Turkey gun build?

[Camelcluch]

The Carlson’s tube is good but with TSS I would try a regular full and the turkey chokes. It patterns tight. I have liked the federal, apex and hevi shot.

 

[Hillbillyfab]

First let me say we shoot lead and TSS in our turkey guns, If I was truly staying within 30 yards, +/- 5 yards, I’d stick with over the counter lead ammo. The black box Winchester long beards have served us well over the years. I’ll check, but it’s either a .568 or .575 screws into the end of our youth 870 20 gauge right now.

 

[Thrifty]

I wouldn’t over think this. Lead has
Killed a lot of birds for alot of years at most ranges. If she is young to hunting turkeys and will have the nerves flowing I’d focus more a round pattern vs a tight one. After that I’d go straight for an aiming aid. Helps the consistency. These two things should help compensate for any mistakes in the shooting and form process

 

[BTaylor]

I wouldn’t over think this. Lead has
Killed a lot of birds for alot of years at most ranges. If she is young to hunting turkeys and will have the nerves flowing I’d focus more a round pattern vs a tight one. After that I’d go straight for an aiming aid. Helps the consistency. These two things should help compensate for any mistakes in the shooting and form process

I'm going to set the wife's 20 ga up for me to turkey hunt with. She might get a wild hair and decide to go sometime but I am not worried about her having a case of nerves. She's a natural killer when hunting.

 

[bigmike23]

Nitro Company Ammunition – Superior Shotgun Ammo – Nitro Company

The best turkey ammo on earth. They will likely have recommendations for your gun. You have to call to place an order. I've used them all. Apex you name it. Nitro was doing it 20 years before all these popups started up and jumped on the TSS and hevishot wagon.

They always amaze how their loads stay in pressure spec. Apexs 10 ga load is 2.5oz at 1100fps. Nitros is 2 5/8oz at 1200fps.

TSS is the greatest thing to ever happen to turkey hunting. Dead is dead but often when struck with lead they flop all over. TSS is like they've been struck with a 338 Lapua. They just drop no flop.

Range misjudges are a thing of the past. And often, you won't even find a single pellet in their breasts because the penetration is so ridiculous.

 

[Center Punch]

Nitro Company Ammunition – Superior Shotgun Ammo – Nitro Company

The best turkey ammo on earth. They will likely have recommendations for your gun. You have to call to place an order. I've used them all. Apex you name it. Nitro was doing it 20 years before all these popups started up and jumped on the TSS and hevishot wagon.

They always amaze how their loads stay in pressure spec. Apexs 10 ga load is 2.5oz at 1100fps. Nitros is 2 5/8oz at 1200fps.

TSS is the greatest thing to ever happen to turkey hunting. Dead is dead but often when struck with lead they flop all over. TSS is like they've been struck with a 338 Lapua. They just drop no flop.

Range misjudges are a thing of the past. And often, you won't even find a single pellet in their breasts because the penetration is so ridiculous.

Bummer. They do not recommend a lengthened forcing cone.

Wonder how that poorly affects the patterns?

 

[bigmike23]

Bummer. They do not recommend a lengthened forcing cone.

Wonder how that poorly affects the patterns?

I'm not sure how it poorly affects it, but lengthening it nowadays is completely unnecessary.

In the days of old, lengthening the cone helped because, instead of the soft lead shot smashing into a hard ramp, it provided a smoother transition into the bore, lessening shot deformation. 10ga's often patterned better because the bore was simply wider and the shot wouldn't be crushed and deformed as badly. Mossberg achieves this with their turkey guns by overboring them to reduce deformation.

Hevi-shot(Not TSS), patterned way better than any lead round before because it was so much harder and resisted deformation. You can slam it into a forcing cone all day, and it wouldn't deform. Deformed shot is like a knuckleball flying all over the place.

Winchester Long Beards are by FAR the best lead turkey loads on the market because of the resin the pellets are molded in completely protects the lead from deforming. That's why they pattern 2-3x as good as any other lead load. Again, that resin protects the lead so the lengthened cone isn't needed.

TSS is extremely hard and will not deform upon hitting any forcing cone or choke tube. It's also very spherical to prevent knuckleball-like flight. It's also extraordinarily heavy. Those little 9s in my subjective experience penetrate better than any lead 4s I've ever seen.

 

[woodsdog2]

I'm not sure how it poorly affects it, but lengthening it nowadays is completely unnecessary.

In the days of old, lengthening the cone helped because, instead of the soft lead shot smashing into a hard ramp, it provided a smoother transition into the bore, lessening shot deformation. 10ga's often patterned better because the bore was simply wider and the shot wouldn't be crushed and deformed as badly. Mossberg achieves this with their turkey guns by overboring them to reduce deformation.

