Remington 11-87 question

[Hhayes6]

I have a NWTF 25th anniversary Remington 11-87 Special Edition with a 21" barrel shoots only 3 inch. I have a non-ported H.S. Strut "The Undertaker" tube and I have been shooting Federal's FCW #5 shell. I have been very fortunate and killed several birds over the years with that combo. My question is..."is this the best combo" I know most guys on here are way smarter than I am about this stuff. I hunt in both Auburn,AL and Steele,AL both have thick areas were 20 yard shot would be max and both have big fields. I limited out last year between the two places (5) and have a lot of confidence in that combo but I know how hard turkey hunting is and I want every advantage I can possibly get. I have noticed all the Hevi-shot(magnum blend especially) talk on this board and curious if they are that much better than Federal's FCW shell? Any recommendations or answers would be greatly appreciated! Wish I knew this board existed a long time ago!  Thanks

[allaboutshooting]

I have a NWTF 25th anniversary Remington 11-87 Special Edition with a 21" barrel shoots only 3 inch. I have a non-ported H.S. Strut "The Undertaker" tube and I have been shooting Federal's FCW #5 shell. I have been very fortunate and killed several birds over the years with that combo. My question is..."is this the best combo" I know most guys on here are way smarter than I am about this stuff. I hunt in both Auburn,AL and Steele,AL both have thick areas were 20 yard shot would be max and both have big fields. I limited out last year between the two places (5) and have a lot of confidence in that combo but I know how hard turkey hunting is and I want every advantage I can possibly get. I have noticed all the Hevi-shot(magnum blend especially) talk on this board and curious if they are that much better than Federal's FCW shell? Any recommendations or answers would be greatly appreciated! Wish I knew this board existed a long time ago!  Thanks

Since you are having such great success with your current set-up, I'm not sure that I'd change anything but there may well be some better combinations for your gun.

Until quite recently, I've had 2 of the 11-87s and have shot literally hundreds and hundreds of rounds through them. I let a friend have 1 of them recently and still have 1 that I plan to keep. They are excellent guns and real workhorses.

I much prefer the standard Hevi-13 loads to the Magnum Blend shells but many hunters have had great success with the MB loads. They are very hard hitting and the blend of different shot sizes works quite well in a variety of chokes.

When I shoot the Magnum Blend shells in my 11-87 I have found that the Wright's chokes and the Hevi-13 chokes both work very well. I also have one of the "Hybrid" turkey chokes that were available a few years ago that does an even better job with those shells. It's also a top performer with the Flitecontrol Wad shells as well.

Again, since you've had such excellent results, I'm not sure I'd try anything else but if you just want to experiment a bit, you may find something that works a little better.

Thanks,
Clark

[Hhayes6]

Thanks so much Clark. This board is insane to have someone anwser in such detail as that! Thanks again!

[SumToy]

Get you some Win Ex-Range or HV-13. Get a 650 to 660 choke (SumToy, IC, or JH) and let it Smoke.

[Old Gobbler]

If it shoots great leave it be- but I wouldnt be affraid to test some other loads,  some of the newer shells will allow you to place more just as harder hitting pellets in the kill zone - try some h13 loads in #6 or try the federal FW 7s out of your gun , or switch up the choke

I have 1187 with a 20 inch barrel and it is handy little gun,  as mentioned shooting a extremely clean bore will increase center mass of the pattern , seen it before- good luck Shannon

[paladin]

Welcome to the page.
First...polish your barrel.
Then pattern your gun at 40 yards.
then try some different shells
after this you may want to try a new choke. But you must know what you got now to know if is any better.
Ignore all the birds you killed and tell us about your misses or cripples. These tell more about how you can improve you gun than your number of kills.
Ignore any misses past 40 yards.

[Fullfan]

I have 2 11-87's with the 21 pipe. Last year I tried the TrueLock choke built to shoot the Fed Heviweight #7 shot. I have been shooting a ICBD which was throwing good #'s at 40, but some of the shot was not giving good penetration. The Truelock will put 150 in a 10" all day at 40 with most of the shot blowing threw the 3/8 chip board backer.

[Hhayes6]

Ok thanks for all the help guys!