I have a Remington 11-87 with a 3in chamber. Does the 3.5in have enough advantage over the 3 that it would justify buying a new gun?

DS22,

Not to me! Does your 11-87 have removal choke tubes? If so, all you have to do is find a good tube that patterns good. To start, just ask for someone on the forum to recommend a tube for your gun and start there.

Just a note! My father hunted turkeys' with an old Rem. 1148, 16 ga., improve cylinder, and killed turkeys' regularly with it. I to started out with an improved cylinder because that's all I had when I started turkey hunting (that was a long time ago). I have two or three guns in my case that were not designed for turkey hunting (dove and quail guns), no camoflage, they have all killed turkeys'. There's no doubt about it today, there's all sorts of guns and choke tubes on the market today, but a 11-87 is a good gun and the 3 in. mag. is fine, just match good shells to it (pattern, pattern, pattern, it.)


dog1

I think my hunting buddy put it best when he said 3.5 inch guns are nice for turkey hunting, but don't give you a tremendous advantage over a 3 inch gun. However the real reason for a 3.5 inch is for knockin down big Canadian geese, since I hunt both I own the 3.5 inch gun. But 3 inch should service you fine for turkey hunting, all comes down to how well you call and not fidgit.

http://www.ithacagun.com/experience/...ing/myth.shtml

I agree with your post as well!!! That's the main reason they came out with the 3 1/2" 12 gauge, for duck/goose hunters!! These guns are much cheaper than a semi-auto 10 gauge!!! The fact that many are now using them for turkey hunting, still doesn't show a huge advantage over the 3" shell pattern wise. I'd stick with what you have and get a Rhino choke and some nitro shells. You'll soon se what that 3" gun can do at the pattern board!!

What chokes and loads do you guys recomend for my gun?

The way I look at it is. I can always use an excuse to buy another gun If you can aford it why not. I have 3 turkeys gun right now and it wouldn't surprise me if I buy another... I'm thinking about the Benelli right now...

I think 3 1/2" does have an advantage because you throw a lot more lead than 3". I dont know if I would get a new gun just to shoot 3 1/2" or not, thats you decision. If you just want a new gun, it sounds like a good reason to me, but if not then i dont know. You would have more versatility with a 3 1/2" gun...

I agree wth you 100%...maytom.
That's the thrill of the hunt, to see how close you can kill it.
Over the years I've killed many turkeys with Win mod 12 26" 20ga 2 3/4"
at a range of 20-25yds.We did't have the 3-3 /12" like today.

Some folks think bigger is always better... not always true in the shotgun world. I wouldn't spend the cha-ching, knowing what a 3" shell properly selected with the right choke for the given gun. Having the ability to shoot 3.5" shells is nice, but certainly not required.