page).

http://www.nwtf.org/message_board/ub...971#Post174971

One of the latest trends in turkey guns is guys going "back" or "down" to the 20 gauge. It has been brought about by the emergence of heavier-than-lead shot and better turkey chokes. Hevishot 7s make the 20 gauge what the 12 gauge used to be with lead. 150+ hits in the 10" at 40 yards actually surpasses anything I ever got with lead 6s in the 12 gauge.

I'll say this - I often carry my son's 870 youth 20 gauge when we hunt together. Compared to my Mossberg 835 fully loaded with a low-power scope that 20 gauge feels like a feather.

When I tire of shooting the cannon I presently use I will be back into the 20 gauge realm.

And I love guys who think that because one exception to a rule can be pointed out that it changes the rule. Sorry but 95 percent of the time if you invest the same amount of time and money into guns of the same type a 12 gauge will out pattern a 20. I shoot heavier than lead shot through mostly Indian Creek chokes. No matter how good DTL shot and good chokes might make a 20 gauge they will typically make the 12 gauge that much better still. Volume of shot, it's a good thing.

But by all means go compete in a NWTF shoot with your 20 gauge against all the 12 gauges on the line. If you beat them you can come back and give me all kinds of heck about it. You won't though. Sorry.

So lets review. What's the only advantage a 20 gauge has over a 12 gauge? It's lighter just like I said before. Class dismissed.

You simply can NOT beat the 12 gauge with its incredible array of various loads and sizes. Its simply to versatile to ignore.... the best of the best.

I believe the original question was "what is the better gauge for turkeys?" - not which gauge shoots the densest patterns.

Given the broad criteria of the question asked by the originator of this thread, the "better" gauge would then be that which an individual hunters considers "best" for them.

If you are using denisity of the pattern at 40 yards as the sole criteria by which to judge "best" then, certainly, the 12 is better than the 20. Similarily the 10 is better than the 12 and so on.

On the other hand how much deader can you kill a turkey at 40 yards than what a properly set-up 20 gauge with appropriately tested hevishot can do? Dead is dead.

I would simply offer that the twenty may be "better" for some people because it offers a nice balance between lethality, weight, handling, and recoil. Stating that does not mean that the 12 or 10 gauge is any less lethal.

Adrian never said his 20 throws a denser pattern than a 3" or 3.5" 12 gauge. He, myself, and others were simply pointing out that the twenty is a fully capable turkey gun in the hands of a hunter that is willing to invest the time to make it one.

Respectively, we're not talking about winning still target championships here.

For the record, I shoot a Mossberg 835 with 3.5", 2.25 oz Nitro 4X5X7s.

Quote:

I believe the original question was "what is the better gauge for turkeys?" - not which gauge shoots the densest patterns.

So denser patterns are a bad thing for turkey hunting? Guess that's why you shoot Nitro's.

Quote:

Adrian never said his 20 throws a denser pattern than a 3" or 3.5" 12 gauge. He, myself, and others were simply pointing out that the twenty is a fully capable turkey gun in the hands of a hunter that is willing to invest the time to make it one.

And I never said that a 20 gauge sucked as a turkey gun. I simply said that typically you will sacrifice something on pattern for the benefit of lighter and easier to carry. And typically you will.

On the one hand you sort of chastise me a for knocking the typical 20 gauge pattern you will get at 40 yards compared to a typical 12 gauge pattern using the old, "Dead is dead, how dead do you need them to be" line. Then you turn around and admit that you use a 8 dollar per shell Nitro duplex load that probably puts 3 1/2 times as many pellets as you need inside a 10 inch circle at 40 yards. So which is it? Am I still wrong to think a better pattern is more desirable or is just marginally good enough the standard we should all aim for? Your posts here seem to support one side and your choice of shells the other.