Turkey load patterning

bcsteve

bcsteve

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Went around to 4 different hunting store this week to round up some shells to try. Not a lot of turkey hunting here in BC so the shops mostly have steel shot. I was able to find some Federal Flitecontrol 3" 2oz #5, Federal Flitecontrol High velocity 3" 1 /34oz #5 and some Remington Nitro 3" 1 7/8oz #5. They had #6 in all of those as well but I figured I'd start with #5.

I'm new to turkey hunting and my shotgun is a Rem 870 with a 21" barrel and a .665 ported Undertaker. Shot two shots of each at 40yds.

I've been lurking on some American turkey hunting site and seen some amazingly tight patterns. But these guys are fanatics that spend major money on dozens of different turkey chokes and $5 a shell for custom loads. These guys are getting 200-300 shots in 10" at 40yds.

What do "normal" guys get for results??

Here are my results. Comments?? Suggestions??

Rem Nitro Turkey
http://i248.photobucket.com/albums/gg186/bcsteve/IMG_0497.jpg
http://i248.photobucket.com/albums/gg186/bcsteve/IMG_0492.jpg

Federal High velocity 1 3/4oz
http://i248.photobucket.com/albums/gg186/bcsteve/IMG_0495.jpg
http://i248.photobucket.com/albums/gg186/bcsteve/IMG_0496.jpg

Federal 2oz
http://i248.photobucket.com/albums/gg186/bcsteve/IMG_0494.jpg
http://i248.photobucket.com/albums/gg186/bcsteve/IMG_0498.jpg
 
Get yourself some Hevi 13 or Winchester Xtended Range. As for the guys in the U.S. Indian Creek Chokes, Rhino, and Briley Choke Tubes seem to ber the top after market Choke tubes. 200 hits at 40 yds with these chokes is not unusual.
 
I never pattern my gun on the 10" circle I use a turkey target but here is a pic of how my set up shoots. The paper is 8 1/2" x 11" and was shot at 38 yards with 2oz #5 Federal flite-control 3 1/2",the gun is a 12ga Browning BPS turkey and a .685 turkey tube. There is 44 hits in the vital zone but 208 hits on the paper.

sight008.jpg


I have shot Xtended ammo and it did not pattern well out of any of my screw in choked guns but was ok in one of my fixed choke older guns.
 
I have been using my Remy 870, 26" barrel, with an HS Strut Undertaker turkey choke, for the past few years. Using Winchester Supreme High Velocity Turkey loads. 12Ga, 3 1/2" 2oz 5shot. Some say 3 1/2" are overboard, but, I sware by them. I've been getting my birds every year. If it ain't broke...don't fix it!!! I also put a set of truglow sights on her. Works great!!!
 
X2 on the turkey target. I have drawn a vertical 4" x 8" rectangle and used that to simulate vitals.

The federal loads there look pretty good. I didn't have any luck with them, as they shot high and left in my gun. Winchester Supreme #6 were bang on though, so that's all I use now...

FWIW, I've only shot 6 turkeys, but the furthest one was 25yds, closest was 5yds...
 
Anybody tried the Heavy-13 loads? Guys seem to get much improved pattern just by switching to those.
 
I've tested them all. The loads that your talking about is the Nitro loads out of MO. They are not allowed in some places including Ontario. Chokes all have a difference in them, length, tapper, and constrition. This can change the pattern of any shotgun. Aftermarket chokes are all made with time and quality that makes the price jump.

Pure Gold and Indian Creek are two of the top chokes and if it is 12 gauge your testing then the contriction that seems to pattern best is .660 - .665

20 gauge is the same out come but in a .550 - .555 constriction.

After a ton of testing with Hevi shot I found that a turkey hunter has no problem shooting #6 out to that 50 yard mark. 12 gauge loads in Hevi 13 are the Bronze colour shells. The white shells that were the best are near impossible to find now.

If you want to see how much difference in loads and chokes there is, get a copy of my dvd "Learning the Ropes of Wild Turkey Hunting" There is a whole segment on Patterning in it...
 
C Broad Arrow said:
Does anyone notice a big difference in the pattern with a change in barrel length?
Click to expand...
I did shooting same loads, same choke out of a BPS 26" compared to a BPS 28" barrel, but people will tell you barrel length does not effect patterns only the choke does? The choke we used was a Browning Xtra full and the 26" only put a few pellets in the kill zone. The 28" was full of holes in kill zone up to 50 yards? I bought a new choke for my 26" and my friend used the Browning choke in his 28".
 
I shoot a Mossberg 500 12ga, & have tried Rem Nitro's, Federal Flitecontrol, & Winchester Supreme Turkey. The Winchester 3" #6 patterns best in my shotgun. I bought a few boxes for $12 ea. so I am set for a few seasons :).

