Winchester SX3

[apexpredator]

Hello everyone. I am new hunter primarily hunting hog but with a few deer under my belt I would like to try my hand at turkey this coming spring and fall. I being a complete newbie I don't know much about chokes, loads, calls etc. I purchased a 12 gauge  Winchester SX3 with a 28" barrel a few years ago but have not done anything with it until now. I would like to know where to start as far as loads and chokes go. What do you recommend? I would like to know what will more than likely work best for me. Should I invest in a speed bead? I am cross eye dominant so it is difficult for me to shoot with both eyes open. I am very excited about going to look for some birds on my lease come spring but I want to get all of these things dialed starting now. Any help would be greatly appreciated.

[wvmntnhick]

 

First off, the gun you have is no good. Just box it up and I'll give you my address so it can be properly disposed of without making you feel guilty about doing so. 

You're starting off great actually. The browning/Winchester guns are great. Smooth as butter and run just about any shell you put in them. For chokes you've got tons of options. Contact Clark (allaboutshooting) for a wealth of knowledge on this topic. I'd used a puregold in mine and loved it but ended up selling the choke when I switched to a different gun for birds. You may find that one of the factory chokes is more than suitable for what you're wanting to do. As for loads, there's a plethora of factory fodder. Federal heavyweights are awesome and the Hevi shot stuff is fine too. If looking for lead loads the Winchester Long Beards are a tight patterning load if that's what you want. I'd advise an optic of some sort considering your visual anomaly. Good luck man and welcome.

[allaboutshooting]

Hello everyone. I am new hunter primarily hunting hog but with a few deer under my belt I would like to try my hand at turkey this coming spring and fall. I being a complete newbie I don't know much about chokes, loads, calls etc. I purchased a 12 gauge  Winchester SX3 with a 28" barrel a few years ago but have not done anything with it until now. I would like to know where to start as far as loads and chokes go. What do you recommend? I would like to know what will more than likely work best for me. Should I invest in a speed bead? I am cross eye dominant so it is difficult for me to shoot with both eyes open. I am very excited about going to look for some birds on my lease come spring but I want to get all of these things dialed starting now. Any help would be greatly appreciated.

First of all, welcome to OG. It's good to see you here and we look forward to hearing more from you.

You have an excellent shotgun in the SX3. I've owned one of those guns for several years and found it to be very easy to keep in service. It's also very light and easy to carry in the turkey woods. Mine also has the 28" barrel and it throws excellent patterns.

I would recommend that to get started you "Deep Clean" the bore of your gun. You can find the guidelines here http://allaboutshooting.com/blogs/blog/98772615-deep-cleaning-a-shotgun-barrel It's a very simple procedure but will be worth the time and effort. I've found the Winchester & Browning bores to be some of the best in commercial guns.

There are several excellent shotshells for turkeys. I recommend both Hevi-13 shotshells with 2 oz. of #6 shot or Winchester Long Beard shells with 1 3/4 oz or 1 7/8 oz of #6 shot. Both are excellent and will do what needs to be done at all reasonable ranges.

There are a number of chokes that work very well with your gun with those and other shells. The Wright's is an excellent choice http://allaboutshooting.com/products/wrights-inv-plus-12-gauge-turkey-choke and I would recommend the #3 turkey choke for your gun. Another excellent choice is the JEBS http://allaboutshooting.com/products/jebs-12-gauge-turkey-choke-invector and I recommend the .650 model in that choke.

Whatever you choose, all my best to you this spring and fall and please let me know any time I may be of any help to you whatsoever.

Again, welcome to OG.

Thanks,
Clark

[SumToy]

670 to 680 With Winchester Long Beards or HV13 go kill birds and have fun.

[apexpredator]

Hey guys thank you for the welcome and the advice. I now have a good staring point. I went out this weekend and bought some Winchester long beard but could not find any Heavy-13 at my local bps. I guess I have to order up a few things and get to patterning my shotgun. Thanks again.

[Tail Feathers]

My 20 gauge SX3 (26" barrel) really likes the flush Carlson't turkey choke.
They are under $30 to your door from eBay and may be worth a try for you.  That way you don't extend the barrel length any more.
SumToy knows chokes, his are in pretty high demand.  Clark knows turkey guns like few others do.  Enjoy your gun.

[Yoder409]

You are WELL on your way !!!!

I have a 28" SX3 set up as a dedicated turkey gun and have been using it exclusively for about 4 years.

The Winchester Longbeards are just an AWESOME lead shotshell !!!  I run the Longbeards through an Indian Creek Black Diamond choke and get MONSTER patterns.  One handy thing I noticed in my particular setup is that it really doesn't care if you shoot 4's, 5's or 6's.  All three print sufficient patterns to slam gobblers quite a bit farther away than a guy should really be shooting at them.  So basically.............40 yards is a chip shot with any of the Longbeards with some room for yardage estimation error.

You will want to mount an optic to fine tune your POI.