I have a sps 870 supermag turkey/predator with 20 inch barrel made in 2012. I've tried jebs chokes from 650 to 665 and a indian creek 665 with hevi shot 6s, 7s,mag blends, and nitro 4x5x7. The only choke that will pattern anything good is the jebs 665 with hevi shot #7. It seems my gun likes more open chokes. The guys at jebs told me that almost all the time a 870 would shoot their 650 or 655 depending on shell. Has anyone else ever had this issue? I'm wondering if my barrel diameter is larger than it should be. I would rather shoot the 6s but it won't pattern them for nothing. Any advice would be greatly appreciated.
Are you shooting 3.5 inch shells or 3 inch shells ? Ported or non-ported chokes
Ported chokes. I've tried 3 and 3.5 shells and the 3.5 has done way better each time.
hows the poa/poi ? have you deep cleaned the barrel ? my 870' love the original jelly head 660 with both H-13 6's and 7's. with the Win,longbeads it patterned better with a kicks 665 or I.C 665
Quote from: Fl strutter on April 17, 2017, 08:49:10 PM
Ported chokes. I've tried 3 and 3.5 shells and the 3.5 has done way better each time.
That's simply because it has a heavier payload. Jebs will tell you anything to get you to buy something. Honestly you can take 40 bucks and get a Jellyhead and it will run circles around a Jebs with almost any shell combo. That or work with William at Sumtoy and tell him your desired shell and payload and he will work with you until you get the numbers you desire.
I have to disagree with u on that. I've visited the people at jebs more than once and their choke has outperformed everything in my gun. Like I said my gun isn't like most 870s. The people at jebs are fine folks that sell a fine choke.
Quote from: Fl strutter on April 18, 2017, 08:45:16 PM
I have to disagree with u on that. I've visited the people at jebs more than once and their choke has outperformed everything in my gun. Like I said my gun isn't like most 870s. The people at jebs are fine folks that sell a fine choke.
Take the time to prep that barrel and do a good deep clean and polish on it, that alone will make a difference. So aside from a Jebs, you've tried an Indian Creek and thus you say nothing else will work but a Jebs. I think you need to go back to the drawing board and try some other chokes and loads and get that barrel deep cleaned and polished.
If the Jebs .665 and Hevi-Shot 7's give you a good hunting pattern then sounds to me like you're gtg. I am not sure what your looking for out of the gun though.
I shoot the same gun and have great patterns with a Rhino .660 and nearly as good with a cheap tru glo .660 (I think). My best patterns are with Heavy shot mag blend. I had trouble with a jelly head and wing master turkey choke. I wonder if I have a bad Jelly head it failed to perform well in two guns.
Have you tried the primos tight wad choke, it's a decent choke for under $20. I don't have a SM, but my 870 shoots good patterns with it using turkey thug #6's, when I could still find them!
Cut your losses and headaches and sell your barrel and buy another 870 barrel. I've seen and worked with too many problematic barrels for turkey hunters which were non-concentric, misbored, out of alignment, etc. which could not be corrected w/ a variety of choke tubes. The 870's are usually easy to convert/fabricate into really good turkey guns, and yours sounds like the exception to the rule. You might want to consider getting a 22" or 24" barrel, since some, not all, of the shorter barrels have been problematic in producing the best turkey hunting patterns.
Id definitely try an original Jellyhead, or a .662 Hevi Shot choke. My buddy has that same exact gun and it patterns good with the .670 HD turkey/predator choke that came with it. That said, hes far from a number counter and i've only seen a few patterns he shot with 3.5" Win XX #5s. I know jebs makes some good chokes, but my experience with them was that of a pushy car salesman who had no numbers or even solid info to back up what shell/gun combo i had(935 shooting HW #7s). I've talked to just about all the major choke makers and IMO Jebs was at the bottom of the list as far as knowing what i should expect out of my setup. Just my :z-twocents:
You can get a Hevi Choke for the 870 that is non-ported for 22$ on Wingsupply.com