Turkey Guns

Tiktock said:
I was literally thinking to myself "i'm gonna order me some of that!" and then I started doing the math and my head exploded :)

I 100% believe in the smaller shot clouds with the heavier-than-lead stuff. The best patterns I've ever shot were with 2+1/8oz of #7 Hevi-shot. I simply couldnt bear to spend $5+ per shotgun shell for those :)
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Well depends where you get it I guess. The guy I'm buying from is cheapest of everyone. I was paying 47$lb I get it for 35$lb now. If loaded a 1oz load in a 12ga you can get a finished load for about 3.35$ apiece. That's based on me buying shot from him at 38$lb shipped
 
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Tiktock said:
Do you need to use specific chokes with that stuff or can you use anything that works with lead?
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A lot of these loads are tested with just whatever chokes the person tries and those chokes are specified. This kind of shot does better with a little more of an open choke.
 
The deal is a turkeys head never stops moving and is pretty friggin hard. I would rather use the larger shell and go a little bigger on the pellet to gain a little range. Suck it up butter cups. It's not duck hunting; youre not shooting a box of rounds off. You're lucky if you get a shot. So who cares if its $4.
 
An 1.5oz load at 38$lb is 4.60$ shell. That's 12ga costs that is

Edit here.

Got curious and figured it up exact. Exact cost on each shell.

Both 12ga loads at 35$lb

1oz load is 2.82$
1.5oz load is like 3.94$
 
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Mike-Mike said:
The deal is a turkeys head never stops moving and is pretty friggin hard. I would rather use the larger shell and go a little bigger on the pellet to gain a little range. Suck it up butter cups. It's not duck hunting; youre not shooting a box of rounds off. You're lucky if you get a shot. So who cares if its $4.
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Thats the old mentality, truth is, a load of #9 TSS pellets, with a MV of 1250 fps, have energy enough to kill a turkey at 85+ yds. Also by using #9s you get around 360 pellets in an ounce of shot. There is truly no reason to go to a bigger pellet for more range. My little 20 ga with a 1 7/16 oz of #9 TSS at 1250 fps, will hold killing patterns to 60+ yds. With a 60+ yd range and killing energy to 85+ yds, there is no reason to go to a bigger pellet, unless the law dictates that.
 
please don't overthink this, too many turkeys have been killed by off the shelf lead shot over the past 50 years to need to experiment with heavy metals...my son shoots a 20 gage Benelli Nova with a Carlson super full turkey choke and Remington 3" nitro mag #5 turkey loads...he's taken two 30 yard shots at two toms and neither bird so much as twitched after it was over...
I shoot the 12 gage Nova with 3-1/2" #4s, i'm lethal to 45 yards...45 yards is a long freakin shot, a good turkey hunter has zero need to shoot any further...
 
Highbrass said:
please don't overthink this, too many turkeys have been killed by off the shelf lead shot over the past 50 years to need to experiment with heavy metals...my son shoots a 20 gage Benelli Nova with a Carlson super full turkey choke and Remington 3" nitro mag #5 turkey loads...he's taken two 30 yard shots at two toms and neither bird so much as twitched after it was over...
I shoot the 12 gage Nova with 3-1/2" #4s, i'm lethal to 45 yards...45 yards is a long freakin shot, a good turkey hunter has zero need to shoot any further...
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Not overthinking one bit, what TSS allows you to do, is bring your smaller gauges to the table, and make them consistent killers. It will make a 20 ga a consistent 60 yd gun, a 28 ga a consistent 50 yd gun, and a .410 a 40-45 yd consistent killer.

