Help me pick my next shotgun

[Spring_Woods]

Less is more in the turkey woods. It may take a lifetime to learn that, as it's hard to resist hearing that gobble.

[jblackburn]

do the cheaper mossberg 835 really reach out as far as the sx3 and Brownings or does that backbore barrel technology really help the patterns. again the most important factor to me is getting to an ethical 50yard gun with the old saying of around 100 pellets in a 10 inch circle. I have read people stating different combos on the Browning silver and sx3 with certain chokes and ammk getting good 50 yard patterns but not much on the mossbergs.

With the right choke/shell combo you will have no problems at 40 yards, maybe further. Look at deep cleaning or polishing the barrel.  I have an 835 and have killed them past OG acceptable ranges, I have a 3 inch 870 express that throws a wicked pattern with an IC and Hevi 6s, too.

[Huntaholic]

Dude youve had some good advice posted here, along with some stern lectures and hand slapping. IF you buy a good gun and a good choke and invest the time, effort, and money into finding what it likes, then YES you can wad em up at 40 yards and MORE. IF they ban me for saying it, so be it, but I will shoot 50 yards or less ALL DAY LONG and when I pull the trigger I fully expect the bird Im shooting at to be there flopping.
Now with all that said, Im going to offer you one piece of advice that I havent seen mentioned: when setting up on a bird, get yourself in a position to where when you can see him, he is within range! Whether that be a hill, hedgerow, whatever between you and him, make sure if at all possible to be within range when hes within sight! I have very little use for decoys simply because I know how to set up on a bird. If you cant see him till you can kill him, he cant see the "hen" either and he will close the distance! 

[Bigeclipse]

Yes, the bird is biologically designed to desire the presence of hens at this time of the year.  If I call and he gobbles at 75 yards I'm not calling again.  He can choose to come or leave but he only has to walk 35 yards to be in gun range at that point.

Let him tell you what he wants to do and stop expecting instantaneous results.  Sometimes, he'll gobble at 70 yards and it'll take him 30 minutes to show up.  But he's going to be looking for you at that point instead of knowing exactly where you are.

I do not expect instantaneous results.  These were the 3 gobblers Ive actually seen.  I have sat more mornings talking to gobblers trying everything.  Being silent or calling a bit more often or trying different calls (box, slate, mouth) or different vocab (purs, clucks...etc).  These were the three toms to actually show up out of all those different mornings. We cant hunt past 12 here. I dont mean to sound impatient as I am not.  I have gone several deer seasons with out even seeing a deer.  BUT when seeing three toms, as close as I did, with out moving a muscle and trying both being quiet and calling a little more only to have all of them stop at around 40-50 yards, yes I do wish I had a gun that could throw it a bit farther. Here in NY the season is only 4 weekends, 2 of which I have to travel for work this year.  So I do LOTS of scouting and hunt as often as I can the other two weeks.  I need all the advantage I can get with such a narrow window of time.  Deer season is much longer, almost 3 months, so I have a lot more time to be patient with out expecting "instantaneous results" as you put it.  Anyways, thank you for your advice.  This is my last weekend hunting this year so I will try some other tactics.  We shall see what happens.

[allaboutshooting]

You may find this interesting and helpful http://www.turkeyandturkeyhunting.com/hunting-tactics/endofseason

Thanks,
Clark

[10gaugemag]

Dude youve had some good advice posted here, along with some stern lectures and hand slapping. IF you buy a good gun and a good choke and invest the time, effort, and money into finding what it likes, then YES you can wad em up at 40 yards and MORE. IF they ban me for saying it, so be it, but I will shoot 50 yards or less ALL DAY LONG and when I pull the trigger I fully expect the bird Im shooting at to be there flopping.
Now with all that said, Im going to offer you one piece of advice that I havent seen mentioned: when setting up on a bird, get yourself in a position to where when you can see him, he is within range! Whether that be a hill, hedgerow, whatever between you and him, make sure if at all possible to be within range when hes within sight! I have very little use for decoys simply because I know how to set up on a bird. If you cant see him till you can kill him, he cant see the "hen" either and he will close the distance!

Great advice here. I have never used a decoy to kill a gobbler and have killed at least on a year since 1989. We hunt hardwood ridges and always set up about 35 yards maximum from the edge of the hill so when that tom comes up the hill to find his hen on top he is in easy shooting range once he is up top with me.

[taylorjones20]

Back to the original question... Winchester SX3 - Indian Creek .665 with Nitro MH517 

[the Ward]

I was having one of those days yesterday and probably got a little over the top with my post. I also forgot to give you kudus for knowing the effective range of your gun and not trying to shoot past it. And last but not least........

