mountainman1

hi. i'm new to turkey hunting. i'm shooting a 12 ga. winchester 140 two and three quarter chamber. what turkey load would be the best?
thanks.

RIStrutStopper

I'm not exactly a pro, but if anybody has better advice or something to add, please chime in. Every gun is different. You'll need to check different loads and if possible, different chokes for your gun. Different extra full turkey chokes will pattern differently in the same gun, as will different shot sizes. Try shot sizes 4, 5, and 6 from different manufacturers and see what patterns best out of your gun out to about 35-40 yards (range may be a little less since you are only shooting 2 3/4" shells). You'll want the most dense pattern you can get.

Canadian Hunter312

eh mountainman i took my first...and only tom so far (im 18 years old, been turkey huntin 2 yrs) with a single shot 12g full choke. i bought federals, remington, winchester and some other brand i forget the name tho. my gun loves the federal premium turkey 2 3/4" 1 5/8oz. in #6's. they r turkey loads so they r copper plated with buffered shot.

dropped a tom in its tracks stone dead at 29 yards. but wen patterning on paper my dad and grandpa said the pattern was good enough for a bird at 45 yards max, providing its a clear shot.

i dunno how yer gun would like them but just for comparison, my dad tried the same loads from same box of shells in his nova with sum xxx-full choke and mine patterned better. he tried again with noraml full choke and it shot almost as good as mine. these loads only like normal full chokes? was it just the one choke my dad had? who knows.

just figured id tell ya which ones my gun likes. and wut ive learned in the 5 yrs ive been hunting is that sometimes x-full chokes dont always shoot better then full.


ch312

PS. the bird had a 10 inch beard, 1 inch spurs and weighed a hair over 20 pounds. its on my wall.

Wingbone

I did my early turkey hunting with an old Win 97. It had a pretty good full choke. I got my best patterns with Win. #6's. I could get 11-16 hits in the head and neck at 40 yd. with those loads. Took two toms at 40 yd. with it.

mountainman1

hi guys thanks for your input on turkey loads. it will help me alot. could you tell me what does 3.5x4 heavy load means. and can i use a three inch shell .if i shoot a 2and 3/4 chamber. thanks alot

Bobgobble2

Before i started reloading my own turkey loads 3 of the turkey guns I shot liked Federal Premium loads with the exception of my 10 gauge patterning Remington Nitros as well!If your gun is chambered for 2 3/4 inch loads only do NOT attempt to put a 3' shell in your gun!Check your choke consriction,should be full or better and fire the big 3 out of your gun Rem,Win,Fed,!RSS described what you need to do in shot sizes and make sure there magnum loads!Look for a good pattern at 30 yards,at least 70% of your pattern should be within a 30 inch circle at 30 yards!Look for an even spread of your pattern and no holes!It will take more than a few shots but its well worth the time in having confidence knowing when that gobbler steps into that 30 yard circle around your set-up he's a dead turkey!! By the way RSS love your your sig quote..very good lol...

Big Guy01

3.5x4 where did you get these #s. If they are from the top lid of your shell box they refer to 3.5 dram equivalents of black powder and #4 size shot. This does not mean your ammo is loaded with black powder just that the powder is equal in strength to 3.5 drams of black powder. The usual sequence of #s would be the shell length ,dram equivalents, shot size.IE 2 3/4- 3 1/2- 4 Hope this helps.

mountainman1

sure did thanks alot