Kill Zone

[OHIOHUNTER05]

hey ya'll, Im new to the site and as little as I've been on it, Im really liking it. TONS of information.. I was just wondering how many pellets should be in the kill zone to get a effective kill on a bird out to 40 yards using a 20 ga?
Thanks!

[sugarray]

It does not matter the gun or load.  You would like 80 - 100 evenly spaced pellets in the 10" circle at 40 yds, or what ever distance you plan on taking a turkey cleanly.

The area of a 10" circle is 78.5 square inches.  So 80-100 puts at least 1 pellet per square inch.  This is plenty to kill turkeys every shot.

[njdevilsb]

A lot of people shoot, draw a 10" circle around the densest part of your pattern and count how many pellets are in that 10" circle.  Usually 100 even spaced pellets is a good guideline.  Whatever range your gun stops putting 100 even hits in the 10" circle should be considered your maximum range.  It's good to shoot at at least a 30"x30" piece of paper or cardboard so you can see most of your pattern to determine if you are actually putting the densest part of your pattern where you're aiming.  To have a good killing pattern to 40, you may want to step up to some Hevi Shot and a good after market choke.  You may not need to, only time at the range will tell.

Don't hesitate to ask if you have anymore questions.

sugarray beat me to it.   

[OHIOHUNTER05]

Thanks for the replies! That will definitly help when i patterning my gun this weekend.

[sugarray]

We love to see patterns, post them up.

[hookedspur]

We love to see patterns, post them up.