Turkey loads?
 

Could you folks suggest a couple of 12 gauge factory loads for me to pattern? Thanks...

Hi Gary,
I will try to be as brief as I can on this subject.
I presently own two 12 gauge shotguns.
A Browning Gold Hunter 3 1/2 inch magnum semi auto and a Remington Super Mag - which was one of the first Super Mags that Remington produced..

I also have a box full of choke tubes - which the Invector Plus and the Remington both has the same thread, but the Remington tube is shorter then the Browning / Winchester choke tube.

Most choke tubes start out at a minimum size and then gets larger by as little as .003 of a inch until you get to the inside diameter of a full choke. What all this means is that you should buy your tubes by preference and not by manufacturer - because in theory they all do the same job. Just that you want to find the one that works best for the round that you wish to hunt with.

What I am trying to tell you is that not all guns are the same and not all choke tubes are the same. By just changing one component - you change the whole way that the shell will react to the gun and the choke tube.

So to try to answer your question without much speculation or opinions, the only way to answer your question is to ask for more information.

In the case of my own opinions - as with the two 12 gauge turkey shotguns that I own, a Remington Turkey Super Full choke tube and a 3 inch nitro mag Remington shell patterns good in the Remington.

The 3 1/2 inch shells tends to produce a stringy pattern that does not pattern well in either of my guns with most of the manufactured shells. I have tried Federals, Remington's and most of the other manufactures offerings.

Now that does not mean that they will not shoot well for you or that your gun is the same as mine or that you should limit yourself to any one choke tube or any one choke tube manufacturer.

I have some Undertaker Choke Tubes that works just as well as the Remington or any of the other manufacturers choke tubes.
The only difference between one and the other is that some has a knurled nut at the top which does not require a wrench to put in and take out. Those are my favorites.

http://www.hunterspec.com/Updateable...&categoryID=33

http://www.hunterspec.com/Updateable...&categoryID=33

The ones that requires you to carry a tube wrench is a PITA in my opinion.

http://www.remington.com/products/ac...oke-tubes.aspx

http://www.wildturkeyzone.com/hunting/chokeinfo.htm

http://sports.espn.go.com/outdoors/h...ea_NWTF_chokes

how much money do you have to throw around?

First off, search this forum for similar posts...you'll find a ton of good advice. Main point-check your pattern. You'd be surprised at the holes that result from some gun, shell and choke combinations. What that here's some suggestions...

Lead shot:
-Winchester Supreme 3" no. 4, 5 or 6 shot
-Federal Premium Mag-Shok 3" no. 4 or 6

Non-toxic($$$)
-Hevi-shot 3" no. 4 (a strong fave)
-Remington Wingmaster HD 3" no. 6 (devastating)

There are other turkey ammo mfgrs out there; Kent & Nitro are two that come to mind, but I've never shot them.

If you want to go with a 3.5" shell and your gun will take them, go ahead. But...a 3" shell will do the job with enough authority, provided the bird's in range.

When I first got the fever, the only turkey loads I could find were 2.75" Win Supremes...they worked. I've had great sucess with Hevi-shot and Rem W.M. HD

If your not interested in trying the more expensive hevi shots try some of the Win HV shells in different combinations. One thing you will want to take into consideration when trying to find the best pattern for you shotgun is maintained down range kinetic energy. You can go to the smaller diameter shot and increase the number of pellets in a pattern but the smaller shot will not produce the down range kinetic energy that the bigger shot will so finding that in between is what your looking for. The heaviest shot with a good pattern is ideal. In my Remington 870 super mag 12 gauge after a lot of testing of different shells and chokes I found that my gun patterned the best with Win HV 3.5", 2 oz, 5 shot through a .665 Maxx Maxx choke. Not sure if this choke is even still available (was offered by the Drury Brothers) but out of all the chokes I tried the Madd Maxx patterned the best nd that particular shell also patterned best out of my gun. This setup patterns so well out of my gun that I have never even tried the hevi shots. Just wasn't no need to. It is a trial and error situation for each individual gun and if you want the best pattern out of your shotgun that you can get there is no way around it. What is nice if you have some buddy's with the same gun that you can try each other's different chokes so you don't have to buy several yourself. I believe the Madd Maxx was right $70 so they're not cheap.

