Y'all's thoughts on which shot size is better...

[Deerslayer0369]

I have a mossy 535 turkey thug 20" barrel. I'm currently shooting hevi-13 3" magblends but feel the pattern is lacking, 150-170 at 40 in 10" circle. So I'm thinking about giving the hevi-13 3" 2oz 6's or 7's a go. Which one would y'all choose. Also gonna get a box of longbeard 3" 6's as well. I have a kicks gt .655, hevi-13 .662, tru glo .665, and a accu-choke .675, I'm leaning towards the 7's, which tube would y'all try or do the 7's liked to be choked down more than .655? Like to read y'all's opinion on the hevi 6's & 7's.
Devin

[DirtNap647]

I like the long beard 5's

[noggin buster]

Whatever your gun shoots best.  147 in a 10 i not bad at all

[surehuntsalot]

150-170 is plenty for turkey hunting

[ILIKEHEVI-13]

Ask grayfox the answer.   He will know. 

[grayfox]

Deerslayer I got a 535 with a 22" barrel. It put 183 shot in a 10" circle & 459 in a 30" using a Stardot choke with Hevi-13 2 oz. of #7.  I really can't help you with choke selection but if you want higher numbers don't be afraid to use the #7's.  After killing a nice gobbler this past Wed. using the #7's in my 870 I was very impressed with the results. My 870 put 465 Hevi-13 2 oz. of #7's in 30" circle at 41 yards & 167 in a 10" circle.  I personally don't usually count the 10" circles because I'm more interested in the overall pattern.  I was skeptical about using the #7's because of the small size but now I'm convinced of their killing power. Hope this helps with your decision.

[learn2hide]

I have killed birds with the 6s and 7s...they patterned better in my .660 set up than MagBlends also...longbeard #5 shot has given me close to 200 in 10" hevi 6 220 hevi 7 270 all with good 15-20" coverage.   Good luck

[L.F. Cox]

I started out shooting #4 shot...

Then I became what I call a "circle jerker" (I started counting pellet holes in paper) it was like a drug smelling all that gun powder and being dizzy from counting all them little pellet holes and recoil was tantalizing.

I flipped back and forth between 6's and #4's  then settled on #5 shot for several years.....then I went full circle jerk'n crAzy and shot Nitro 4x5x7 shot...whew what a swarm of little fairy dust.

Guess what I finally woke up.....I'm back to shooting #4's and could give a dang how many pellets are in a 10" circle.

[darn2ten]

With Hevi I'd go with #6. Will the 7's kill at 40, yes. Are they the king of paper, yes. Am I impressed with their on bird performance, no. I've shot a few with the Hevi 7's and just wasn't satisfied with the outcome. Many people like them and this is just my opinion. Try them all out and see what combo you like best. I would have absolutely no problem with 150-170 with the mag blends, that's more than enough pattern density.

[njdevilsb]

I also have a 535 with a 20" barrel.

First off, I would be more than happy with your numbers at 40 with a 3" Mag Blend.  My gun didn't shoot the mag blends well at all.  I used Hevi 13 #7's for a few years out of it with great results both on paper and on turkey.  It would shoot 280's at 40 with the 3.5" shell. 

Just yesterday I tried the Longbeards, 3" #6's and at a ranged 40 yards and I got 213 in the 10 inch circle.  The choke that my gun likes the best is a Pure Gold .670.  Over the years, I have liked chokes in the .660 to .670 range out of this gun.  To answer your question, I personally would go with the #7's for sure in Hevi 13 and the Longbeard 3" #6's.

I posted my pattern from yesterday in the pattern section of the forum if you wanted to check it out.

[ILIKEHEVI-13]

I prefer the Hevi-13 #7's.  I have told a lot of folks over the years about them since I finally got the skepticism out of my head about shooting this small of a shot at turkeys and actually seeing firsthand for myself what not only they will do on paper but to the real thing at 40yds.  But I am now convinced that 7's in Hevi-13 loads are the way to go for not only pattern density but for killing power and yes I will say I used the correct word there.  They may not penetrate as good as Hevi-13 #6's but typically they will pattern much denser and give you approx 30 to 50% more hits which in reality means more killing power at what your aiming at due to more lethal hits in vitals.  Sure the Hevi-13 6's will kill and do it with authority.  But the 6's in reality won't allow you to kill one any farther and probably not as far as the 7's in all statistical purposes.  I was the biggest skeptic about the 7's before I decided to try them.  They made a believer out of me.  I highly recommend them.  And those hunters I have told to make the switch to them after they ask me via pm here or other sites like GON are now convinced as well.  They still can't believe how they put down gobblers with authority and shoot plum thru the head and neck of a turkey at 40yds. 

[grayfox]

While I was doing some patterning with the Hevi-13 #6 & 7"s I slid a phone book behind the cardboard I was shooting at.  After shooting through the cardboard at 40 yards I counted the pages of penetration of each load.  To my disbelief there was only about 10 or so more pages of penetration with the number 6's than the 7's in the phone book.  I did like another member had done on this forum the way I counted the pages.  There had to be 5 holes or more in a page that you could see light through to be counted.  To the best of my memory the #6's went through about 95 pages of the phone book after going through the cardboard & the #7's penetrated about 85 pages.  The cardboard may have not been exactly the same so this was not a lab type scientific experiment but just a general evaluation of one vs the other on penetration.  Both loads will kill turkeys well but you do get more shot with the #7's.  Last year I killed 2 turkeys with the #6's & they did good but this year I've been keeping #7's in my vest as my primary load.

[Deerslayer0369]

While I realize that my current #'s are decent, the pattern has gaps all in it with almost no 20" pattern. My win1300 loves that shell with 200's avg, 212 the best. Looks like the 535 just does decent with them, being the reason for the question...6's or 7's. Thank everyone for the input so far!

[ILIKEHEVI-13]

That's why you need to find the right good choke.  250 with the 7's should easily be obtained in a 3" load.  That's with the stuff I have on hand.

[Longshanks]

Been killing turkeys with Hevi 13 6's ever since they came out.. Started killing turkeys with Fed HW 7's first and then switched over to Hevi 13 7's. I like having no gaps in the pattern and
a consistent 20". Hevi 7's is the best factory load for this and is devastating on the turkey. Killed allot of turkeys with the 7's and looking for something better would basically be boredom and looking for something to do. I've seen folks take 7's and turn guns that wouldn't pattern much else into turkey killing machines.

Fed HW 7's 180's-200 in a 10 @ 40

Hevi 13 3/2/7's  280's in a 10 @ 40

Hevi 13 3.5/2.25/7's  330's in a 10 @ 40

*Hevi 13 patterns had zero golf ball size gaps.