new hunter, new member have a couple of 20 ga setups

[stewmagoo]

Good evening. To give a little history here.  I have only been turkey hunting about 3 years now.  Lol! I am 40 yrs old.  I have been hunting since I was little for squirrels, rabbits, of course lots of filled tags in white tailed deer.  I have got addicted to these turkeys.  I have had a couple of turkey guns in the 12 gauge world.  835 Ulti Mag, 10 ga. H&R.  Just too brutal.  I love the 20 gauge though.  I have 2 sons that love to hunt as well. Here are two set ups that I have acquired and need to pattern and make a choice which one to go with.
First is an 870 Express Magnum in 20 ga.  It does not have a youth stock it has adult pull wood.  It started out a 26'' vent rib with Rem chokes.  I sold the barrel on line and bought a 21" rem choke barrel and bought a Undertaker choke for it.  Hoping to pattern it this week.

Second in a camo Mossberg 500C in 20 ga.  It is a youth vent rib with screw in choke.  It has a set of fiber optic sights on it.  I shot it a couple of years ago around 30 yds and it patterned nicely. It has the factory accu choke in it. x full turkey. This starts our second week of turkey season and hopefully get to go for a second time during the week.

Id like to have a go to 20, which one do you guys think I should concentrate on most.  Also chokes and loads from your experience.  Thanks for an awesome site.

[surehuntsalot]

either one will make a fine turkey gun with the right choke and shell combo

[stewmagoo]

I notice a lot of good feedback from the Federal Hevi 7s. Just to eliminate confusion, these are not the ones with the Flite control wad, correct?  Anybody have a pic of the box for me?


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[FullChoke]

The Federal shells with the Flight Control wads in no. 7 Heavyweight shot are what you want to get, but they are hard to find right now. The FCWs work very nicely in the 20 gauge shells, but are not very successful in the 12 gauge offerings. Federal suggests using a choke tube without any porting holes, but we have seen many examples of awesome patterns being shot with standard ported chokes. Just don't use one designed to strip the wad from the shot column.

Here's the shells (http://brantleysmarineguns.net/FEDERAL-20-GA-3-IN-1-1-2-OZ-7-SHOT-HEAVYWEIGHT-TURKEY-LOAD-029465027032.htm)

Good luck. 

[stewmagoo]

Any other feedback on the two shotguns? Or is this a ford vs chevy debate?


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[WyoHunter]

either one will make a fine turkey gun with the right choke and shell combo

Since you have shot the Mossberg I'd go with it until you can do more testing with both guns.

[dawei]

I've been using a Mossberg® 500C 20ga w/a 26" barrel since spring of 2000. I use a Wrights® SWARM™ .555" choke and Winchester® Supreme® 20ga 3" Mag 1200fps 1 5/16oz of #4Pb (#STH2034). Every shot I've taken has resulted in a one shot kill. I know there are a lot of fancier guns, with more modern ammo; but this old combination works for me hunting Merriams, just sayin'...

[Dtrkyman]

From what i have seen, a call to sumtoy and some Federal heavyweight 7s are in your future!  I would have kept the 26 inch barrel personally!