Patterning for turkey with a Rem 870 Express 20 gauge

[FoymountFarm]

Went out today and patterned my turkey gun. It was 7 degrees C, sunny and calm. I shot targets at 20, 30 and 40 yards. All was done off hand, standing. Great day, had the range to myself.

The shotgun is a Remington 870 Express 20 gauge, 21” vent rib barrel with a Truglo Gobble Stopper choke and a Bushnell Legend Ultra HD 1.75-5x32 with DOA 200 reticle.



I put the package together as a reliable, inexpensive shotgun for last year’s turkey hunt. I was using a Primos Tight Wad choke then. The Primos was OK but I felt that pattern results better than what I was getting could be obtained. The Truglo, another inexpensive choke, came to me in a trade and I decided to try it in my setup.

The ammunition I patterned was all 3” shells, #5 shot:

- Hornady Heavy Magnum Turkey (nickel plated lead shot), 1 3/8 oz, 1150 fps, $22 for 10 (used this last year).

- Kent Ultimate Diamond Shot Turkey (lead), 1 ¼ oz, 1300 fps, $10 for 10.

- Winchester Double X Turkey (copper plated lead shot), 1 5/16 oz, 1200 fps, $15 for 10.

At 20 yards they all place 65 +/- pellets in the head/neck area. The Hornady and Winchester were really nice and evenly spaced, no gaps in the pattern. They’d all shoot the head off.

At 30 yards they are opening up nicely and still place 43, 35 and 52 pellets in the head/neck respectively. The pattern of the Kent opened up the most, the Hornady and Winchester were very similar.

Winchester


At 40 yards they are reaching their maximum in my setup. The pattern has opened and big gaps are appearing. They placed 13, 10 and 16 pellets in the head/neck respectively.

Winchester


I tried one shot with the Winchester at 50 yards, off a rest. There were 7 pellets in the head/neck area but the pattern was really big with large gaps. I wouldn’t consider using it hunting. I don’t think that at 50 yards it will provide for a fast, humane and reliable kill in my setup.

IMO, the Winchester performed the best overall and that’s what I’ll be taking into the field.

Now to get him in to 40 yards...

 

[Zacm]

Ahhhthats good to know, thanks for the review. I was wondering about turkey loads for this season, I've strictly hunted bow only, pretty good with it but going to try the shotgun this year.

 

[yorgi]

Hard to find in 20ga but Winchester Longbeard XR would be an awesome load out of the Tightwad choke.

 

[patriot1]

...

 

[phinton81]

I cannot wrap my head around this patterning stuff. All the "science" behind choke design and what not seems like pure marketing to me, seems to me that the very last thing I'd concern myself with when picking up a dead bird I just shot was how many pellets hit it where.

Unreal the stuff you people buy into.

I'd venture a guess there is much you cannot wrap your head around. Why bother learning new things when you can present an opinion with zero backup and/or credibility?

Patrick

 

[Butcherbill]

I cannot wrap my head around this patterning stuff. All the "science" behind choke design and what not seems like pure marketing to me, seems to me that the very last thing I'd concern myself with when picking up a dead bird I just shot was how many pellets hit it where.

Unreal the stuff you people buy into.

What's hard to wrap your head around? Patterning tells you how your ammo will spread at certain distances with different ammo, sure is nice to know where my poa/poi will be when I'm aiming at a grouse at different distances.

 

[sherlockbonez]

If you are inclined, there is no reason you should not pattern your gun. On the other hand, i would think as many birds have fell to paperhulls and #4bucks and pattern a gun is not mandatory if you have shot with that gun before.

 

[NVShooter]

... pattern a gun is not mandatory if you have shot with that gun before.

Sure...practice killing, wounding, missing things, until you figure out where/how your gun/ammo combination shoots. Then you don't need to pattern....um...I'll pattern thank you.

edit: Sorry...didn't mean that to sound nasty...not my intent.

 

[cdn1canhunt]

If ur gonna shoot turkeys.....actually any game with a shotgun. You should pattern your gun...you'd be surprised how many guns pattern to the left or right or high or low. It's worthy of the time and $ invested to do it!

 

[FoymountFarm]

I cannot wrap my head around this patterning stuff. All the "science" behind choke design and what not seems like pure marketing to me, seems to me that the very last thing I'd concern myself with when picking up a dead bird I just shot was how many pellets hit it where.

Unreal the stuff you people buy into.

Its the same as sighting in a hunting rifle, finding the load/ammunition that works best for the distances you expect to shoot at.