Savage 320 20 gauge

[Sir-diealot]

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Yes Sir ?

Not sure I understand this, I was saying thank you, did I miss something along the way?

[Sir-diealot]

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Win/ Browning Invector/Savage are all the same choke tube threads.  With TSS the chokes are definitely more forgiving than w/ lead and as long as you utilize a choke w/ a long parallel diameter you will do fine.  I've utilized TSS w/ a variety of manufacturers choke tubes, ie. Indian Creek, SumToy, Briley, Trulock, and Carlson's and they all make quality products.  As a general rule, you utilize a more open turkey choke w/ a back-bored barrel and a slightly tighter choke w/ a nominally choked 20 gauge barrel. A choke diameter of .560-.570 shooting 7's should produce a pattern w/ a tight 10" core and even 20".  Based upon the number of shells which will be expended during turkey hunting, I would definitely go w/ TSS and there are a number of "new" TSS offerings on the market.  Check out tssshot.com which is being produced by one of the original TSS gurus which should have an expansion of the shot sizes available soon. All of the gobblers which I killed this past spring were shot between 15-40 yards with TSS and the penetration/knock-down cannot be duplicated w/ lead.

In all honesty this is a little above me but I will pass it on to him (Her husband) and try to do some reading to help me understand it a bit more. I thank you very much for you help.

[Sir-diealot]

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Is she a new hunter or does she have some experience shooting? If she is a new hunter, something to consider is how tight the pattern is going to be at 15 to 20 yards. If you get the pattern to tight, it could very easily be a miss at closer ranges. It can sometimes be tough for an experienced shooter/hunter to hit a baseball sized target(turkey head) with a baseball/softball size pattern. One little move by the shooter or the target and it is very possibly a miss.

She is new and does not have much shooting experience at all to my knowledge. I remember taking her and her siblings and letting them shoot the 10/22 but that was before my car accident and my car accident was in 2001

Her husband hunts, her boys hunt and I think she is getting involved in part to show her daughter that she can hunt as well. That last part is just conjecture though. I do agree with what you are saying completely and is a concern with bringing TSS into the picture but when I brought it up the husband was not opposed to it, though she was not in the conversation at the time as it was over the phone.

I have some hunting hats that are brand new but fit me like beanies that I am going to bring over to her so I will talk with her a bit more on the subject. I always like to give something to a new hunter.

Thank you for the reply.

[Sir-diealot]

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IMO, you really can't shoot "too much" to familiarize yourself w/ a hunting gun.  In most cases, I advocate shooting light field loads under a variety of shooting conditions, positions, and ranges to develop confidence, muscle memory, and a degree of range estimation.  If you set limits on the range which you will attempt to harvest game, be it turkeys, doves, ducks, etc. you allow yourself the latitude to shoot a choke constriction which best suits your needs.  I have friends which shoot a .580 in a non-backbored 20 gauge to get an even 20",  20 yard pattern w/ no voids or holes at 40 yards, so, in essence, the shotgun is set up for all ranges out to 40 yards.  Shooting at stationary clay targets placed at known range distances and positions is a great teaching tool w/ the added excitement of breaking the targets while developing shooting confidence and skill. A stake or board w/ an exposed nail or screw can be driven into the ground and will hold the clay target at turkey head height to better duplicate a hunting scenario.

I agree completely. Thanks for the ideas. I have provided her husband a link to this thread so that he can read the comments as well.

[gatrkyhntr70]

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Yes Sir ?

Not sure I understand this, I was saying thank you, did I miss something along the way?

I fixed it, don't know how that happened. Best of luck to you Sir

[Sir-diealot]

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Yes Sir ?

Not sure I understand this, I was saying thank you, did I miss something along the way?

I fixed it, don't know how that happened. Best of luck to you Sir

Thanks and best of luck to you as well.

[jrmcclure]

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Why not shoot the factory full choke and tss 8's. the tss 8's won't need really tight constriction. The use of a $100 choke tube with tss and an inexperienced shooter is a waste. Factory full with tss 8's will likely throw very good pattern to 45-50 with some room for error. I have patterned many tss turkey/waterfowl loads and it will surprise you what the factory chokes will do with tss. iv got a 28 gauge tss waterfowl load that shoots a turkey like pattern with a modified choke, not sure why but it does and the open constriction leads to a very even pattern. Might save the money and spend it on ammo.

[Sir-diealot]

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Why not shoot the factory full choke and tss 8's. the tss 8's won't need really tight constriction. The use of a $100 choke tube with tss and an inexperienced shooter is a waste. Factory full with tss 8's will likely throw very good pattern to 45-50 with some room for error. I have patterned many tss turkey/waterfowl loads and it will surprise you what the factory chokes will do with tss. iv got a 28 gauge tss waterfowl load that shoots a turkey like pattern with a modified choke, not sure why but it does and the open constriction leads to a very even pattern. Might save the money and spend it on ammo.

I would think that's a definite option, I would suggest it before buying a new choke for sure but still wanted to offer up some options to them.

$100.00 for a choke? Really? Honestly did not realize they were that much, I shoot the Remington turkey full with my 1187 12 gauge with wonderful results and have been kicking around the idea of trying another choke just for fun but I did not realize they were that much, I figured forty or fifty bucks.

