Went out today and patterned my shotgun today to see what it could do. I have only killed 2 turkeys and both of them were what I consider a lucky Hail Mary shot with a Remington 11-87 12ga both pushing out about 70yds. I am really interested in carrying my 20ga. this year. It's a Charles Daly pump with a 26" barrel and super lightweight.
So I set up a couple targets @ 35yds and let the lead fly. I tried out 3 different loads and was wanting to see if my results were up to par enough for some turkey killing. The first load I tested out was Federals turkey thug 3" # 5 shot using a Truglo gobble stopper extreme choke. IT SUCKED! The next load was Hevishots 3" magnum blend with the same Truglo gobble stopper extreme choke and it placed 85 pellets in a 10" circle @ 35yds. The final load was 3" Federal premium copper plated #6 with the flight control wad using the factory full choke and it put 74 pellets in a 10" circle. Is this good enough for 20ga. performance or is there anything else someone can recommend without spending a crap load of money?

I pattern using only a turkey head target. What I consider my effective range is 8 to 10 pellets placed in the vertebra, skull or eye on the target diagram. That what determines my lethal range as I will keep moving out 10 yards at a time.
When I fall below that amount is where I stop.

JW

Federal Heavyweight 7's are very popular with the 20 gauge crowd.

Take a look at Wrights Superior Chokes "Swarm" tube for the 20ga. It has won more Turkey World Championships in both the 12ga and 20ga than any other tube out there. They were using Hevi-Shot 13 factory shells. Plus, were u using the regular Hevi-shot or Hevi-13 shells? Big difference!!! I have a 11-87 Premier with a Swarm Tube and scope and a 40yd shot is nothing for it using 6's.

remember the 20 don't compare with a 12.
87 is not real bad but Hevi 13 in #6 3inch load may produce a little better. The best chokes |I've patterned by far is Pure Gold and Indian creek in the 20's

Simple answer...yes, the last two patterns are good enough to kill turkeys. Take Adrian's advice to heart and don't try for a long shot with a 20ga. Keep your shots to 40yds or less, and you'll kill turkeys with your Charles Daly just fine.

With the right choke and load, you might, I stress might, be able to stretch your shots out to 50yds, but that is a long poke with a 20ga.

As several have said, keep it to 6's or 7's. I have never shot the 7's, but am not saying I won't. Another question, when u patterned the weapon, did u shoot from a bench or free hand it? Just to eliminate any human errors on the pattern board. I always pattern from the bench for such reasons and then know if I wiff it later, its my fault. I only saw 1 pattern but it looked good to me for roasted turkey for dinner!!!

I shot using a couple sandbags across the tail gate of my truck.