Turkey Gun - 3.5in or 3in Heavy Shot

[Greg Welborn]

It is time for a new turkey gun and there are diffently a lot of options. So I thought I would ask the Pro Staff and the forum. Now that Heavy Shot is on the market I am wanting to know if it is worth getting a 3.5in gun or saving about $300 and going with a 3in. Everything I have read about HS basically says a 3in shell will perform just as good if not better than a 3.5in. shell when it comes to velosity and pattern performance. I have been looking at the SBE II, M2 and 870 SPS T supermag, but any other recommendations would be welcome.
Thanks,
Greg Welborn
Mississippi

[Mark Brendemuehl]

Greg-I am not sure how well you like recoil, or can handle it, but, my last Turkey hunt I shot 3 1/2 inch 2 ounce max dram lead, and I thought when I patterned it that I broke my jaw, dislocated my face, and it made my eyes blurry. No kidding, it was terrible. That was from a pump, and an auto would be better for sure, but still bad. Considering I have shot turkeys with
2 3/4 lead, I don't think you HAVE to have 3 1/2 inch shells. But, it is nice to have that option too.
If whatever gun you get patterns well at the distances you plan to shoot, I think you will have more than enough knockdown to put one on the ground. Good luck!
Mark

[David Hochman]

Greg,
Welcome to The Avery Forum!
A 3" shell with the right choke tube is all the gun you will ever need for turkeys. That being said, I shoot most of my birds with 3.5" shells. I have also shot them with my 10 ga but both are over kill.As Mark said the 3.5" 12ga is brutal when bench shooting. It has made me bleed more than one time on the bench, but when barring down on a gobbler there is enough adrenalin flowing that you dont notice. It is nice to have the option between the 3" and/or the 3.5" shell.
Dave

[Rusty Hallock]

Greg,

A 3" 12 guage is plenty of gun for turkey hunting, especially with Hevi-Shot. Like Dave, I use 3.5" #6 shot for turkey. I want to put as many pellets on target as possible. I am not using a 3.5" gun to stretch my range. I just want to increase my payload. The recoil is noticeable to say the least. But, you only shoot the gun for sighting in and killing turkeys.

[Brett Beinke]

I too use the 3.5 inch turkey loads just because I have the option to. Being "restricted" to a 12 guage 3 inch gun is not that big a deal anymore especially with the improvements in shotgun loads. Many manufacturers have come out with loads similar to Hevy Shot. Although I really like the stuff it is still very wise to try out several different types of ammo to see what patterns best.

[Tom Cannon, www.Outdoor-z.com]

Hey its like horsepower... You can always have it and not need it, but if you don't have it and need it -well that sucks!! I shoot a Nova with 3.5 inch Fiocchi #5 turkey loads. Knocked down a big 25 lb Missouri bird last year at 55 yards. Of course you still need to pattern the gun and load. I shoot a Hunter Spec tube and it likes #5 shot. My wife used it to take her first turkey with a 3 inch Fiocchi #5.
I like the 3.5 shells, you never know when you might need to reach out there a bit. Have fun and watch out for poison ivy!!! ouch

[Alan Sisson]

I'm of a little different opinion. I think people get to caught up in certain guns, chokes, shells etc. Get the bird within a reasonable killing distance (that's no more than 40 yards for me), put the bead on this head and its dinner time! I shoot an ugly old 870 Remington Wingmaster with a standard 30 inch full choke barrel. I did shoot heavy shot the last two years but before that all I ever shot was remington or federal 4's or 6's buffered magnums. But Tom has a good point, you can always have it and not need it.

These two guys were combat causalites to my trusty old 870!!!

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v474/gsbras/turkey04.png
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v474/gsbras/turkey02.png

[Rob Jepson]

Tom & Alan both make a good point about having as many options available to exercise as possible. So while 3" Hevi-Shot kills all the ducks and geese that I manage to connect with using my SBE, I still use the 3.5" for turkey. To paraphrase Elmer Keith (I believe): "I'm not afraid of killing them too dead!"

Here's a photo of a bird Rusty Hallock called up for me last Spring in Maryland.
http://img217.exs.cx/img217/8323/limbhanger2480x6403jg.jpg

Rob Jepson
Avery Pro-Staff Relations Manager

[centralchessie]

Greg, I will give you my two pennies! If you are hunting field birds it is always better to have as much gun as possible. Only because if you make a bad judgement on distance you might get away with it. With that being said thousands of turkeys are killed every year with 3" loads. The biggest red flag on your e-mail to me is you considering a Black eagle for turkeys. Make sure if you do buy this gun pattern in and make sure it doesn't shoot low. For some reason those guns shoot low. I found this out the hard way and even put the spacers in to raise my aim point. I love the gun for ducks and geese but for turkye it only took one season for me to buy a new remington special purpose. Good luck this spring! JJ

[Allan Stanley]

Ditto what centralchessie said about SBEs. I have killed a bunch of turkeys with one, but the point of aim is often off and needs to be adjusted some way. I use a Hi-Vis sight for waterfowl, which it works great for, but I do not like the patterns I get for turkey hunting (read, not dense enough in the center of the pattern at 40 yards).

