Rem. 870 and 3" LB.

[racks]

Taped 40 yds, 3", #6, .640 Carlsons. 129 in 10".  Wad punched thru the cardboard.

[SKFOOTER]

Depending on your gun's barrel length, I'd suggest going up to at least a .655 or .660 choke.  That load should pattern much better than that if choked properly.

[racks]

21" bbl, TruChoke. Not a real common choke tube around here.

[learn2hide]

agree...that seems to be over choked....if you are wanting a stock choke grab a bone collector or truglo SSX or even an undertaker that has a .665 or .670 and try that...that #6 should throw you a 175 plus based on what others are getting

[akp]

I tried 4 different chokes with that barrel this weekend with Longbeard 3" #5's.  I tried a Rem Super Full .665, Rem Extra Full .687, Truglo Gobblestopper .665, & a Sumtoy .665.  The Sumtoy, Super Full, and the Truglo were pretty close to each other, but the Sumtoy was the most even and consistent.  All would have killed the bird @ 40 yards.  I had a tight, but even pattern @ 25 yards. 

I had 145 in a 10" circle with the 5's @ 40 yards.  This was using a bead sight.  Tried a Williams sight for a bit, but didn't care for it.  I've been lurking for awhile and several on here seem to be having good luck with a .665 choke.

I don't know if the 21" barrel is picky, but I'm happy with what i got.  I saw that a few used a more open choke with this load, but the .687 definitely opened up big time for me.

I'm not a patterning pro, but even a slight breeze seemed to have an effect on these loads.  Maybe this is the norm and I've never noticed.

Any way you look at it, these shells blew away any load I've tried before.  Always been too cheap to try the HTL loads.  I'm a 40 yard guy and am happy with these. 

[learn2hide]

personally I think the barrel length could matter, but I'd also wonder if you would tighten it up a custom choke...but hey like you said 140 in 10" will drop a turkey at 40 yards all season long...go getcha some...

[lowoctane]

Mercy! The wad would be lethal too! I agree with you - I'd call it a winner!

[akp]

Thanks for the welcome!  I have a 26" barrel, but that 21" sure is handy.  This is the first season I'll be hunting with the short barrel.  I'll take 140s also.  I did check to see how safe I'd be if I misjudged one at that distance.  I had 84 in the 10" at 50 yds.  Nice and even. 

I shot about two boxes of them and never saw the wad do that on any of my targets.

I was concerned about the baseball size pattern at 20, but it wasn't that tight out of my gun.  It was nice and even throughout the 10" circle.  These are good loads.  I tried the turkey thugs also, but the longbeards were significantly better at 40.

Racks.... I would definitely try a .665 out of this particular gun if I were you.  All three of my .665 chokes did well.  I know William @ Sumtoy has suggested that several people open up the chokes a bit with these loads.  His .665 choke was a nice even hunting pattern.  He's right, but with mine, .687 was too open. 

This site is great and I've learned a lot reading on here, but I don't see a lot of difference between a pattern of 150 pellets and 200 pellets and I'll take 150 5's over 200 6's.  Dead is dead.

BTW, my local Walmart had the longbeards in 5's only.  3" and 3.5" shells.  Funny, they weren't with the other turkey loads.  They were on the other side of the aisle with the targets.  Guess they ran out of room with all of the "standard" turkey loads.  I just happened to see them.  I wanted the 5's two months ago, but nobody had them to order.  Ended up working out well for me in the long run.

We open season here in Oklahoma on Sunday.  Time to get em.

[racks]

Thanks for all the replies, I'm also new here.  I do have a few more chokes, they have a '6' and '8' on them, I'll see what the restriction is on each of them, and maybe try them.  I'll look around for a .665 too.  This gun may not even get used this yr. since I just got a M3500.  The Stoeger put 239 in 10" at 40 yds. LB's, #6's.  I still like the shorter bbl on the 870 better.

[3" 870 Shell Shucker]

Not just everyone makes a choke for TruChoke threads.

[racks]

I'm wondering how the wad made it that far?  It almost had to flip 180, and possibly had some shot still in it.  Never had that happen at any distance over 10 yds or so.

[Loose Wire]

This site is great and I've learned a lot reading on here, but I don't see a lot of difference between a pattern of 150 pellets and 200 pellets and I'll take 150 5's over 200 6's. 

x2

Better combination of density, penetration and wind drift.

[Longshanks]

21" bbl, TruChoke. Not a real common choke tube around here.

Kicks and Indian Creek will make chokes for you in tru choke. Hastings is another good tru choke option.