Too many choices

[Jake whisperer]

It's been several years since I have had to pick a new load.  I won't bore with the details, but have a few simple questions.

Do hevi shot (standard waterfowl) 6's really hit like lead fives?

Does anyone use standard hevi-shot to hunt turkeys, or is everyone using hevi 13?

Are 3rd degree shells all they are cracked up to be? 

I want a solid 40 yard shell that can have a decent pattern at close range and will cover my rear if I make a mistake out to 50 yards.  I know, same as everyone,

Recently I shot longbeard 5's but my 10 yard pattern is rediculous and I missed one this year at that range.

I am building a new turkey gun and am kicking around switching it all up.  I accidentally bought triple beard 5,6,7 thinking they were a hevi shot mixture.  Not sure what the point of lead 6's and 7's are beyond 35 yards.  Lol.

[skimerhorn]

Love my mag blends

[g8rvet]

Mag blends patterned poorly out of my 870.  Gave them to my nephew and they patterned very nice in his Nova.

Penetration and energy for shotguns:
I had a link to a table, but lost it. 
Roughly,
TSS   -5 sizes
Heavyweight -3 sizes
Hevi -2 sizes
Lead

So, #4 lead = #6 Hevi = #7 Heavyweight = # 9 TSS  Not exact, but if you look at the tables, it is pretty close.

[appalachianassassin]

I use tss 9s in one gun and longbeard #5 in another. most any conventional turkey load will give you the performance you desire. I agree the longbeards are a little tight up close. a good halographic sight helps a lot.

[Poleaxe]

It sucks to have to burn the hole in your pocket but what shoots in yours will shoot different in mine so you'll have to buy different loads and see which your gun likes. It's a good time because very soon everyone will have all their turkey loads on clearance. My gun likes the mag blends and Hevi 13#6. Don't get me wrong the longbeards are cheap and shoot good but shoot them through a sheet of tin vs Hevi and see what you think about them then. They don't penetrate.

[Greg Massey]

It's like buy the shells and develop your gun around what you wanting to shoot...with these new loads, guns and chokes... it's all different now...

[Chris O]

I have had pretty good luck with 3 inch 12 ga.Federal,Winchester,And Remington 2 oz loads in #5 or #6 shot . I do usually shoot with a turkey choke but I have had a few different guns over the years and all have patterned pretty well out to 50 yds. I haven't felt the need to spend the big bucks on the fancy shells. I am not saying that the 20$ for five rounds ammo might not put a couple more BB's in the kill zone they may or maybe not. I just haven't felt handicapped enough to want to spend the extra money on them when I can kill consistently with the regular shells. I would rather spend  that extra money on a couple different chokes to try . I currently shoot a kicks choke,but you could always sell the choke you don't like to try a different one. Or find a buddy or 2 who might have a different choke that you can try to see which one you like. Good luck and I hope it goes smooth for you.

[PineyRooster]

for a solid40 yard and a decent close range pattern I say fed hvywt 7s.. they work for me with a hard hitting yet forgiving pattern

[penna shooter]

Had good luck with Long Beard #5's

[fallhnt]

Federal pb with flight control in 3in shoots well out of my early 90's Remington. "Old shool"

Sent from my SM-G930V using Tapatalk

[appalachianassassin]

It sucks to have to burn the hole in your pocket but what shoots in yours will shoot different in mine so you'll have to buy different loads and see which your gun likes. It's a good time because very soon everyone will have all their turkey loads on clearance. My gun likes the mag blends and Hevi 13#6. Don't get me wrong the longbeards are cheap and shoot good but shoot them through a sheet of tin vs Hevi and see what you think about them then. They don't penetrate.

they penetrate just fine if you keep your shots at 40ysd with a little wiggle room. were not hunting sheets of tin.

[spaightlabs]

Nothing is going to pattern at 10.  You re going to get a pile of pellets the size of a baseball at best. a 50 cent piece at worst.

You either have to lower the shot to where the neck meets the body so you have a bit more target to work with or let the bird get out a bit further.

[Bowguy]

You gotta check your gun n see what it likes. I usually shoot straight lead but have patterned the mag blends as posted by some n they did well.
Now you shouldn't be talking about 50 yard "mistakes". That's half a football field n if you can't tell that's real far get a range finder., if you can't judge 40 n it could be 50, maybe you'll figure it's 45 n still in your range n it'll be 55? See what I'm getting at. Shoot n call em closer it's not life or death we kill a bird. Good luck w the gun

[Number17]

It sucks to have to burn the hole in your pocket but what shoots in yours will shoot different in mine so you'll have to buy different loads and see which your gun likes. It's a good time because very soon everyone will have all their turkey loads on clearance. My gun likes the mag blends and Hevi 13#6. Don't get me wrong the longbeards are cheap and shoot good but shoot them through a sheet of tin vs Hevi and see what you think about them then. They don't penetrate.

You people are funny.
I flat knocked a gobbler out cold at 37 steps yesterday morning with good old fashioned lead. Longbeard #5s to be exact. Knocked him straight backwards and he laid there with his toes curled up in the air.
As a matter of fact, I shot my limit of Gobblers every year for the past 5 years with copper plated lead longbeards.

What is it exactly that they don't do again?

[Ihuntoldschool]

Good thing we are hunting turkey gobblers and not sheets of tin.