I use #5 with the longbeards and it is pretty devastating. Longest shot "since I mis-judged the distance" was at 64 yards. Could have swore I was closer to 30, wide open plowed crop fields are deceiving. It leveled him with out a flop though. I'm shooting a Mossberg 835 but using 3" shells.

Ok thanks. Sounds like #5 have plenty of power for my distances. Im hunting brush woods and open hardwoods, so not far shooting. I have some Federal Heavy field game loads. ( 12 gauge 2.75 inch 1220 fps 3.25 dram eq. 1.25oz #4 shot. Would these work for 30 yards and closer. I think they would being really the only difference being they're 1 1/4 oz and the longbeards are 1 3/4 both are moving about 1200 fps and I think lead 4s have about the same energy as copper-plated 5s? But thats just my reasoning? What do you guys think. I'm looking for a lower recoil round for a friend who cant handle turkey loads. Wow I should've just made a new thread on this. Lol

Really the 3" Winchesters are not too bad in the recoil department but as long as you are getting a good tight pattern with the shell you mentioned then they should work. Another option would be to look at a 20g and get some of the tss loads. I used one this past year to flat out level a bird. They have that in a 12g load as well in a 2 3/4" shell that may not kick much as far as turkey loads go.

IMO Winchester XR's are the best distance turkey shell out there. I also use a Mossberg 835 3.5" #5 shells with the Carlson's Long Beard XR Turkey Choke made for the shell. I shot one last year at 60 yards and one at 50 yards the year before. Both quick kills. If i was expecting close shots less than 30yds I would use a different shell or try a different choke. My current rig shoots too tight of a pattern for close shots.

Longbeards are great shells, but after using TSS, I won't use anything else. I buy my TSS shot in #7 and #9 and mix 1 oz. of each for a 2 oz load, or sometimes 1 7/8 oz. load, and reload them myself. They cover a turkey target at 40 yards!

I have found the ultimate turkey hunting shell. The new Hevi 18 TSS Turkey shells from Hevishot are nothing short of amazing. I cannot get over how much
energy they retain downrange and impressive they pattern. I also love the Hevishot Magnum Blend shells that have a variety of shot sizes in one incredible shell.
I decided to go with the 3" 7's in the Hevi 18 shells.