Is this a killing 20 gauge load?

[northms]

My girlfriend let me know she'd like to go hunting with me this season last week. She is a small girl and I want to tame down recoil as much as I can, but with a killing turkey load (that is cheap if she never wants to go again).

I have an older pump Mossberg 500 20 gauge that has a fixed modified choke and there lies the problem. No turkey choke can be screwed into it. It is what it is.

I'm afraid any load of my 12 gauge would be too heavy and kick too hard so I want to stick to the 20 gauge. I picked up some federal high velocity 3" #5's that are copper plated and have the flight control wad.

I will pattern it well but wanted to see if you thought that would be a killing load at 20-25 yards?

Thanks

[BandedSpur]

If she can hold up the 12 ga, for which you have a good turkey choke, she would be better served with the 12 ga and a quality 1&1/8 oz target load in 7.5s. Very, very light recoil and will kill a turkey every time at 30-35 yds. Here's an example from my 1187, shot at 30 yds.

[northms]

I have a Mossberg 12 gauge that patterns great so I might just try that if she thinks she can hold it up.  I'm planning on letting her use a shooting stick and the 12 gauge has a red dot that I think would help her.

Thanks for the input.

[Dtrkyman]

hevi has a 12ga mag blend reduced recoil round!

[CntrlPA]

That load will absolutely kill a turkey. Pattern it, find out your effective range and stick to it. You'll lose a good pattern before those #5's lose enough energy to kill.

[BowBendr]

That load will absolutely kill a turkey. Pattern it, find out your effective range and stick to it. You'll lose a good pattern before those #5's lose enough energy to kill.

Agree. The FC wad was designed to for just this purpose. Shooting a suitable hunting pattern thru more open choke/bores. Those #5's should have no problem dispatching a bird at 25 yds.

If it doesn't work out, i'd take the other advice and shoot a good load of 7.5's in the 12 gauge.