JW -

What's the effective killing range of your combo? Did you harvest any of those birds past 40 yards?

My son and I tested multiple loads out of his Weatherby SA-20. The Hevi-shot Triple Beard gave us the densest pattern at 40 yards. However, we both misjudged the distance this Spring and he rolled a big strutter at 46 steps - the bird went down hard, and I thought he had finally notched his first tag, but there wasn't enough power and he lost the bird.

I think that the Triple Beard density at 40 yds was mostly 7 shot, which couldn't get the job done on a big ole' Tom. Using hindsight I'm kicking myself, because his gun-coke combo had a slightly weaker pattern with Win XX Magnum #5 but likely has more effective killing power due to the larger shot (straight 5 vs TB).

We knew that under 40 yds was the ideal range, but losing a bird because you misjudge 10 yards is tough to swallow. It also doesn't leaves any room for error in judging distance when hunting inside the timber - simple shadows on the ground can make judging 5 yd increments challenging...

winchester semi auto turkey gun? sx3? sx4?

a turkey gun is on my to do list but haven't looked to into the matter.

I don't know if I want 3" vs 3.5"

With the 1187 it is a 55 yard gun easy. Misjudged a few and altho they didn't get away I taught myself to range better.

That 870' youth. She is good to thirty five easy.
But we seem to be taking our birds at 20 or less.
It's just the way I hunt.

Sorry for the very late teply

JW

I have several guns but my go to for turkeys is the Moss been 835 but I still use the traditional beads. I am too worried about batteries dying

Thanks

Buck

My set up is a Benelli SBE 24" barrel and an 060 custom choke made by Ballistics Specialties. I patterned at 40 and nothing lives with hevi shot blend. I never bothered to pattern past that but the pattern at 40 would obviously give me much more distance if I chose to take that kind of a shot. I have a ghost type ring on my gun and it works well.

why no love for the 10 ga? trust me when I say a 2.25 OZ load of #4 or #2 shot reaches out an amazing distance, and a 10 ga holds a tighter pattern than a 3.5" 12 ga in most cases
I purchased an ithaca mag 10ga back in the early 1980s like the upper one in the picture
its not like theres a huge difference in recoil or ammo cost between the 10ga and 3.5" 12 ga and you'll most likely only buy a couple boxes a season, and a used browning or remington or ithaca 10 ga, with a 28"-32" full choke barrel, can be purchased in near new condition for under $1k if you shop carefully, I've seen them occasionally sold in good used condition, for $500-$600,
if your used to a 12 ga a 10 ga with proper ammo and choke easily adds noticeable additional range

https://www.midwayusa.com/product/10...toxic-box-of-5

You must have a different 10ga than anything I've ever shot, cause I'm a pretty big guy and immediately notice the difference between a 10 and 12ga. Here's a simple table by Chuck Hawks, which he compiled from various reports by other experts in the industry. http://www.chuckhawks.com/shotgun_recoil_table.htm

Note that a 3.5" turkey load from a 10ga imparts ~63lbs of recoil force. Let's note that's roughly equivalent to the recoil measured from a .450 rifle load - used to harvest African big game. Personally, I'm not going to subject myself to the force of elephant loads to take a 20lb turkey, no thank you...

One can argue that a 3.5" load out of 12ga typically kicks out ~50lbs, but that 10-15lb increase in recoil energy, which is coupled with a heavier gun traveling at higher velocity, is more than enough to notice.

With all that said - I've never had the chance to shoot a 10ga semiauto like the Ithaca mag, and we all know that semiautos redirect much of that recoil force (especially the gas models). Is that 10ga semiauto comparable with an Ithaca 12ga pump?

I guess we all perceive recoil levels a bit differently,
I've never had any issues with using my Ithaca mag 10 ga.
but then my late hunting partner used to refer to my weatherby 340 mag I used and still use ,
as a
"DAMN CANNON"
and he thought his 358 win BLR, was about the max he was comfortable with

It is not the shotgun that kicks the hardest that I want, it is the shotgun that puts the most number of pellets in the head and neck of a turkey. My Mossberg mod 935 12 ga turkey gun with the ulti full choke 22 inch barrel and Winchester Supreme 3" #5s puts enough pellets in the head and neck at 35 yards to plant a turkey. I have 35 yards as my limit because to me, spring turkey hunting is a game of calling them close and I would rather have them at 20 yards than 35. It is a 3 1/2 inch gun but I never saw the need to use them. It is back bored to 10 ga and I am more than happy with it. It is the only semi auto in my safe.