Well, I finally went to the range today and took two 3” loads with me. Remember my set up: 870 21” Remchoke X-Full choke. Ammo was Win Supreme HV Turkey Loads, 1.75 oz. 5 shot ($16.49). AND Rem Nitro Turkey 1 7/8oz. 5 shot ($6.99). Results at 40 yards? Winchester scored 30 hits inside that 10” circle with 5 hits in the brain/cervical area. Remington scored 60 hits in that 10” circle with 9 brain/cervical area hits. All in all kind of disappointing. Maybe I should move on to Hevi 13 and JellyHead chokes. What say you?

My favorite out of both of my turkey guns is Winchester Xtended Range. I've had excellent results on the patterning board and on gobbler heads with 3" #6s and 3 1/2" #5s and #6s.

Tyler

My 20 gauge has proved Hevi 13 #6 Time after time, after time after time, after time, after time. :s4:

I shoot an 870. I'm going with a Rhino choke tube next spring. I've used Charles Daly, Untertaker and Remington Turkey XXFull. Best pattern I got was the Remington Turkey choke w/ Nitro loads. I love using the Nitro or Winchester Supreme - lots of guys like the Hevishot tho. Personally, I haven't tried it yet - maybe this spring though!

Kim :)

I like my federal flite controls in #4. Whether it's in a 3 1/2" or 3" they are hands down my favorite load in my gun! I hear they have started using the same wad in their upland loads to extend their range, but I haven't had a chance to try those out yet. But we'll see how that turns out in the next couple of weeks. . .

And a quick note on the 3.5" loads--go for the 2 1/4 oz loads--they tend to stick together a bit tighter than the 2 oz and they don't seem to kick as badly.

Hard to beat the Hevi-13 #7 loads in either 3" 2oz loads or 3.5" 2 and 1/4oz loads. I love them both. It just depends on what gun you have and which one shoots the best in your gun.

Let's hope this works.





Those may not be big enough to see the pattern. So here is the back of them so you can see just how good they can shoot. These were all shot at a tape measured 40yds.




The last picture the pattern is actually a little off to the right if flipped over and looking at it from the front. Any of those patterns will take any gobbler out to I would bet 55yds. Don't care to shoot one that far, but I think it would be one dead bird very easily. I do know what these loads will do at 45yds on a 24lb gobbler I killed this spring. I can post them later to show you why I like these loads. I toasted that bird in its tracks.

Here's the 24lb bird I killed this spring with the Hevi-13 3" 2oz #7 load.





Here's the devastation they caused at I know 45yds and it might have been 50yds. I hit this bird like a ton of bricks. Some may say 7's won't pack the punch, but I beg to differ. Here is the proof at least to my eyes. The 7's made mostly complete passthroughs on the neck.




This next picture is the backside of the bird where shot went all the way through the breast and some exited the bird completely.



Here's the side that I shot him from and you can see where it did some damage even without skinning him. Those 7's cleaned his clock.

Oh and here's the one I didn't post so you can better see both sides of the neck had severe damage from those Hevi-13 #7's. I wished I knew how many shot I put in the head and neck. It was a bunch I do know that.

Gary,

Here's another pattern from the Mad Super Max .675 choke and the Hevi-13 2oz #7 loads. I have only shot this choke maybe 4 times now and one was at the turkey above. But look at this pattern in a 10" circle at 40yds. You can't get much better than that from a factory load.



Here's the backside of that pattern so you can better see how it patterns. That is a turkey thumper right there. I love that choke and load.