Hevi-shot(Not TSS), patterned way better than any lead round before because it was so much harder and resisted deformation. You can slam it into a forcing cone all day, and it wouldn't deform. Deformed shot is like a knuckleball flying all over the place.

Winchester Long Beards are by FAR the best lead turkey loads on the market because of the resin the pellets are molded in completely protects the lead from deforming. That's why they pattern 2-3x as good as any other lead load. Again, that resin protects the lead so the lengthened cone isn't needed.

TSS is extremely hard and will not deform upon hitting any forcing cone or choke tube. It's also very spherical to prevent knuckleball-like flight. It's also extraordinarily heavy. Those little 9s in my subjective experience penetrate better than any lead 4s I've ever seen.

Agree with all of this but at from $12-$15+ per shell is it worth the extra recoil and expense…….. I’m not so sure. I use TSS but only one shell in the tube, my first is a lead load that patterns well then the TSS then another lead load. My position on this has always been to call them in as close as possible. To me that is the thrill of spring gobbler hunting. Not trying to eke out the most range on a close range oriented sport. I use the TSS as back up if something goes wrong on the initial shot and I need to try to dispatch an escaping potentially wounded bird. This stretches out my investment and also keeps the contest fun for me.

My Ithaca Turkeyslayer back in the day loved the nickle plated Activ loads. Still wished they were making them. This particular gun loved the #5 loads. Actually all of my 12’s patterned that load very well. I always thought that shot was a great compromise between cost and down range efficacy.

Didn’t realize the Long Beard loads had a coating. Proper shot Buffering in the shell also has a positive effect on minimizing deformation.

 

[bigmike23]

Agree with all of this but at from $12-$15+ per shell is it worth the extra recoil and expense…….. I’m not so sure. I use TSS but only one shell in the tube, my first is a lead load that patterns well then the TSS then another lead load. My position on this has always been to call them in as close as possible. To me that is the thrill of spring gobbler hunting. Not trying to eke out the most range on a close range oriented sport. I use the TSS as back up if something goes wrong on the initial shot and I need to try to dispatch an escaping potentially wounded bird. This stretches out my investment and also keeps the contest fun for me.

My Ithaca Turkeyslayer back in the day loved the nickle plated Activ loads. Still wished they were making them. This particular gun loved the #5 loads. Actually all of my 12’s patterned that load very well. I always thought that shot was a great compromise between cost and down range efficacy.

Didn’t realize the Long Beard loads had a coating. Proper shot Buffering in the shell also has a positive effect on minimizing deformation.

At the rate my turkey population is going at about 1 gobbler per 20 square miles, and the fact if I'm lucky I get 1 gobbler every 2-3 years now, a box of 25 TSS rounds would likely last me 40 years. A turkey is worth 15$ to me.

Everyone has to set their limits and what is fun for you. Ultimately, what I want is a filled tag. From 5 yards to 70 filled is filled.

Some people are still stuck in the 40 yards limit state of consciousness(Not insinuating you).

With the proper choke and load combo, 70 yards is not a hail Mary, its not a let it rip and hope for the best, or saying well here goes nothing. 70 yards is a dead bird every single time no matter the conditions, rain or shine.

The Long beards don't have a coating. If you cut one open it looks like a slug round. It's a hard piece of plastic that has the pellets molded into it. Upon firing, the instant change in velocity shatters the mold into a powder acting like the ultimate buffering that protects the shot. When you shoot LBs, theres always a white cloud that comes out and that's the broken resin.

 

[BTaylor]

Some people are still stuck in the 40 yards limit state of consciousness(Not insinuating you).

It's the difference between hunters and shooters. That's not a right vs. wrong thing either, at least for me. I've killed enough to not be concerned too much with just the kill. The sense of accomplishment now is winning the hunt. It's why I almost exclusively deer hunt with a stick bow now. Make no mistake, I am still pretty dang blood thirsty, I just want it to be from up close.

 

[Center Punch]

I'm not sure how it poorly affects it, but lengthening it nowadays is completely unnecessary.

In the days of old, lengthening the cone helped because, instead of the soft lead shot smashing into a hard ramp, it provided a smoother transition into the bore, lessening shot deformation. 10ga's often patterned better because the bore was simply wider and the shot wouldn't be crushed and deformed as badly. Mossberg achieves this with their turkey guns by overboring them to reduce deformation.

Hevi-shot(Not TSS), patterned way better than any lead round before because it was so much harder and resisted deformation. You can slam it into a forcing cone all day, and it wouldn't deform. Deformed shot is like a knuckleball flying all over the place.

