5 shot vs 6 shot

[knightrider]

School me on penatration, killing difference between 5 a d 6 shot.

[Happy]

From my experience #6's hot is getting "iffy" at 40 yards. I suspect it would be a little better if it's a high velocity load. I only shot standard velocity and had a few birds regain their feet and require a finishing shot. These were right around 40 yards. If I where to go back to lead it would be #5's. I don't like having to worry about them getting back up.

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[dirt road ninja]

I think I've got a chart on my work computer that I'll post up tomorrow if I can find it. Shows penetration of ballistic gel for various different shot types and sizes.

[Gobble!]

With a nice even pattern no gobbler is walking away from a lead #6 at 40 yards. I'll take a lead #6 over a lead #5 all day assuming your shooting a quality shell. If I shot lead I would shoot the Winchester Long Beards with #6s and never look back.

Saying that #5s will penetrate better but your giving up extra pellets down range.

[dirt road ninja]

I think I've got a chart on my work computer that I'll post up tomorrow if I can find it. Shows penetration of ballistic gel for various different shot types and sizes.

Can't find it, but there seems to be a few different charts online. I just did a quick search and found a couple.

[allaboutshooting]

School me on penatration, killing difference between 5 a d 6 shot.

It can be beneficial to think in terms of the total energy at the target, terminal energy, as opposed to the energy or penetration of a single pellet. Killing power is really all about the total amount of energy that hits the target, in this case the head/neck area of the turkey.

The best way to reliably kill a turkey is to have a swarm of pellets in that vital area from which he can't escape. That is one reason that the quality of the pattern is as important, maybe more important, than the numbers within that pattern. Turkeys sometimes move at inopportune times and we as hunters can also move just a bit due to excitement or fatigue from holding a gun in place for long periods of time. A dense pattern, without gaps of 2" or more, will provide some insurance in the event of movement.

For many gun-barrel-choke combinations, a load of #6 shot will throw a more dense and even pattern that it will with larger shot sizes. Since it's all about the total energy that hits the target, more is better and with #6 shot you get more hits due to the density of the pattern.

A dense pattern of #6 shot, well placed, will cleanly kill a turkey at 40 yards.

Having said all of that, there is no substitute for range time to determine exactly what works best in a particular gun-choke.

Thanks,
Clark

[stinkpickle]

Agreed.  As far out as a good pattern can be maintained, no turkey should be able to walk away from being hit with either shot size.

[Longshanks]

 It has been difficult for me to shoot a pattern that breaks 100 in 10" circle at 40 yds with standard lead loads in #5. For that reason I gave up on #5's. Shooting a turkey with #5's there was more of a concern of not putting many pellets in the turkey rather than penetration. Can generate 140's to 160's with standard lead loads consistently. Was able to generate some awesome patterns with #5 LB's and then started having some patterns that were cut in half and other inconsistent results. LB #6's had consistent results just too tight for my liking. Back to #6's and #7's in standard lead loads and Hevi 13.

[surehuntsalot]

#5's are a happy medium    they hit harder  than 6's and have more pellets than 4's

[worth612000]

I would go with 6's due to density and try to get as close to 2oz or more shot in the load. Anything over 40 yards is a gamble due to a shotguns pattern falls off fast after that. I wouldn't have ever thought of killing a turkey with such a small shot until I shot one with Hevi13 7's and saw the damage first hand. The draw back is if you happen to get any shot in the breast it can be hard to find.

[MK M GOBL]

I know this is one thing I consider, I have for a long time just used 5's as a shell to get the best mix of shot quantity and penetration.

So here's the deal, learning to bring them birds in close, at half of that "40 yard" range. I know that this seems to be the "standard" but I (and those I hunt with) kill birds consistently in the 15-17 yard range with the shotgun, even closer with a bow. That takes out all this I need this choke, I need this shell. There isn't a bird that's not dropping dead at "My" range, I have even had a guy kill them with a little ole' .410. One thing with this it is more important that your gun be "dead on" at this range, I opted for a scope to accomplish this and has been a deadly combination. I hear a lot of people missing up close as their pattern hasn't "opened", if you sight your gun in at this range you will be amazed at a pattern density.

MK M GOBL

[Dr Juice]

Let your pattern dictate the shot you use. Good luck.

[nickp]

Food for thought.  I thought hard on what could I use to simulate a turkey head neck.  I was wanting to test the longbeard 6's, as they throw a nasty pattern ridiculously far but are 6's.  Then I thought, a regular grey squirrel should do it.  I went to the field out back and saw one feeding on the chicken feed.  I guessed it for about 50, and figured that would work.  I shot him stone dead.  Then I stepped it.  58 steps.  Much further than I thought.  I take long steps for yardage.  All of the pellets were just underneath the skin on the opposite side.  I went in and got the range finder, thinking maybe I was off.  Nope.  59 yards.  Now, I don't like long shots, I just wanted to see something similar to compare.  I have shot squirrels (with squirrel dogs) with high brass 6 at around 40-45 when squirrel hunting and had to shoot them again, but that very well may have been the pattern.  Basically, I wanted to compare them to hevi #6 which my cousins swear by to well over 40.  I think these shells do penetrate as well as they say (the longbeards that is).  I don't know how, but they flat do it.  This was the 1200 fps load.  Again, I am not condoning that distance for turkeys at all, especially in the woods with possible brush in the way.  But they made me a believer in the penetration that day.  My cousin was there and since I had plenty of 4's, 5's, and the old school remington hevi shot, well he gladly took the 6's off my hands.  Will a normal turkey load of 6's have the same penetration, I do not know.  Never tried them on squirrel or turkey anywhere near that far.  But the longbeards, they are the real deal it seems.  I just have to back off the choke constriction when I run out of the Remingtons because man are they tight. 

[howl]

A single high velocity #6 will kill a turkey past forty yards. Sometimes a #5 load will pattern better than #6. The better pattern increases odds of getting that single pellet on the bone. So, go with whichever load patterns best regardless of shot size. Putting a swarm of either on target inside 40 will have the same result.

[mtns2hunt]

I have found that LB #6 is good out to 40 yards but prefer it at 30 or under. When hunting woods I only use #6. But much of my hunting is in hay fields and the range can be a bit longer so I use #4 LB. To test last year I hung two aluminum cans on a branch at 50 yards. Shot one with LB #6 and the other with LB #4. The can shot with #6 stayed on the branch but was riddled with shot. Penetration was not that good. The can shot with #4 LB did not have as much shot but was blown several yards back and really peeled back the aluminum.

Later in New Mexico I shot a Turkey at 48 yards with the LB 6's and the Turkey ran about seventy yards before folding. Did not realize that I was shooting the 6 load rather than the #4. Next day I shot a really nice Turkey at about the same distance with #4 LB. Dropped on the spot.

Never shot #5 but the combination of these two loads for different situations works well for me. I use a BPS 12 ga with a Kicks .665

I do pattern my shotgun every year for familiarity and the fact that even with LB #6 you really have to tighten up at the closer ranges like in the woods. I use open sights and no scope