Want your opinion.... Gunna try this.

[TheSportsman]

With bills and everything else I've got going on... I'm gunna give these longbeards xr a honest run...
I just got done doing a extensive deep clean on my benelli sbe 1 with a 26" barrel...equipped with a Burris speedbead

My chokes are-
Kicks .660
Kicks .665
Jellyhead .655
Benelli xfull turkey .675
Pattern master code black .665

What should I expect? My load of choice is the lb xr 3.5" 2oz #5s. I haven't ruled out trying number 4s. I don't want to shoot 6s.  Should I go 4s or 5s? What choke\load combo do you think will come out on top? Opinions fellas and thanks

[MickT]

The 3" will give you all the pattern you want. My 1187 will do 200+ easy with 1 3/4 oz of 6s through a Primos Tightwad.


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[allaboutshooting]

With bills and everything else I've got going on... I'm gunna give these longbeards xr a honest run...
I just got done doing a extensive deep clean on my benelli sbe 1 with a 26" barrel...equipped with a Burris speedbead

My chokes are-
Kicks .660
Kicks .665
Jellyhead .655
Benelli xfull turkey .675
Pattern master code black .665

What should I expect? My load of choice is the lb xr 3.5" 2oz #5s. I haven't ruled out trying number 4s. I don't want to shoot 6s.  Should I go 4s or 5s? What choke\load combo do you think will come out on top? Opinions fellas and thanks

That is quite a variety of chokes and examples of different designs. If you have not yet purchased the WLB shells, and since you don't want to shoot #6 shot, I'd go with 3" shells with 1 3/4 oz of #5s and the Kick's .665. It's been my experience that the #4s can leave some large gaps in the patterns. If you really want to shoot the 3.5" shells, I'd still use that choke but I'd really encourage to try the 3" shells.

Thanks,
Clark

[yella yelper]

I'll second the Kicks 665. I got 156 last year with Longbeard 4's out of the same gun with 24" barrel

[TheSportsman]

Do y'all prefer 5s over 4s? That's nice 4 pattern yella...

[BottomLand54]

My opinion is wear a thick jacket with lots of padding.

[yella yelper]

I'm not shooting that gun this year. Shot way too low for me even with sights and I've started shooting TSS in my 20 ga. That being said, I did kill several with that setup. If I can get those numbers with 4's,that's what I'm hunting with. Before I switched to TSS of course

[wvmntnhick]

Id not be afraid of the 6's personally. Sure, the added weight of the 5's is nice but the extra numbers are going to break him down within reasonable shotgun range. Don't rely on your pattern to tell you what that range may be. Don't get me wrong, there's something to be said for high numbers even with lead. However, there comes a point of diminishing return. I think you'd be just fine with the 6's but the 5's are a good compromise. As Clark said, the 4's aren't all that great with pattern density.

[yella yelper]

What worried me about shooting the lead 6's was pellet energy. Now I know that 6's will break one down at 40 yards but here was my experience. My setup is shooting cardboard stapled to a pallet at 40 yards. I shot several loads last year (more than I care to admit) and something really shocked me. When I took the cardboard off the pallet, I could hear shot rolling around inside the cardboard! This was only with lead 6. 4 & 5 went through as well as all sizes hevi shot. Just something I couldn't get comfortable with knowing that the #6 lead shot wouldn't even go thru cardboard. It probably had something to do with having something really hard behind it with the wood and several loads of shot shot in the wood but still.... It threw a great pattern though! 213 out of my 3 " 870

[owlhoot]

If that's a worry with sixes , go  with the fives.
Some charts I looked at show fives hitting as hard at nearly 50 yards as as sixes do at 40.
They also don't give up the velocity as easily as the smaller shot sizes.

[TheSportsman]

Great info guys, keep it coming

[Happy]

My vote would be #5's. I had two bad experiences with federal #6's right at the 40 and I believe 42 yard marks. (Rangefinder verified). Now I won't claim to have executed a perfect shot and put the center of the pattern on them but they both made it back to their feet before I put them down with a second shot from shorter range. It made me worry and I went to 5's for a few birds and then #6 hevishot just because I liked the denser pattern. Not that I had issues with 5's.

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[Cottonmouth]

Long beard 5's out of that .665 Kicks  should do everything you need it to do. I'm not an expert on Benelli but my 870 with a .665 Indian Creek will shoot some scary patterns with the lb xrs.

[Gobble!]

My guess is the .655 JH and the #5s.

[Ihuntoldschool]

If you are taking head/neck shots on wild turkey gobblers lead 6 is all you need.   If you need to kill the cardboard deader step it up to #5.