Home Forums Birds & Dogs Turkey Hunting Lets talk about Chokes and factory loads that patten best in your shotgun????

I have a remington 870 magnum 2 3/4" and 3" chamber 12 gauge. I would like either factory or aftermarket chokes and factory loads that you use to turkey hunt with. I have the rem removable chokes in my 28INCH ribbed barrel. A ported choke might be nice when shooting the 3" magnum loads.

If you have patterned federal shot to hold a killing p[attern at 50 yards then tell me more????

THANKS IN ADVANCE
ABLE

I shoot a Kicks .660 and Hevi13 #7's from my 3" 870 with a 20" barrel. I've killed at over 50 with it.


I shoot a SumToy 562-5 with Federal HeavyWeight #7 from my 21" barreled 870 Youth 20 gauge. It's good to 50yds.

I have a Indian creek black diamond strike that fits your gun.
I have used it for 3.5" magnums and heavy 13's #6 and it smokes the crap out of the targets. It's for sale too.

That's all I ever use is the Federal turkey loads with the flight control wads. Generally 2 3/4 shells.... The undertaker extra full turkey choke works excellent in the 870 with 28" barrel...

3 1/2" Browning
Winchester Long Beard XR 2 oz #5
Trulock Long Beard choke

I use the Indian Creek Black Diamond chokes in my Benelli SBE 2 and in my Remington 20's. They throw a good pattern. But, the best patterning gun I have is a Winchester 1300 on which I have a Hastings choke. I believe it is a .660 or a .665. Whichever is, it puts a lot of Winchester Supreme 3 inch 5's in the kill zone.

For my Benelli M1 an Indian Creek Black Diamond Strike .665" with the Hevi 13 3-2-6 load throws the tightest pattern. The average is in the upper 180's in 10" @ 40 yards. It's too tight actually... I prefer my Kick's Gobblin' Thunder .665" which throws a more evenly distributed 18" pattern. Gives a little lee way on those close range gobblers. Another thing is the Indian Creek is longer and heavier than the Kick's. Screwing the Indian Creek into the barrel adds a substantial hunk of pipe out there. To my feel the Kick's choke handles and carries better.

Indian Creek chokes have been the best thing I've screwed in my guns. Browning, Rem & Benelli are short and long range killers with excellent coverage. My short 21" barreled 870 patterned as well as my 28". The last shotgun I picked up is a Benelli M2 12ga.
Winchester Long Beards performed great in all guns. At close range its tight so beware...

Indian Creek
M2 @ 40 yards
Win 3" - #6
241 hits
10" circle

another Indian Creek fan here, i have a .670" constriction in my Beretta Urika 2 and i shoot 3" #5 or #6 hevi shot out of.
i also have a Comp-n-Choke .675" constriction i shoot out of the Winchester 1300 but i do not shoot heavi shot out of that choke. but 3" #5 winchester turkey loads shoot real well out of that one too.

Indian creek and sumtoy here as well. Hevi13 6s and 7s. The Longbeards threw some decent patterns for me, but weren't consistent in any of my guns/chokes.

p.s. Porting on a shotgun choke isn't going to do a thing for recoil. It's mainly wad-slowing application in shotgun chokes.

I would look into sumtoy chokes

suntoy, or Indian creek

WOW seems like a considerable amount of diversity as I expected. Does anyone reload 12 gauge for tight turkey patterns. Suggestions on loads to try???
Thanks
ABLE

Diversity? I read Indian Creek and Sumtoy repeatedly.

Hey I threw in a Comp-n-Choke to help level the playing field.

Primos jelly head is another good one.

And I mentioned the brother company Kick's, but the Indian Creek throws tighter patterns if that's all that matters. It's a slight difference but it's there. For hunting in the Ozark timber I prefer the Kick's. Maybe if I was field hunting I'd choose the Indian Creek.

yea there can be a time were too tight can come back and bite you. one of the reasons i chose the tad more open constriction that they offer and not to mention they are more user friendly if you decide to bump up the shot size of your load. i like shooting 5's and 6's with my preference on 5's if lead and 6's on the heavy shot. but that's just my preference. what ever constriction you use thought as far as the original poster concern, pattern it close and pattern it out there a ways and pattern it in between. you'll be shooting softball size pattern up close or even smaller so you better know where you are hitting.