The best gun and load I have is a Mossberg 835 with a Patternmaster choke and 3" 1 5/8 oz of #5 Hevi-shot. The 835 isn't fancy, but it patterns well with many chokes and loads. I have tried a bunch of them, and my gun patterns better with the 3" shells than it does with the 3.5" shells.

So, I have 3.5" capability should something better come along, but I shoot 3" Hevi-shot which is way easier on the shoulder than the lead 2 1/4 oz load I used to shoot.

One more thing, I have a rifle sight set up on my turkey gun, with the glow tubes front and back, and the thing is adjustable. This is ideal for getting the tightest shooting load you can find and then centering that pattern at your point of aim.

Good luck,

Allan Stanley
Avery Pro-Staff

[Rob Jepson]

Just to reinforce Allan's comments, and for clarification of my own intitial post, I do use a Hi-Viz sight and a PatternMaster tube with my SBE. I think the basic jist of all these comments however is that finding the right turkey gun is like finding the right deer shotgun. They all will kill game but they all pattern and group differently and only time on the range will give you accurate information as to what you will eventually need to feed them to get maximum results.

Rob Jepson
Avery Pro-Staff Relations Manager

[Tom Cannon, www.Outdoor-z.com]

Sure a plain old bead on the front of your shotgun has killed a lot of birds over the years no doubt. I am with Rob and the others in that I think its wise to mount a rifle type sight system to my gun.

Two reasons... First it gives you a more precise aiming point especially for long shots, you can adjust it to the point of impact (where your gun shoots its pattern) :cool: . Second it forces you to get your head down onto the stock, which I know has caused me to miss some shots. Believe me (we have done a lot of long range shooting)not getting a good "stock weld" is critical and the cause of a huge number of misses even with a shotgun.

[Tony Vandemore]

Always nice to have the extra payload in the thicker brush later in the season...

[G Hillman]

let me make a suggestion. I shoot a SBE 28" barrel and i have a RHINO choke and shoot Nitro company 3.5 triplex hevi shot. I can promise you you will not get a more dense pattern from any other combo. its not uncommon to get 230+ pellets in a 10 inch circle at 40 yds.and upwards of 60 in a 3 inch circle. Bar none the Rhino choke is the best Turkey choke on the market, and coupled with a 3.5" load its brutal. i have killed em stone dead from 15 out to 60 yds. my comfort zone is 25-35 and its lights out. but i won't hesitate to take a shot out to 45+. at 20 on in its complete decapitation. last year i had a buddy shooting a 3" remington stock full choke, with a 3" lead 5 and he just stung a bird at 40 when it picked him swinging on it. he shot and it kept going, i swung and shot as it was running past 50 and rolled it, needles to say its backside past up its head on contact. and my SBE is dead on with a slick rib. over the years i have knocked the beads off. but to ansqwer your question, if you are going to turkey hunt and be serious about it, go with the 3.5

also i have tried atleast 6-7 different chokes and loads, and the one above is by far the baddest of the bad.

can someone refresh me on how to post pics and i'll post several turkeys.

[Allan Stanley]

G. Hillman,

Do you know the particulars of that load you are shooting? Sizes of shot, shot charge weight, velocity. Also, which Rhino choke are you using?

Yeah, if you are getting 230 pellets in a 10" circle at 40 yards, I think you can quit looking for the perfect load!

The only thing to consider before going this route is that some states regulate the size of shot which can be used for spring gobblers. Shot too large, or too small, could cause you problems in some places.

Thanks,

Allan Stanley
Avery Pro-Staff

[G Hillman]

Allen, its a Triplex load and its a 4 x 5 x 7 in Hevi shot. i have also had great results with the Winchester Supreme #6 2 1/4 Oz. with the Rhino choke. the Nitro Co.s site is

www.nitrocompany.com (http://www.nitrocompany.com)

they can tell you evry thing you need to know. ohh and when you go to their site turn up the volume.

[G Hillman]

www.rhinochokes.com (http://www.rhinochokes.com)

check them out also.

[G Hillman]

Man I look horrible in this pic, well thats kinda how i look all the time. he went down as soon as he crossed the 40yd mark, he had great hooks and rope swingin'.

http://img181.exs.cx/img181/9936/195600075rz.jpg

[Greg Welborn]

Thanks for all of the information and the great pics. Really gets my blood pumping. I am looking forward to the season here in Mississippi,it opens March 15th. Any recomendations on a particular gun would be welcomed as well. I have been calling birds for friends for the past 4 yrs., but this year I think I am going to do a little calling for myself. So its time for a new gun.

Thanks,
Greg Welborn