Choice of firearms is a personal matter as long as the gun is powerful enough to cleanly kill a turkey at a reasonable distance... If you want to lug around a ten gauge, more power to you... However the extra effective range of a ten gauge over a 3" twelve is probably measured in yards, rather than DOZENS of yards....

For many hunters, the extra performance is not worth the extra weight, expense and recoil of the big ten... I'd just as soon carry a lighter, shorter gun and wait until my bird is within 40 yards or so....Twelve gauge guns and in many cases even twenty gauge guns will kill birds as far away as many of us want to shoot one...

Bobgobble, have you ever had any problems with your mag 10? I really want one.....don't need but want....but I already have 2 12 gauge 3 1/2's and like my setup. I have my eye on a Mag 10, but some people tell me they jam alot? Just curious. Thanks.

I'd shoot a 20 gauge before a 3.5" 12 gauge or 10 gauge...

Hal

12 my dads ten hasnt even been inthe woods its to dang heavy i use a 31/2 inch u dont need it but my guns got it

Bb,I've carried my Ithica mag 10 for about 20 years now in the turkey woods and would'nt leave home without it!This gun has accounted for lets just say more than a few turkeys and not to mention geese and predators too!No this gun has never jammed on me, the only thing I did was handload a shell too hot and broke a piece of the recieving mechanism in the chamber which my gunsmith fixed!I handload my own turkey shells and enjoy every minute of it!Yes the gun is heavy 12lbs,but obviously alot of folks have not fired a true 10 particulary a semi auto as recoil is not all that bad!My boys as well as my wife have shot it and all it does is push!I've shot 12gauge 3.5's and a few 3inch magnums that left my head ringing much more than my 10!Although theres many other firearms and gauges on the retail market that effectivley kill turkeys at the ranges I prefer to shoot,I know this gun like the back of my hand and as a result I know when I drop the hammer he's mine!!! Like I said confidence is the key,knowing your firearm and its capabilties will make you a more effective/ethical turkey hunter afield no matter what you shoot!

Thanks bob.

I'm apparently of the same view as the rest of you, that a ten gauge is "too heavy" to lug around in the turkey woods all spring, HOWEVER, I have a friend who uses one, and EVERY TOM he's shot is DEAD INSTANTLY, no flopping, no running off. Boom!! and down they go!! (He even got 2 with one shot, legally, once.)

Myself, I got a Mossberg 935 turkey gun, short barreled and bored at 10 gauge dimensions. A 3 1/2" shell in that beastie does just fine. Heck, my wife has killed 2 toms in 2 years with a 20 gauge, shooting 2 3/4" shells!! In some ways, its all about getting them in close. Also about personal preferences, I guess.

Well said, Snowdog....." Personal preferences"...

Use whatever gun you are comfortable with, as long as it is adequate to do the job at the range choose to your bird...

My wife no longer hunts turkeys, but when she did, she killed 4 big gobblers, all with a 2 3/4" 20 gauge gun choked modified... She'd never take a shot over 25 yards... I choose not to limit myself to ranges quite THAT short, but I'm satisfied with a gun that will kill a bird at 40 -45 yards, and my 3" 12 gauge does just fine at those distances...