OldGobbler

OG Gear Store
Sum Toy
Dave Smith
Wood Haven
North Mountain Gear
North Mountain Gear
turkeys for tomorrow

News:

only use regular PayPal to provide purchase protection

Main Menu

New hunter with gun questions

Started by Jgspahn, January 12, 2012, 12:20:38 PM

Previous topic - Next topic

honker22

#30
For your first patterning session, I would buy a box of Hevi 13 6s, H13 Mag Blends, and Winchester XR 6s... I would stay away from 4s or 5s

Take pics of each of your 40 yard patterns and post them on the board here.  We should be able to help you out on which pattern looks best, or if you need to change the shell/choke combo.

Good luck and welcome to the addiction.

PS- I also have a few different turkey chokes for an 870 that I don't use, if you don't get desired results.  I'd be happy to let you try them.
People who don't get it, don't get that they don't get it.

Trevor2

Quote from: TauntoHawk on January 12, 2012, 05:34:14 PM


So TauntoHawk, if I buy the top mentioned gun, would I definitely have to buy another choke? Also, I would have to buy sights as well i think. How far would you be confident in taking a shot with your current set up?


When I first started turkey hunting about 5 years ago I got the Remington without the sureshot or any of that extra stuff.. hunted with the stock x-full choke, used the bead on the barrel and shot lead #6's..
Killed my first 7 Toms with the first 7 shot between 25-46yds, now I know that for that choke and ammo set up I probably got pretty lucky on dropping that 46yd bird and should have kept under 40 which is the preferred range of any turkey hunter regardless. But the point is the stock Remington got the job done fine.
As I went I added the extras that are all nice but not necessities.
The sureshot stock is awesome and I Would recommend buy the gun that has it, the knoxx stock is good too. They offer much better control and comfort when maneuvering the gun. Makes those long holds on that slow strutting tom that much easier and less fatiguing. I have extremely short arms so the extended fore stock is almost as important because I have to almost fully extend my arm to properly hold a standard Remington on the 26" guns. The gun also holds a lot better for my wife who I got into turkey hunting last year.
The red dot is really nice too but not needed by any means. I wear contacts and when I would close one eye and stare down the barrel at the little bead it tended to blur out my vision making it very hard to find a birds head and see obstructions. The sight allows me to line up more like a scope and keep both eyes open giving me a much clear and wider field of vision. Gives me a big confidence boost but wasn't cheap even at the great deal I found it for. $155
Choke. This is one of the cheaper and best upgrades you can make, after a good bit of research I decided that the primos jellyhead gets great results with 870's. I got a size .665 for under $40. I also switched to Hevi-13 shot and got both 3-2-7's and 3-2-MB. If I bought another choke it would be a custom one from Sumtoy or maybe an Indian Creek in a .660.

The general rule of thumb for maximum range is you want 100 pellets or more evenly inside a 10" circle.
Inside 10" circles I got
At 50yds with my stock choke and lead 6's I got 26 hits. (shows how lucky I got on some of those 40+ shots I never should have taken with this set up)
Mag blends and jellyhead I got 81 hits at 50yds
Hevi #7's and jellyhead I got 110 hits at 50yds.
So according to that I can feel pretty confident at about 50yds with the Hevi13 loads But with that said I feel best keeping to 40 and about 45 max in an open field. And yes last year I pass on an opportunity on a bird at 51-52 with the Mag Blends loaded in because I just didn't want to stretch the limits and risk injuring a really mature bird. I killed at 29 and 33, the birds didn't move or even flop.

Sorry for the overly Long winded response but im getting way too excited for spring, can you tell? To sum up the Remington will make an awesome turkey gun, get the sureshot if you can. Buy some good turkey loads, add an after market choke if you have the cash. Get out and Pattern, make sure the POI is the same as POA if it is the beads should work fine for aiming and find a comfortable range and call the birds inside of that.

Just like Archery.. Brag about how close you got them, not how far you had to shoot!!!