[Greg Massey]

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My first question , has she had hunter safety training and passed her course's ? I wouldn't put a gun in her hands without her having gun safety first especially a shotgun loaded with TSS . My suggestion is first make sure she's had training with supervision and getting her use to the shotgun with just light load shells and let her develop her skills before putting a gun in her hands with turkey choke and turkey shells . As you know turkey hunting takes learning the basics of hunting these birds, safety , Rules and regulations, method, scouting, learning to use calls, judging distance , just so many factors before putting a gun in her hands loaded with turkey shells.  Just my opinion.  Provided , she already had all her safety training , them i would say she's ready for the next steps in learning her new shotgun and becoming familiar with it's operation and go from there with her shooting some different type targets along with some turkey targets while sitting on the ground etc. Good luck ... glad to see these younger generation wanting to learn the basics of hunting regardless of the type of wildgame.

[jrmcclure]

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Why not shoot the factory full choke and tss 8's. the tss 8's won't need really tight constriction. The use of a $100 choke tube with tss and an inexperienced shooter is a waste. Factory full with tss 8's will likely throw very good pattern to 45-50 with some room for error. I have patterned many tss turkey/waterfowl loads and it will surprise you what the factory chokes will do with tss. iv got a 28 gauge tss waterfowl load that shoots a turkey like pattern with a modified choke, not sure why but it does and the open constriction leads to a very even pattern. Might save the money and spend it on ammo.

I would think that's a definite option, I would suggest it before buying a new choke for sure but still wanted to offer up some options to them.

$100.00 for a choke? Really? Honestly did not realize they were that much, I shoot the Remington turkey full with my 1187 12 gauge with wonderful results and have been kicking around the idea of trying another choke just for fun but I did not realize they were that much, I figured forty or fifty bucks.

indian creeks, pure gold's,pattern master, and Jebs all run $60-$100

lead shot may benefit from a special Internal choke design, but tss seems to do best with a simple constriction design usually .570-.590 for a 20 gauge and I have got some really good patterns with a .680-.690 in a 12 gauge. Factory choke or a cheap carlsons may be all that is needed. I think my factory full in my 20 gauge is .590 and I shoot an extended trulock precison hunter .585

[Sir-diealot]

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My first question , has she had hunter safety training and passed her course's ? I wouldn't put a gun in her hands without her having gun safety first especially a shotgun loaded with TSS . My suggestion is first make sure she's had training with supervision and getting her use to the shotgun with just light load shells and let her develop her skills before putting a gun in her hands with turkey choke and turkey shells . As you know turkey hunting takes learning the basics of hunting these birds, safety , Rules and regulations, method, scouting, learning to use calls, judging distance , just so many factors before putting a gun in her hands loaded with turkey shells.  Just my opinion.  Provided , she already had all her safety training , them i would say she's ready for the next steps in learning her new shotgun and becoming familiar with it's operation and go from there with her shooting some different type targets along with some turkey targets while sitting on the ground etc. Good luck ... glad to see these younger generation wanting to learn the basics of hunting regardless of the type of wildgame.

I am not 100% sure how to answer that.......this year. See this year because of Covid NY went to online testing which has me incredibly worried that there will be more hunting related incidents this year with those that have done it online. I am going to try to spend some time with her myself if that works out, she is not stupid in any way shape or form but I would still like to spend some time with her myself seeing as I have watched her grow up and have her own kids and all that. I am not saying I am an expert by any stretch of the imagination, I am just a very paranoid safety nut so I may eyeball something that she MAY be doing wrong that she would have learned not to do in the courses, where somebody close like her husband may overlook.

I do agree that getting used to the firearm with a smaller load is an excellent idea, I have to see if my Clay King is still at a friends house and maybe I can get her out to shoot some light clay loads. Even shooting paper with light loads would be a very good idea. After making sure safety is covered of course.

Why not shoot the factory full choke and tss 8's. the tss 8's won't need really tight constriction. The use of a $100 choke tube with tss and an inexperienced shooter is a waste. Factory full with tss 8's will likely throw very good pattern to 45-50 with some room for error. I have patterned many tss turkey/waterfowl loads and it will surprise you what the factory chokes will do with tss. iv got a 28 gauge tss waterfowl load that shoots a turkey like pattern with a modified choke, not sure why but it does and the open constriction leads to a very even pattern. Might save the money and spend it on ammo.

I would think that's a definite option, I would suggest it before buying a new choke for sure but still wanted to offer up some options to them.

$100.00 for a choke? Really? Honestly did not realize they were that much, I shoot the Remington turkey full with my 1187 12 gauge with wonderful results and have been kicking around the idea of trying another choke just for fun but I did not realize they were that much, I figured forty or fifty bucks.

indian creeks, pure gold's,pattern master, and Jebs all run $60-$100

lead shot may benefit from a special Internal choke design, but tss seems to do best with a simple constriction design usually .570-.590 for a 20 gauge and I have got some really good patterns with a .680-.690 in a 12 gauge. Factory choke or a cheap carlsons may be all that is needed. I think my factory full in my 20 gauge is .590 and I shoot an extended trulock precison hunter .585

It is more than obvious that you know far more than I do on the subject, thank you for all the information, hoping it will help her make a choice.

[SumToy]

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put a 562 in it with cheap dove loads.  Let her play with it on range to get comfortable with it.  Then may try a few lead loads if you think you be 30 yard and in. (long beards can be crazy and tss at short range)  Now if you going to a field and worry step up to TSS. 

[Sir-diealot]

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put a 562 in it with cheap dove loads.  Let her play with it on range to get comfortable with it.  Then may try a few lead loads if you think you be 30 yard and in. (long beards can be crazy and tss at short range)  Now if you going to a field and worry step up to TSS.

I know the husband hunts some public land that I have hunted also, that is all woods, he hunts another public land that I know from doing Ham Radio contesting but I have not been there in years, that was also all trees.