in theory

[rock54]

i guess in theory....you guys say that a .555 is great on paper out to 40 yds,but am i being stupid,but paper aint killn....would a .560 be better to insure a bigger (wider) pattern for hunting (killn)birds and a good pattern to cover 10-40yds....shootn a bead sight...no scope or red dot just thinkn out loud...nothin personal but i am in it for food, not for how many pellets in a 10in circle at 40yds...to each his own.....

[gobblergls]

Different guns shoot each choke differently.  You also need to decide what type of ammo-lead, Hevi, TSS, etc. you intend to use.

[rock54]

will be shootn a benelli m2 20gauge....with factory loads of some type...question was just in theory...cause everyone i talk to says start with ic .555...cause its great at 40yds on paper...not shootn paper will be shootn birds with my new set up...but want it to be not too tight to cover 15-25yds..so i askd the question will a .555 be too tight for close shots from wife and son ? and they still be successful since they only have a season or two of practice and huntn under their belt

[surehuntsalot]

I would say somewhere in the .570-.575 range would more than likely give you the hunting patterns you're looking for

[FullChoke]

I would say somewhere in the .570-.575 range would more than likely give you the hunting patterns you're looking for

+2

[BrowningGuy88]

My wife has decided that she wants to hunt with me next year (all of a sudden, very suprising) and I intend to run a Trulock Full or Extra Full Precision Hunter for her. Now she will only be shooting 2.75" handloads, so I am not quite sure what I would do for her with factory ammo. Probably the XF choke and Fed. Heavyweight #7's.

Daman

[rock54]

guys i know that i have to and look forward to shootn paper to see what a new benelli m2 20gauge,with a 26in barrel will do....was just lookn for a good startn point from you all knowledges...as mentioned before was told  ic.555 is great at 40yds,but since i am startn at square one,with no chokes or shells bought and want to cover as good as i can 15-30 and also be able to reach out to 40....again can this be done or is it a pipe dream and askn to get tooooo much coverd with a single gun,one choke and one type of shell?? thanks agian guys for all your thoughts and ideas.....

[Jay Longhauser]

Rock,

Im working on the same question with some of my guns.  When I first got into patterning turkey guns all I wanted was the best numbers I could get at 40 yards with a fairly even pattern.  This year I did some paper shooting at 15 yards and got nervous at the possibility of a close range miss.  So far I haven't found a magic combo with any gun that is as open as I would consider ideal at 15 yards and also as dense as I would consider Ideal at 40 yards.  At this time,  my 870 20 guage with a .575 or a remington super full are what I like best for hunting with the heavyweight 7's.  From what I have seen so far in my testing my patterns are smaller than I'd like inside 20 yards, but need to be to keep the density at 40 yards.  My solution for now-- shoot birds at about 25 yards to 35 yards, and hold real steady iwhen they are closer.  Ill continue to try combos this summer, but Im afraid this " problem"  is an inevitable trade off more open, less dense at range.  gotta go with whats best for the distance you usually shoot birds and know how the gun shoots.  I would start around a .575

[ILIKEHEVI-13]

Shooting paper may not be the end all, but I do it, because it allows me to know exactly what my gun is doing. Where that POI is, what kind of pattern, etc. Shooting at paper is the only way you will know. there are so many turkey hunters out there that just put a load in their gun, and go hunting, never to pattern it and know what is going on. That is where alot of cripples come from.

That ought to be written in stone! 

[ManshipPlantation]

I recently went throught the same process, putting together a 20ga for my nephews and father to shoot. And after seeing the amount of .555 chokes for sale and trade in the classified thread, I just went with a .570. Not saying the .555 is terrible or piss on anyone's boots.

IMO, if I think a pattern is to tight once I shoot it, I change shells until I find one I like. Currently, my 20ga is setup with one choke and two different shells; one more open pattern for my nephews and another tighter pattern for my father. Both are deadly at 35-40 yds but I wanted a wider pattern for the nephews to give them some margin of error if they pull, jerk, etc. And has the nephews get older and more comfortable I will let them shot the tighter combo.

[rock54]

thank you,that is along the lines of my thinkn too....i would like a little more open for my wife and son, incase of error on their part and little tighter to for me..what type shells did you end up with for your combo....

[ManshipPlantation]

Choke: PG 570
Shells: Hevi-13 - 7's for the open pattern.
            Nitros 4x5x7 for the tighter pattern. 

[rock54]

just wanted to says thanks for your time and your ideas.....will be waitn to try out all ideas to see what happens, thanks again....russ