Question about my turkey killin combo

[Leadbelt]

First off I would like to say im new to the site. Was pointed this way from I-55Bandit... Here is my question. I shoot a 870 Super Mag. Last season I was shooting a Jelly Head choke with 3in Hevi-13 magnum shells. I was satisfied with my pattern, but the more I read about other peoples patterns the more I wonder if I should try to change mine? I was gettin 17 pellets in a paper turkeys head/neck at 40yds... Im gonna continue to shoot the Jelly Head choke, my question is this... Will I get a better pattern out of my gun if I should a 3.5"? Should I try some Hevi-13 number 7's, or stick with the shells I have got now? I wanna be able to feel comfortable shooting to 50yds, but with the price of shells, and bein a college student, dont wanna just go shootin the wallet empty. Any feedback is appreciated! Thanks!

[remmy1187]

   What Hevi-13 loads are you using now?  What constriction is your jelly-head?

[BigHooks]

  First of all welcome to the forum   about anything you want to know about your 870 is in the turkey gun pattern pictures forum. You have come to the right place, best group of people you will ever meet!!! Theres members here that have forgot more than I will ever learn...

[Gobble!]

Deep clean or polish your turkey barrel for starters.
I use the 3.5" Hevi13 #7s and get great results from my 870 and a Indian creek choke.

[Leadbelt]

How do you go about polishing your barrell? Is it somethin I can do or do I need a gun smith to do it?

[dirt road ninja]

There is a sticky note in the top of this section on polishing your barrel (DYI). If your looking for a 50 yard gun, ya going to have to spend a few bucks and shoot a few different rounds. Hevi 13's can get you the numbers your looking for, but need to be proven thru your rig and with more then one shot. I would start with the 3.5 Hevi 13 6 or 7's. The Win. XR 3.5 6's would be my second choice. Third would be the Nitro's. A clean barrel can only help you and I don't see how starting with more pellets can hurt you.

You need to go to the range with what you already have and shoot your rig at 40 yards with a large target(I use 30"x30"). Do a 10" count and see where you stand. At any given range you'll need at least 100 holes in the 10 to be consistently effective. Judge your performance on the average, not the highest count.

50 yards is a long way to kill one, so put your range time in and know the limits of your equipment. With a little effort and experimenting you'll get 50 yards out of your gun.

[Curtdawg88]

I have only been out of college for almost 2 years so I know the exact situation you are in being in college and not able to shoot a bunch of different shells.  I bought an 870 supermag my last year of college that came with a jellyhead .660.  I got on this site and searched to see what load people were getting the best numbers out of.  At the time (pre Hevi 13 #7s) everybody was getting really good results with Hevi 13 3.5" 2.25oz #6.  I ordered 2 boxes and pattered my gun at 30 yards and 40 yards and got 308 pellets in a 10" circle at 30 and 220 hits at 40 yards.  I would say this combo or the #7s would be a great start.  I plan on patterning the #7s this year.  Hope this helps and  !  This is a great place.  None of the bickering that goes on in other forums. 

[nyhunter]

you will get very good patterns at 40yds from the jellyhead and either 3-2-7, 3-2-6. You will most likely get even better patterns from 3.5-2.25-6 or 3.5-2.25-7. Dont count out the win elite xtend range 3.5-2-6. I would not make a habit of shooting 50yds. What happens when your hunting is in the excitement your 40yds sometimes turns into over 40 yds. So 50 will turn into 50+.

[delta hunter]

Mine likes 6 shot