I finally was able to get out to the range yesterday and try out my new 23" barrel on my 870. The first shot was a winchester #5 1 3/4 oz 3in shell with Remington .675 superful choke at 25 yards. I was able to put 187 hits in a 10 inch circle, not bad. The second shot was with the same shell but with my indian creek choke which yielded 201 hits in the same area at the same range. Then I put in a heavi-13 3in shell with 2oz of #6 shot (with my indian creek choke). That round put an impressive 301 hits in the 10 inch circle at 25 yards. I then moved the target back to 50 yards (this range only had 25, 50 75 and 100 yard intervals to place the target at) and shot another # 6 heavi-shot shell in. The pattern definitely opened up quite a bit and I had 97 hits in the same 10 inch circle. The good news is after an adjustment in my open sight at 25 yards, my pattern was centered on my aim point at 50 yards. Since my pattern only had 97 hits at 50 yards, should I limit my range to 40 yards?

On another note, I swung by Cabelas on my way home from the range and I picked up some of the heavi-shot 5,6,7 magnum blend, can't wait to shoot one to see what the pattern looks like .

Ya know how I get the most acurate guesstimation as to what loads will kill a turkey? I put a can on an old arrow shaft an put it out at 35yards and kill it.
It's the best representation of a turkeys head/ neck and you can see the damage...
easier than paper.... and more realistic.

In my book as long as you get that pattern consistently (and I mean consistent) I say you have a 50 yard gun max.

As for the can idea, its not a realistic representation and I wouldn't recommend it.

Really? How many flat turkeys against a white background you seen?

Did ya take any pix of your pattern? It would have made this thread a LOT more popular and you would have got a lot more replies. Just seems to help to make patern chats visual. It's hard to visualize the number of pellets in a 10" circle ???

Haven't yet but I will, the 50 yard pattern is spread pretty evenly (looks that way to me anyway), so I'm happy with it.

Here use one of these paper targets and then count pellet holes only in the Neck bone, Skull or Eye.

http://lewand.tripod.com/turkeytargets.html

I use the second target down onthe page is you scroll down a bit.
My rule is 8 to 12 consistent pellet holes in only the areas I indicated above.

That determines my lethal range.

JW

None, how many turkeys have you seen carrying around a can on an arrow? How many turkeys have you seen that dont move their heads at all? How many turkeys have you seen carrying a can and an arrow, and not moving their heads at all?

The point is a 10" circle is a better representation of your actual pattern than a can on an arrow. With the can all you get is how many pellets hit the can or the arrow. With the paper you see what kind of a pattern you are getting and what kind of pattern you can get if your poi/poa is off. It also allows you to establish your maximum range since once again you can see what your pattern is doing at that range.

How do you put up a pic. if it is on your computer?

photobucket.com is the easiest way