How many shot in a 10" circle?

[Daveb]

What shot count do you consider acceptable at 40 yards in a 10" circle for turkey patterning?

[dirt road ninja]

100 is considered the acceptable norm.. with pb. I look for much higher.

[Daveb]

PB? Peanut butter? Lol

[Gobble!]

If you can put 100 evenly spaced pellets in a 10" circle your good to go. If you want wiggle room 200. Me.....I want 500.

[Dtrkyman]

150 plus is acceptable...though less works...I remember just counting the hits in the head and neck Back in the day...10-15 was good...then heavy shot came out and wow...now with tss my 20ga throws patterns nearly twice as good as the hevi did in a 3.5 inch shell!


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[Izzyjoe]

My uncle told me that back years ago if you could get several pellets in beer can at 30yds, you was good. Now that's an empty can mind you! Seriously though anything over a 100 will kill turkeys. A lot of loads I've tried wouldn't even do that, and some folks swear by them as turkey killin loads. Remington Nitro turkeys come to mind!

[appalachianassassin]

My uncle told me that back years ago if you could get several pellets in beer can at 30yds, you was good. Now that's an empty can mind you! Seriously though anything over a 100 will kill turkeys. A lot of loads I've tried wouldn't even do that, and some folks swear by them as turkey killin loads. Remington Nitro turkeys come to mind!

yep....the rem nitro turkey probably the worst turkey load ive ever shot.

[Gooserbat]

Years ago, I believe Winchester, published that you needed 80 in a ten inch circle to be effective.  Then we evolved the 100/10" rule as it was a solid standard that killed turkeys.  Now everyone is chasing some magic number 200, 300, even 400 and it's doable with today's loads and loads data.  The down side for many is close shots with the super tight patterns.  If you want to play the numbers game educate yourself about point of aim vs point of impact, get some sort of sights and sight in your rig.  I personally use TruGlo mag gobble dot sights and although I shoot around 260/10 with my 20 ga and 320/10 with my 12, I know what my pattern is doing at ranges from 10 yards to... Well let's say out yonder.  That said I killed a lot and I mean a lot of turkeys shooting Win HV#6 that averaged 120+/10.  Simply know your gun.

[Gobspur]

PB? Peanut butter? Lol

PB = Lead

[zelmo1]

Don't guess, shoot your gun at different yardages. Get a load/choke combo that puts a good pattern out to 40 yards and at 8 also. All the birds that I have missed in my life were inside of 30 yards. My head on the stock would have been better that a million pellets in the 10", LOL

[Daveb]

Thanks all the replies fella's

I am in the low 100's with what I tested yesterday. (110-125). Gonna try a few more loads to see if I can get it in up into the mid to high 100's. If not. I'll probably break down and get a different choke. Maybe should have done that to start, all this ammo is expensive!

[owlhoot]

What gun , choke and loads are you using Dave?

[Daveb]

What gun , choke and loads are you using Dave?

Benelli SBE3, Criochoke full. Got it a few months ago for close up predator hunting. Decided I'd try turkey hunting with it too.

Tested those crappy Hornady's and some Win LB 3" #4 and 3.5" #5's. LB worked pretty well.

[owlhoot]

What gun , choke and loads are you using Dave?

Benelli SBE3, Criochoke full. Tested those crappy Hornady's and some Win LB 3" #4 and 3.5" #5's. LB worked pretty well.

Ok that sheds some light.
Hornady turkey loads,  post with mostly  nothing but bad for years here . A friend bought some and we patterned them.All I could do was laugh.

Next 4 shot isn't going to have  a real high 10"count due to not a lot of pellets to start with . That said we had numerous guns with Federal grand slam loads that did 125-140 .
Now the best thing you can do do is get a extended real turkey choke. You don't have to have the most expensive. You can read the threads on here to get some ideas of the good ones along with the loads.
Now that people know what you have they will post on their experience.Lots of information here you just need to get it.
Good luck.
Try 12 gauge benelli  pattern pics in the turkey gun section.

[Daveb]

What gun , choke and loads are you using Dave?

Benelli SBE3, Criochoke full. Tested those crappy Hornady's and some Win LB 3" #4 and 3.5" #5's. LB worked pretty well.

Ok that sheds some light.
Hornady turkey loads,  post with mostly  nothing but bad for years here . A friend bought some and we patterned them.All I could do was laugh.

Next 4 shot isn't going to have  a real high 10"count due to not a lot of pellets to start with . That said we had numerous guns with Federal grand slam loads that did 125-140 .
Now the best thing you can do do is get a extended real turkey choke. You don't have to have the most expensive. You can read the threads on here to get some ideas of the good ones along with the loads.
Now that people know what you have they will post on their experience.Lots of information here you just need to get it.
Good luck.

Thanks Owlhoot.
Yeah, I probably should have done some more study on the ammo before buying and trying. Still it's fun just to shoot! Have some MAG blends and LB in #6's coming, they may do a bit better. I still may end up with one of those Sumtoy's before it's all over anyway.