The reason for a gun that will kill at 60+ yds, is not to snipe turkeys at long distance, it is to give you a bit of fudge factor, if in the heat of the moment you happen to misjudge the distance of a bird, if you are say in unfamiliar woods, or you have a bird that is borderline out of range, but looks in range. You will consistently tote those birds out of the woods, instead of wounding them. In the 12-13 yrs I've been loading and developing turkey loads, I've killed one bird over 35 yds, and that was with my blackpowder shotgun, at 40 yds. Like I said, it's not about sniping, it's about consistently killing birds, by narrowing the gap of human error.
 
whacko said:
Here is the actual reg.......Specifically need to use size 4-7 only. .Ass us full of bullshit regs......We are lucky enough to have a f and w that cares about us being so safe we even have to have a green safety first sticker on the tang of the shotgun that is in you vision when you aim....By law!

http://www.mass.gov/eea/agencies/df...ife-watching/hunting/wild-turkey-hunting.html
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Where do you see you need a green sticker. The one of my gun happens to be yellow more than a few years old. Are you saying I need to replace it or is the yellow still good please cite
 
Highbrass said:
please don't overthink this, too many turkeys have been killed by off the shelf lead shot over the past 50 years to need to experiment with heavy metals...my son shoots a 20 gage Benelli Nova with a Carlson super full turkey choke and Remington 3" nitro mag #5 turkey loads...he's taken two 30 yard shots at two toms and neither bird so much as twitched after it was over...
I shoot the 12 gage Nova with 3-1/2" #4s, i'm lethal to 45 yards...45 yards is a long freakin shot, a good turkey hunter has zero need to shoot any further...
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It humors me that people think a 3.5" shell
It's the cats meow. With tss you can Take a -3" shell in a smaller gauge and pellet for pellet that 3.5" will lose in pattern density and killing power down range.
 
Mikel131 said:
Where do you see you need a green sticker. The one of my gun happens to be yellow more than a few years old. Are you saying I need to replace it or is the yellow still good please cite
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I'm going by the fact that the sheet the f and w chick gave me had green stickers on it.

- - - Updated - - -

Highbrass said:
please don't overthink this, too many turkeys have been killed by off the shelf lead shot over the past 50 years to need to experiment with heavy metals...my son shoots a 20 gage Benelli Nova with a Carlson super full turkey choke and Remington 3" nitro mag #5 turkey loads...he's taken two 30 yard shots at two toms and neither bird so much as twitched after it was over...
I shoot the 12 gage Nova with 3-1/2" #4s, i'm lethal to 45 yards...45 yards is a long freakin shot, a good turkey hunter has zero need to shoot any further...
Click to expand...

So all the extra shot....Recoil....And a heavier gun to haul around for 5 extra yards over my 20 gauge? Am I missing something?
 
whacko said:
I'm going by the fact that the sheet the f and w chick gave me had green stickers on it.

- - - Updated - - -



So all the extra shot....Recoil....And a heavier gun to haul around for 5 extra yards over my 20 gauge? Am I missing something?
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Maybe he thinks 3.5" shells make you have bigger kahoonas? And sound cool and tuff? Haha
 
Mikel131 said:
Where do you see you need a green sticker. The one of my gun happens to be yellow more than a few years old. Are you saying I need to replace it or is the yellow still good please cite
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Here it the closest that I can find to a cite:

http://www.mass.gov/eea/agencies/df...ife-watching/hunting/wild-turkey-hunting.html

The wording is, "Official safety sticker". I'm sure that somewhere in the bureaucracy, there's a "spec" for it, but absent being able to dig that out, I'd say that if MassWildlife is passing out green, and yours is yellow, I'd drop them an envelope, and get fresh ones, in case the EPO had a bad morning.
 
blingslinger said:
Not overthinking one bit, what TSS allows you to do, is bring your smaller gauges to the table, and make them consistent killers. It will make a 20 ga a consistent 60 yd gun, a 28 ga a consistent 50 yd gun, and a .410 a 40-45 yd consistent killer.