[teke]

Winchester SX3 and Indian Creek BDS choke Hevi-Shot 7's

[Snoodsniper]

If you want good advice on what gun to buy just look around this forum. The majority of people here shoot Bergs and 870s because they work. When a guy posts pictures of a pattern he shot at 40yds I can guarantee its not BS. A great pattern at 40 will work just fine a few yards further. You have a decent gun so my advice to you is work on technique. Get a strutter decoy of you don't already have one. I don't have one but guys I know and trust use them with great success. As previously stated work on your set up. In my experience turkeys like to move up hill but not always. Set up where a log road or a ridge enters a field. If you hunt a bird and it goes the other way off the roost try him the next time from the other direction. Sometimes they come easy sometimes not. You have to be relentless or you'll never make it as a turkey hunter. Pardon my rambling I've been up at 3:45 am everyday this week trying to get a crack at a long beard. Then I go work a 12 hr shift. So it's been a long week. I'll be damned if henned up or hung up birds will get me down. I'll be in the woods tomorrow at 4:45am with my pre98 BPS and I wouldn't have it any other way.

Sent from my DROID RAZR using Tapatalk

[Bigeclipse]

I really appreciate everyone's opinions, and to anyone stating how I dont need a 40+ yard gun and so on...I do appreciate you explaining your reasons why and not just getting my my case about it.  There is obviously a lot I need to learn about turkey hunting still, and I hope to bag one in the future.  As far as wanting the gun to shoot further than 40, after hearing all your comments on here, I will work on mainly calling them inside of 40, but it would still be nice to know that god forbif I miss judge the distance of a 35 yard tom...really being say 45 yards, I would still be able to take it down and not simply wound it.  I do stand by if you are unsure of your shot, then dont take it...but we all know what happens when the excitement kicks in.  Thank you.
Last question before we can close out this thread...my current shotgun, beretta pintail(es100) is a inertia driven semi so it doesnt save much on recoil, or at least that is what I heard.  To me, the 3 inch turkey loads kick pretty good when I was just wearing a t-shirt, but not really painful or anything.  When it comes to recoil (especially with 3.5s) how much does a gas semi-auto really reduce over a pump or inertia driven semi?  Are we talking a good amount? 25% less...etc  Thanks again guys!

[Bigeclipse]

You may find this interesting and helpful http://www.turkeyandturkeyhunting.com/hunting-tactics/endofseason

Thanks,
Clark

thank you...that is actually a great article and really puts things into perspective.  I really feel like I portrayed myself in a bad light by complaing i didnt get a bird after two seasons.  Yes, I am upset haha.  Yes, I put in hours of scouting, patterning my gun, and hunting. Yes I had lots of fun and lots of dissappointment.  That article really hits things home though, so thank you again!  I will save it for my friends I bring with me who are new to the sport as well.

[R AJ]

A semi auto makes a 3.5" gun  much easier on recoil. I sold a 870 SM to keep from breaking my middle finger a few years ago. I still have a Baikal 3.5" if I want to use it and it doesn't bother me at all compared the recoil from the 870 pump.

[darn2ten]

Alright, back to your original question. You said 3.5", semi auto, and under $1000. The SX3 is right around that and is a great gun. Now if you wanted to save a little money and still have good reliable turkey slayer that could also work for a waterfowl gun I would seriously look at these two. The Mossberg 935 and the Stoeger M3500. Those both fit your requirements, and can be had with 24, 26, and 28" barrels. You could even get the Mossy with a 22". For all around I would go with the 26", which in most cases will be easier to get good patterns than a shorter barrel. Try the Mossberg with something like a Indian Creek .675 or a Truglo SSX .670, and the Stoeger with a Sumtoy .655 or a .650. I would also highly recommend the Winchester Long Beards in the #5 flavor, for what you are wanting they will get the job done. I also like the Hevi 6's or Magblends. A lot of guys will say the 7's but I'm just not a fan. That's JMO, they work. Now there is a trade off, if you get your gun to shoot like your wanting this means your patterns are going to be to really tight in close. Good luck with what ever you decide.

[Longshanks]

All I can say is if you go out shooting turkeys at 50 yds you will find out in short order why it's not a good idea regardless of your shotgun set up. Allot of factors come into play in hunting situations such as wind, rain, limbs that are difficult to see in low light conditions at longer distances, the excitement factor, shooting after sitting motionless for long period of time, shooting off hand or from an uncomfortable position, the turkey is a wild animal and moving, misjudging at 50 sitting on the ground could easily put you at 60, pattern variations at different temps and the list goes on and on. Just because someone can shoot patterns off a solid rest at a stationary target 40+ does not mean he can consistently do it free handed under hunting conditions. I have seen this over and over guiding. Folks shoot great patterns in the camp yard but doing it under pressure is a different story. There are folks on here with 50+ years of turkey hunting experience. They speak from experience. Letting the turkey get inside 40yds will greatly increase your odds of making a good shot. This equals more turkeys in the back of the truck. Your percentages over a long period of time will be much better. I was glad to see Michael Waddell make a stand on the issue that "he would never shoot a turkey passed 40yds" Allot of kids look up to that guy when it comes to deer/turkey hunting.

*turning good patterns at 20,30,40 make for a turkey killing machine. That's where the majority of my shot have been in 40yrs of turkey hunting. Allot have been inside 20yds.

*whether you choose a rem 870sm, mossberg, steoger, or beretta outlander..you can stay under 1000.00 and find the right choke, shell etc fairly easy to turn good patterns at 40. That being said I would pick the gun that is the most comfortable for you.