Screamin Steel

Don't feel you have to achieve a state of perfection right away. Experiment as time and $ permit, if you run out of one or the other before season opens, hunt with the best load you got, then start tinkering again next year. I like to play, so I make it a goal to try a new load or two every year. Got a damn good one right now, but who knows if next year I won't find a better one?

mouthcaller

You don't have to worry whether hevishot "works". It patterns better than lead every time.

Honestly I woundn't hunt with the pattern you are shooting unless you limited your shots to less than 30 yards.

As Hurricane said, the distance at which you get 100 hits in a 10" establishes your minimally acceptable pattern and distance. And a .700 choke is really not tight at all.

IF you are determined to go cheap then I would use 6s in 3", 2oz loads.

After buying 2-4 boxes 10 count boxes of lead shells trying to find something that would shoot you could have had a box of Hevishot 3" 6s.

MC

RIStrutStopper

The heavier than lead stuff is pretty awesome. I used to think I would just stick with lead, but after trying some 3.5" 2.25 oz #6 Hevi-13's I'll never go back. If you can get your hands on some, try it!

bigturkeys

Mossberg

You need a tigher choke. lead shot needs a tighter choke then hevi shot does. With my 870 rem i had a factor full and I would only get 45 in 10" plate at 30 yards using cheap rem nitro 5 shot. I got jellyhead .660 and at 30 yards it jump up to 177 pellets at 30 yards.

But at 40 yards it went down to 44-45 again. At 15 yards it like shooting a slug at a turkeys head. I was told I would either need hevi shot to raise the count at 40 or get even tighter choke for lead. Also polishing your barrel will help.

If you want some help you should check out forum called old gobbler. They know their gun and chokes and have a forum just for your problem. Mossberg like more open choke then rem becuase of the way the barrel is made but .700 is just to big you need something around .670 or so.

.

charlie brown

Thanks for the info guys! I did order a .665 choke today, after reading what everyone had to say. I will check that with the lead loads. I will also try to find some Hevi-Shot locally, but I have just not seen it.

Thanks again,

Marcial

bigturkeys

What choke? . You should really check out old gobbler before buying anything. http://oldgobbler.com/TheForum/index.php/board,2.0.html

Or atleast do some reseach. you get to tight a choke it will blow your pattern out. Good luck

charlie brown

Bigturkeys - I ordered the choke prior to seeing you post. It is a Cabelas turkey choke, that is made by Carlson. I have had good luck with Carlson chokes for steel for birds, and have no reason to believe that they won't pattern decent with the loads I have. The patterns I shot earlier with the Full choke I have are even, just not very dense at the extended ranges.

thanks for your insight though, and I will probably be checking that site out for other ideas also.

Marcial

bigturkeys

Reason why i said thaT was Mossberg barrels from the factor are not very smooth and you might get really good results just from polishing your barrel and for lead you do need a tighter choke but for hevi you might not need a new choke but instead a good polish. Just trying to save you some money. If you look down your barrel it should look like a mirro if not clean it then look. If it still looks ruff you need it to be polish. Good luck.

JoeA

bigturkey's comments on barrel poliching to impriove pattern performance are good, it's even better advice for choke tubes.

Even if your choke tube is new out of the box, a quick cleaning will improve it's performance.

charlie brown

Actually, I lied. The choke was .680, I thought it was .665. But heck, even if I have to limit myself to 30 or 35 yards to kill a turkey then so be it.

People thought I was crazy going after antelope with a recurve also, and I managed. I didn't get one, but I didn't wound any either. I figured I just needed to be a better hunter. I know people who killed turkeys with bird shot, before "turkey loads" were even invented. I always seem to handicap myself somehow, but I seem to enjoy the hunts just as much regardless if I pull the trigger or release the arrow. I'll bet people would call me crazy too if I told them I went after elk with real black powder and a lead bullet with no sabot, but I have the meat in the freezer, and the recovered bullet to prove it!

Joe A and Bigturkeys - Thanks again for that info on polishing the barrels. I have no idea. I have had this shotgun for 10 years and can't say how many shells have been through it, but I have never thought to polish the barrel. I just find a load, check it a few times, stick with that for the season, and go kill birds.

Later,

Marcial