The reason for a gun that will kill at 60+ yds, is not to snipe turkeys at long distance, it is to give you a bit of fudge factor, if in the heat of the moment you happen to misjudge the distance of a bird, if you are say in unfamiliar woods, or you have a bird that is borderline out of range, but looks in range. You will consistently tote those birds out of the woods, instead of wounding them. In the 12-13 yrs I've been loading and developing turkey loads, I've killed one bird over 35 yds, and that was with my blackpowder shotgun, at 40 yds. Like I said, it's not about sniping, it's about consistently killing birds, by narrowing the gap of human error.
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if you say so...a 60 yard bird is 20 yards out of range in my opinion, and if you can't judge that difference, there are bigger issues at play...
i've patterned my gun at a measured 50 yards out of curiosity, i wasn't satisfied with the pattern but more importantly, that's tooo long of a shot at tooo small of a target...if you need to zap birds at 50+ yards, you're not really a turkey hunter...
 
whacko said:
So all the extra shot....Recoil....And a heavier gun to haul around for 5 extra yards over my 20 gauge? Am I missing something?
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I don't feel any recoil when i'm staring down a bird...non-issue...and my Nova weighs less than my 12 gage upland guns so that's not an issue either...
 
Highbrass said:
if you say so...a 60 yard bird is 20 yards out of range in my opinion, and if you can't judge that difference, there are bigger issues at play...
i've patterned my gun at a measured 50 yards out of curiosity, i wasn't satisfied with the pattern but more importantly, that's tooo long of a shot at tooo small of a target...if you need to zap birds at 50+ yards, you're not really a turkey hunter...
Click to expand...

Again, you are working off of opinions, and we all know about opinions. Also, who made you the king of hunting rules, and allowed you to decide who a "Real Hunter" is and isn't? I believe that is no one, so your comment there is invalid.

It is also very obvious that you have never hunted in the wide open expanse of the Rocky Mountains. The longest shot i've ever made on a bird, was in CO, and I misjudged a bird that I thought was around 45 yds, and he ended up being at 62 yds. Had I known he was at 62, I would've never taken the shot, but I did, and the bird never moved after the shot, just folded up. I archery hunt alot, and I am a good judge of distance, but transitioning from the thick woods in the south, to the wide expanses of the Rocky Mountains, has a tendency to fool your perspective, and that is called "Human Error"

My take is, if you have patterned your gun, and know what your gun, choke, and ammo combo is capable of consistently, and at what yardage it is consistent at, then you have done your due diligence and given the animal that you are pursuing the respect it deserves, if you want to shoot one within the capabilities of your setup. It doesn't matter if that number is 20 yds, or 80 yds.
 
blingslinger said:
Again, you are working off of opinions, and we all know about opinions. Also, who made you the king of hunting rules, and allowed you to decide who a "Real Hunter" is and isn't? I believe that is no one, so your comment there is invalid.

It is also very obvious that you have never hunted in the wide open expanse of the Rocky Mountains. The longest shot i've ever made on a bird, was in CO, and I misjudged a bird that I thought was around 45 yds, and he ended up being at 62 yds. Had I known he was at 62, I would've never taken the shot, but I did, and the bird never moved after the shot, just folded up. I archery hunt alot, and I am a good judge of distance, but transitioning from the thick woods in the south, to the wide expanses of the Rocky Mountains, has a tendency to fool your perspective, and that is called "Human Error"

My take is, if you have patterned your gun, and know what your gun, choke, and ammo combo is capable of consistently, and at what yardage it is consistent at, then you have done your due diligence and given the animal that you are pursuing the respect it deserves, if you want to shoot one within the capabilities of your setup. It doesn't matter if that number is 20 yds, or 80 yds.
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i'm not looking to put anyone down here, this place seems pretty cool...but if you think misjudging a shot by 17 yards is "human error", then i guess its a good thing you shoot hand loaded Adamantium coated depleted uranium #99 size shotshells...[wink]
 
Ive misjudged yardage I'll admit that. And I've misjudged it a good bit shootin across hollers and straight down these ridges. Them 3.5" done knocked your brain loose small brass
 
Highbrass said:
i'm not looking to put anyone down here, this place seems pretty cool...but if you think misjudging a shot by 17 yards is "human error", then i guess its a good thing you shoot hand loaded Adamantium coated depleted uranium #99 size shotshells...[wink]
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Yep, its called simple human error, and all of us are guilty of it, even you, AKA "That Guy".
 

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