I called Sumtoy told them what I shoot for a gun and what I wanted to shoot for shells. I also told them that I wanted a good hunting pattern, one that wasn't too tight but would kill birds from 20 to 50 yards. They recommended what I use and then made it for me. They have a TON of experience in shooting and can go by experience on what works.

Call them

100% on Sumtoy. They build great chokes.

Remington 870 12 ga Express Super Magnum
Undertaker .665 choke
Winchester Supreme 3" 1300 fps 1 3/4 #5 shot.

Have tried other chokes and ammo combinations and this is the best load in this gun to date.

Round oak, I played around with turkey loads a lot with that choke too and settled on the Federal flight control 2 3/4 and 3" #5 shot as well... Patterns real tight out to 45 yards. I have shot birds in excess of 50, but don't like doing that. I'd rather they came in to around 40 yards..

I'd rather they be around 25 - 30 yards!

BSA, I have grown a little complacent with that combination, I need to get off the couch and try some latest and greatest ammo.

My buddy uses the Winchester supreme ammo. It works great for him...

In a perfect world, that would be just about right...

Pure Gold .670 and 3" 12 gauge Hevi-shot Magnum Blends. Use that set up for Invector/Winchoke, Invector Plus, and Crio Plus.

Keep in mind that the choke has no bearing on distance. All it does is constrict the shot as it leaves the barrel. A full choke will give you a tighter pattern at a given distance than a Modified or open. choke, but won't increase or decrease the velocity of the shot itself. That is determined by the powder and size of the shot itself. A lot of people think that the choke has something to do with "Killing Power". That is true only to the extent of placing more or less BB's in a given area. If you want to kill birds at 50+ yards, by all means use a restricted choke, but if you use light loads, you gain nothing.

Good combination... I always recommend the Undertaker chokes to new guys... they're cheap and outperform all the more expensive chokes...

Ok, Ill be the odd man on this thread. I have shot a few turkeys with a shotgun but for the past 15+ years I have bow hunted them, quite successfully.
When I shotgunned them, I used 2 3/4" shells, 1 1/4 to 1 1/2 ounces of 5 or 6 shot, in a modified choke 12 ga. They worked great.
I think there is a lot of "marketing" in the extended, titanium, ported super full choke tubes with 3" or longer shells with multi shot size, buffered nickel plated shot at 1400+ fps.

I use a Remington 870 with either factory full or extra full. It's an older 870 and will only shoot 2 3/4" shells. I've killed them with 1 1/2 oz and 1 5/8 oz loads of #4,5,6 and duplex loads of 4x6. Copper plated, nickel plate and plain lead shot.

IMO---they all work. I prefer 4's but whatever I shove in is what I shoot.

Before the advent of the specialized "turkey shotgun" I used either my Belgian Browning Auto Five or Remington Wingmaster 870. Both are 12 gauge, 28" modified fixed chokes with 2.75" chambers. The old bright red hull Winchester XX short mags with 1 1/2 ounces of #6's killed a bunch of birds for me. With that said, non glossy finishes, shorter mid-size barrels and sling equipped guns do make for an easier packing and more effective gun for chasing Ozark Mtn. ridge runner gobblers.

Mossberg 500, 28 inch ported barrel
Carlson's Dead Coyote choke
Federal 3in, 2oz #4 lead w. FliteControl wad.

3" Mag Blends and IC .665 from my SA-08...makes easy work inside 50 yards. I won't shoot past that. The gun/loads would handle it. I just won't do it. He will live to enjoy another day at that range.

I use the Browning factory full with 3" mag # 4's. There is so many turkeys where I hunt, doesn't take nothing special to kill some. I mostly hunt with bow. I like the way pigs squeal when stuck!!

If your shooting a Remington then I would go with the Primos JellyHead in .665!

In my 870 I use a HS Strut choke I got on ebay for $18 works great i believe it called the undertaker. Great low cost option imho With the new WW xr turkey loads it would about decapitate a turkey at 40 yds.

I have a couple of 2 3/4" guns and tried the WW rooster xr loads similar to the turkey loads only shorter and carrying 1 1/4 oz. Very tight patterns at 40 yds. out of both mod and full chokes. Something to try if you are not wanting to buy a turkey specific gun and have a 2 3/4 " gun already available. At 40 yds any turkey would be in grave peril.