Winchester Long Beards are by FAR the best lead turkey loads on the market because of the resin the pellets are molded in completely protects the lead from deforming. That's why they pattern 2-3x as good as any other lead load. Again, that resin protects the lead so the lengthened cone isn't needed.

TSS is extremely hard and will not deform upon hitting any forcing cone or choke tube. It's also very spherical to prevent knuckleball-like flight. It's also extraordinarily heavy. Those little 9s in my subjective experience penetrate better than any lead 4s I've ever seen.

Well, that's nice to hear because I lengthened that 20GA's cone more than 25 years ago.

Thank you

 

[bigmike23]

It's the difference between hunters and shooters. That's not a right vs. wrong thing either, at least for me. I've killed enough to not be concerned too much with just the kill. The sense of accomplishment now is winning the hunt. It's why I almost exclusively deer hunt with a stick bow now. Make no mistake, I am still pretty dang blood thirsty, I just want it to be from up close.

A ok.

We a bit different you shooting stick and string and me upgrading to 500fps Xbow

 

[bigmike23]

Well, that's nice to hear because I lengthened that 20GA's cone more than 25 years ago.

Thank you

My father's best friend has an Ithaca 10 that he had work done too 30 years ago as well. Bansner lengthened the forcing cone and machined and installed a permanent choke tube that was like 6 inches long that helped prevent that shot deforming.

Unfortunately that turned out to be a big mistake as the tube was permanent and it was lead shot only. No tungsten through it whatsoever.

Lengthening the cone still works if you refuse to use modern ammo and stick with classic buffeted lead ammo

 

[woodsdog2]

My father's best friend has an Ithaca 10 that he had work done too 30 years ago as well. Bansner lengthened the forcing cone and machined and installed a permanent choke tube that was like 6 inches long that helped prevent that shot deforming.

Unfortunately that turned out to be a big mistake as the tube was permanent and it was lead shot only. No tungsten through it whatsoever.

Lengthening the cone still works if you refuse to use modern ammo and stick with classic buffeted lead ammo

Always wanted one of those heavy boat anchors. Just something ultra cool about them. Not necessarily to turkey hunt with but I’d take it for sure on occasion if I did ever pick one up.

 

[bigmike23]

Always wanted one of those heavy boat anchors. Just something ultra cool about them. Not necessarily to turkey hunt with but I’d take it for sure on occasion if I did ever pick one up.

All I hunt with is it's successor, the SP-10.

 

[bigmike23]

One of my biggest regrets ever was selling one of the coolest bargain bin finds I ever got. Went down to the Hamburg cabelas store, and sitting on the used rack was this disgusting internally BPS 10ga. It had engraving on the sides of turkeys and geese. Here's a pic I could find on the Internet.

Internally, it looked like someone dumped mineral oil in it then broke a bunch of cattails into the action. The fluffy stuff was everywhere. Inside the barrel looked like cobwebs with more goobed up mineral oil. The action wasn't smooth at all. But at 280 bucks I took a chance. Brought it home and went to work on it. Took apart the action and sonic cleaned what I could fit in the tub. Scrubbed the inside of the barrel. Scrubbed the action. Everything you could think of.

The gun was essentially brand new. Everything in the barrel was just cosmetic. No scoring inside nor pitting. Bright and shiny. The action got silky smooth. Gun was awesome. But at the time I was a broke moron in debt up to my eyeballs and had to let it go at the time. Man it still sucks.

 

[Center Punch]

My father's best friend has an Ithaca 10 that he had work done too 30 years ago as well. Bansner lengthened the forcing cone and machined and installed a permanent choke tube that was like 6 inches long that helped prevent that shot deforming.

Unfortunately that turned out to be a big mistake as the tube was permanent and it was lead shot only. No tungsten through it whatsoever.

Lengthening the cone still works if you refuse to use modern ammo and stick with classic buffeted lead ammo

I never took pics of the patterns of HeviShot 5,6,&7 but they were really good.

I'm trying to wrap my head around how a longer-than-stock forcing cone could possibly hurt a pattern, no matter what the shot's composition.

 

[BTaylor]

A ok.

We a bit different you shooting stick and string and me upgrading to 500fps Xbow

I understand you need to get the shot before they smell the pumpkin spice.

 

[BTaylor]

Always wanted one of those heavy boat anchors. Just something ultra cool about them. Not necessarily to turkey hunt with but I’d take it for sure on occasion if I did ever pick one up.

Those Ithaca 10's were duck and goose destroyers. Fine, fine piece for waterfowling. You need a boat anchor, I have an old sxs 10 gauge that is up to the task.

 

[Camelcluch]

If I was buying a turkey gun, it would hands down be a 28 gauge. There is absolutely no reason to have any more recoil. My kids and I have piled birds with a .410. The 28 would be a giant step up in pellet count with not much more recoil.