George
 
bcsteve said:
Went around to 4 different hunting store this week to round up some shells to try. Not a lot of turkey hunting here in BC so the shops mostly have steel shot. I was able to find some Federal Flitecontrol 3" 2oz #5, Federal Flitecontrol High velocity 3" 1 /34oz #5 and some Remington Nitro 3" 1 7/8oz #5. They had #6 in all of those as well but I figured I'd start with #5.

I'm new to turkey hunting and my shotgun is a Rem 870 with a 21" barrel and a .665 ported Undertaker. Shot two shots of each at 40yds.

I've been lurking on some American turkey hunting site and seen some amazingly tight patterns. But these guys are fanatics that spend major money on dozens of different turkey chokes and $5 a shell for custom loads. These guys are getting 200-300 shots in 10" at 40yds.

What do "normal" guys get for results??

Here are my results. Comments?? Suggestions??

Rem Nitro Turkey
http://i248.photobucket.com/albums/gg186/bcsteve/IMG_0497.jpg
http://i248.photobucket.com/albums/gg186/bcsteve/IMG_0492.jpg

Federal High velocity 1 3/4oz
http://i248.photobucket.com/albums/gg186/bcsteve/IMG_0495.jpg
http://i248.photobucket.com/albums/gg186/bcsteve/IMG_0496.jpg

Federal 2oz
http://i248.photobucket.com/albums/gg186/bcsteve/IMG_0494.jpg
http://i248.photobucket.com/albums/gg186/bcsteve/IMG_0498.jpg
Click to expand...


Here is my opinion shaped on 15 years of turkey hunting all over North America, of which five years are as a professional.

I hope my sponsors do not read this.:D:eek:

In all these years I have never found that I needed a super tight turkey choke. I never needed a 3 1/3” magnum gun loaded with super magnum turkey loads.

It’s simple really. All you need is to get up to five pellets into the kill zone (brain and neck vertebrae) of a turkey. Most shots at turkeys are taken at about 25 to 30 yards. I have guided turkey hunters and some attempted to take 40 or even 50 yards shots, because that’s what they read in articles or advertising is possible with a super-turkey-everything-outfit.
This is strictly my opinion. If a hunter "needs" to shoot 40 or 50 yards then he did something seriously wrong with the way he has set up the abush.

I shot for years factory loads, Federal Wing-Shock 3” loaded with copper plated lead pellets #5, pushed though a full factory choke out of a Mossberg (soon to be replaced with a Benelli) 535 ATS 12 gauge gun with a 26” barrel. Do I think this is the best turkey gun and load? No, not by a mile, but it works just fine and has never let me down.

For turkey hunting barrel length has no influence other then that a shorter barreled gun is easier to carry (maneuver) around in the woods and brush.

Any lead load betwen #4 to #6, preferably copper or tungsten coated, packed into 3” shells will do just fine. The coating helps to prevent deformation of the pellets when they are pushed though a tight choke.

My advice to you would be to buy as many loads of different brands from 3” to 3 ½ “ (provided your gun is chambered for 3 ½) with pellet sizes ranging between #4 to #6 as you can afford. Get yourself a few turkey targets and head to range, try all the loads with, different choke combinations, out and the one choke / load combination that creates a pattern which consistently puts several pellets in the kill zone that's the one you want to use. Bingo.:)

Don’t worry too much about ammunition brands and expensive custom chokes or special turkey loads. Sure, they're fun to have and to shoot but they're not needed in most cases.;)

Well that turned out to be a much longer answer then I had originally in mind.:D
 
Small dark circle is the point of aim, from there I marked a 10" circle around the denses part of the pattern. With adjustable sight or a scope, you would adjust your sights with the denses spot.
 
Bcsteve, just now I checked your target photos out and it looks pretty good. However, to get a better idea of how many pellets actually hit the kill zone have a look at the image doubleman posted. Now take a felt marker and draw on a piece of paper roughly a horizontal egg shaped circle of 1” by 1 1/2 “. That’s the turkey’s brain. Below that circle and slightly to the back draw a straight line 3" to 4" down and about a ½” wide and that is your turkey neck vertebra.

Using this simple diagram lets you see very quickly what pattern you need to get consistently at least for pellets into the kill zone. Point, if you use a scope aim, the gun directly in the middle of the neck about three inches below the brain. Most shots at turkeys are missed because the hunter aims/points at the turkeys noggin. Using this type of target conditions you to point / aim at the neck rather then at a circle (head).

Hope this helps.:)
 
I am sorry Steve I have never heard of anyone shooting at a spot and then drawing a circle where the most pellets are!
My mistake for questioning you.
 
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