Shot the thugs from my 835

[Tom Foolery]

No pics but I do have numbers


Mossburg 835 24" nonported
.676 Stardot
polished barrel

3.5" 2oz #6 Turkey Thug - 120-130
3.5" 2oz #6 Winchester HV - 135-150

3" 1 7/8oz #6 Turkey Thug - 104

3" 1 7/8oz #5 Turkey Thug - 57 average - yes.....57
3" 1 7/8oz #5 Winchester XX Gray Box - 110-120


None of my guns are living the Thug life.  Winchesters outshoot them in my 835 and my 870 unfortunately.


I will give the Thugs credit in the recoil department though.  I have never shot anything that out kicks the Win HV's until today, the 3.5" Thugs are vicious.

[devin4484]

"I will give the Thugs credit in the recoil department though.  I have never shot anything that out kicks the Win HV's until today, the 3.5" Thugs are vicious."

I would have to agree 100% there they sure pack a punch.  Hope they will do the same on a gobblers head too in two saturdays!

[BandedSpur]

Can you imagine that people just go into Walmart, buy a box of shells with a picture of or the word "Turkey" on them and go hunting? And they do...every day. No matter how good they did in someone else's combo, all that matters is how they do in yours. And the Thugs aren't liking your set up at all (at least the 5s). Glad the Winches are working for you.

[darn2ten]

Hey this is pretty neat. We tested a buddy's 835 yesterday with almost the same selection of shells as you.
Old original mossy oak 24" 835
stardot
polished

Fed. TT 3.5-2-6 = 148
Win. hv #6 3.5 = 120

Fed. TT 3-1 7/8-5 = 100
Win. super x 3-1 7/8-5 = 110

[Tom Foolery]

That is neat and just shows that guns are different.  I wish mine would have shot better with the Thugs, i guess it's a good thing I have 12 boxes of Win HV stacked up.  His did much better than mine with the 3" 1 7/8oz #5's.  My 20 gauge did better with the Win HV 1.25oz #5's than my 835 with the 3" 5's.  My 20 averaged 63 I think.

[TrackeySauresRex]

Thanks for that info. I'm gonna try the thugs anyway. Those Win HV do the best in my Mossy as well.

[darn2ten]

 You know this is crazy, I've never had a Win HV out perform the Win. XX in any turkey gun I have ever had. Not that some were bad and I've killed turkeys with the black shells, just not as good as the red hull xx for me. In my experience, it's hard to beat the XX 3-2-6 for consistency and even pattern numbers out of about anything I've tried them through. Shot a 142 in the 10, 313 total in the 20 the other day out of my invector + and ssx choke. The 3" HV #6 shot a 136, with ain't bad, but very splotchy uneven pattern with not very good 20" pattern. I hear alot of guys say the HV is the best performing shell out of their gun, I just can't ever make it happen.

[jtg88]

You know this is crazy, I've never had a Win HV out perform the Win. XX in any turkey gun I have ever had. Not that some were bad and I've killed turkeys with the black shells, just not as good as the red hull xx for me. In my experience, it's hard to beat the XX 3-2-6 for consistency and even pattern numbers out of about anything I've tried them through. Shot a 142 in the 10, 313 total in the 20 the other day out of my invector + and ssx choke. The 3" HV #6 shot a 136, with ain't bad, but very splotchy uneven pattern with not very good 20" pattern. I hear alot of guys say the HV is the best performing shell out of their gun, I just can't ever make it happen.

I've had pretty much the same experience. The XX Mag always outperform the HV in both of my guns.

[Tom Foolery]

Win XX 3-2-6 and 3.5-2.25-6 were very inconsistent from my 835.  The 1st round with the 3.5-2.25-6 did 167 in the 10" circle.  Then cleaning between rounds they went down to 110-120 then they would just back into the 150-160 range.  I tried them from my Stardot, JellyHead and Factory Turkey Choke.

The 3.5" HV's have been very consistent 130-150 so I just run with those if I'm feeling like running leaded ammo.

[darn2ten]

Win XX 3-2-6 and 3.5-2.25-6 were very inconsistent from my 835.  The 1st round with the 3.5-2.25-6 did 167 in the 10" circle.  Then cleaning between rounds they went down to 110-120 then they would just back into the 150-160 range.  I tried them from my Stardot, JellyHead and Factory Turkey Choke.

The 3.5" HV's have been very consistent 130-150 so I just run with those if I'm feeling like running leaded ammo.

Don't blame you a bit

[surehuntsalot]

I have tried the black HV loads in my 835 and 1100 magnum,but they don't come close to those old red hulled Winchester XX magnum's
my shotguns love these shells to death