[/quote]
Very very well said.
Strutstopper

Jgspahn

Ok so I installed my sights and patterned my gun this weekend. I used Winchester Supreme 3in 1.75oz #5's. The following pictures are from 25-30  yards, and the tape is about 3 inches long.
Sorry for the crude duct tape and plywood, but I had to use what was available.







I was really disappointed with this result. I dont have alot of experience with these tight chokes tho. I was definitely thinking I was gonna get a much much tighter pattern. Im I asking to much?

Looking at maybe ordering this---> http://www.cabelas.com/product/Shooting/Firearm-Components/Barrels-Chokes%7C/pc/104792580/c/104717880/sc/104202180/Primos174-Jelly-Head-Choke-Tubes/741471.uts?destination=%2Fcatalog%2Fbrowse%2Fshooting-firearm-components-barrels-chokes%2Fprimos%2F_%2FN-1100237%2B1000004349%2B4294771199%2FNe-1000004349%3FWTz_l%3DSBC%253BBRprd741471%26WTz_st%3DGuidedNav%26WTz_stype%3DGNU&WTz_l=SBC%3BBRprd741471%3Bcat104202180






BrowningGuy88

With lead I would go up to Winchester XX Magnum 3-2-6 and try that. That pattern is pretty thin.

mcgruff1533

#35
Quote from: Jgspahn on February 06, 2012, 01:53:29 PM
Ok so I installed my sights and patterned my gun this weekend. I used Winchester Supreme 3in 1.75oz #5's. The following pictures are from 25-30  yards, and the tape is about 3 inches long.
Sorry for the crude duct tape and plywood, but I had to use what was available.







I was really disappointed with this result. I dont have alot of experience with these tight chokes tho. I was definitely thinking I was gonna get a much much tighter pattern. Im I asking to much?

Looking at maybe ordering this---> http://www.cabelas.com/product/Shooting/Firearm-Components/Barrels-Chokes%7C/pc/104792580/c/104717880/sc/104202180/Primos174-Jelly-Head-Choke-Tubes/741471.uts?destination=%2Fcatalog%2Fbrowse%2Fshooting-firearm-components-barrels-chokes%2Fprimos%2F_%2FN-1100237%2B1000004349%2B4294771199%2FNe-1000004349%3FWTz_l%3DSBC%253BBRprd741471%26WTz_st%3DGuidedNav%26WTz_stype%3DGNU&WTz_l=SBC%3BBRprd741471%3Bcat104202180






That pattern looks awfully thin, especially for only 25-30 yards.      If I might make a few suggestions...

#1.    Find 10" diameter piece of glass or plexiglass and move it around the pattern paper until you find the greatest number of pellets.   Draw a circle around the 10" template and count the number of pellets within said 10" circle.      Keep in mind the greatest number of pellets might not be anywhere close to your POA (point of aim).

#2.  Adjust your sights or optic to place the greatest concentration of pellets on the POA.    Think of your turkey shotgun as a rifle.   It needs to be precisely aimed instead of pointed in the conventional sense.

#3.  If that fails to put a MINIMUM of 100 pellets within a 10" circle at whatever distance you're patterning, it's time to move on to a different load/ choke combination.   

#4.  Keep in mind the larger the pellet, the fewer pellets available per ounce.    For example, lead #5's are around 170 pellets per ounce.    Lead #6's are around 225 pellets per ounce.      #5's hit harder than #6's, but an average #5 pattern will thin out below the 100/ 10" threshold long before they lose enough kinetic energy to kill a bird.         Try switching to lead #6's and give the pattern test another go round.

#5.   If lead #6's fail to tickle your fancy, now we're getting into a new choke rated for heavier than lead loads such as Hevi 13 and/or Winchester XRHD and a box of the expensive stuff.    

Jgspahn

I bought the choke in the link I posted.. And a box of Hevi13's.. Tax money is burning a hole in my pocket.