Why is everyone moving to # 7's???

[turkeykiller22]

Now I would like to start off saying that I do not know a lot about shells and guns, but I do know  how to kill a turkey... And very well... hahahahaha anyways I was always taught that the lower the number (#4s) would have more knock down power than say a higher number load like (#7's) however the higher load would have more pellets...   I have noticed that many people are switching to the hevi 7's   Im just wondering the logic that is behind the decision. This year for me I made one of the worst decisions ive ever made, i switched from shooting WIN XR to Mag blends.. I patterned my gun and it did alright. Well anyways lets just say I had some birds get away that shouldnt have... Moved back to the XR and havent had any problems... If you could answer my question about the #7's I would appreciate it!

Thanks

[tomanyturkeycalls]

I love the heavy 7's killed several birds a hair over 40 yards ... no problem ..  nothing wrong with the magblends either... enough energy in both to kill beyond if your pattern is there..... everybody misses a time or two...

[Deputy 14]

Pattern Density

[stinkpickle]

You had birds "get away" from Mag Blends?  Hmmm...

[hookedspur]

More shot in the kill zone .

[WyoHunter]

Pattern density mainly but with that being said I had a box of Mag Blends from two years ago and decided to use them this year with great results....... as usual. I have had great results with 7's and will be using them too as I have 5 boxes. You said the Mag Blends patterned OK which to me indicates either you either missed or the birds were too far away to shoot. Maybe you can explain how the birds "got away".  

[bird]

They pattern great on paper but I also believe more people are actually starting to move away from them and toward other shells such as the Win XRHD #6's.

[Skeeterbait]

To answer your question, what you were told is old school logic when we all shot lead, and I am not too sure it was totally valid then.  But the heaver than lead (HTL) shot retains downrange energy better than lead.  A #7 HTL shot is going to have the downrange energy of about a #5 lead, #6 HTL about the energy of a #4 lead.  So with the energy that HTL shot retains, it only makes sense to increase the number of pellets in the shell by going to a smaller shot size.  More shot with equilivent energy equals more hits and cleaner kills.

I am in full agreement with you about the Winchester XR Shells, I shoot XR #6 myself.  Small shot, high numbers, higher velocity, and higher retained energy makes them some highly effective shells and I would not trade them for H13 #7.  Now if Winchester were to come out with XR #7's... I would be interested.

[jtg88]

First bird that I did not end up with this year, was standing 59 yds when I shot at him. I have killed plenty of birds at distance before. Neck was fully extended when i shot too.  Second bird was 28 yds. I had to shoot through a blown down dead tree, when I shot the bird flew straight up in the air about 7-8 feet, then slammed straight into the ground. He slowly got up and ran towards a clear cut when he got to the clear cut he proceeded to fly off...

59 yards is too far to consistently kill birds with any commercially loaded shell and shooting through a blown down tree isn't such a great idea either.  Maybe you should wait for better shots.

As for the #7 Hevi loads, they will flat out kill birds.

[darron]

I got to witness Sunday what #7 hevishot will do to a bird at 30 yards. Talk about a jelly head........

[bird]

You may notice that there a few post missing.
Thats because, Nothing Over 40 means Nothing Over 40!

[WildSpur]

Not the shells.  Pure coincidence that the other birds fell.  Maybe you are flinching from the MB?  They do pack some punch.  

 

[tomanyturkeycalls]

 

[bird]

This is in response to a select few{no names} ---- I don't have the time and patience to PM you all with things I have gone over several times politely --- over and over , the talk of taking ridiculous shots publicly on this site has gone on too long - Today talk of 91 yard shots in the reloading section

lets try this again ...... Ill leave out names , and keep this as professional as possible - if you want a more in depth look at what we are talking about look at the thou shall /image control post sticky

1) What you do on your own time is your business...when you post { long shots}  on this forum it causes me issues

2) If you shoot longs shots , talk about , hint about, skirt around it  ....keep it to your self - DO NOT POST IT HERE IT CREATES ISSUES FOR ME AND THE SITE - again do what you want we don't want to hear about it if it is beyond 40 yards

3) Long shots and the talk of it encourages other folks to do the same MONKEY SEE .....MONKEY DO   -Me and the mods  have lost count of how many ugly eye crippled gobbler long shot posts on this site -- then here is the kicker ....they are mad not at themselves but at the equipment ---where did they get the idea to shoot at a gobbler at 55+ yards ?  right here on OG

4) We got allot of cooperation from 99.9% of the forum members on this issue to clean up the site and help preserve the image of the site and most importantly stop influencing clueless newbies to take and feel entitled to take long shots ......thank you 

5) However we got some folks {very small amount }(no names)that just don't get what we are trying to do , trying to skirt around it and just keep up at without regard to the problems it is causing the image of turkey hunting , this site and so on -   


again what you do is your own business , including selling the components to reloading --we are not asking or telling anyone to do anything on their own time -what we are insisting do not post about plus 40 yards on the site publicly for the before mentioned credible reasons , it is the right and morally responsible thing to do for the wild turkey an the image of wild turkey hunting 


its a free site .....people visit & post here on their own free will every day - its safe to say that the nearly 4,000 members{ plus guests} feel the way we do about turkey hunting or they wouldn't visit here ------ if you however feel you can not comply with this very reasonable and responsible thing publicly than we have reached a irreconcilable difference , and I have no other suggestion{ we are not backing down  ....} for you to rethink your outlook on the activity of turkey hunting  if its even right for you , or take a break from OG altogether


Best regards--Shannon   

[ILIKEHEVI-13]

I'll tell you why.  Because they work and kill with exceptional shot density out to 40yds with a fudge factor to boot.  Anyone on here who does their howmework and shoots Hevi-13 7's in either 2oz or 2.25oz loads and patterns their gun with the right choke so it centers your pattern with your point of aim with whether it be 200 shot or up to 350 shot in a 10" at 40yds and you shoot a gobbler at that same distance and do your part in centering that pattern over the head and neck that bird is going to die each and everytime with no ands, ifs or buts.  And if it don't you simply missed.  I hear all these internet stories of 7's not cutting the mustard.  Well the truth be told is the shooter simply missed and wants a way out to explain his poor shooting skill.   So he blames the shot size.