Home Forums Birds & Dogs Turkey Hunting 16 Ga Turkey Loads & Choke Advice

Ok fellars, help me out here. I'm not a real serious turkey hunter and usually carry a heavy 12ga 3" magnum auto with heavy loads of lead #5. I usually come home empty handed because I'm dumber than Spring tom turkeys. Anyway, over the last several years the 20ga has earned quite a following among turkey hunters who realize they don't need the heaviest load out there. This got me to thinking. I'm a 16ga fanatic and decided I wanted a 16ga "turkey gun", which would be at least equal to a 3" 20. I had 3 16s but none were suitable. My Brownings {Citori & A-5} were just too flashy and my old Winchester 24 sxs was too open choked. Nobody ever made a 16ga "turkey gun" but I came up with a prime candidate. A couple years ago Remington offered a 870 Express Youth 16ga with 23" barrel and synthetic stocks. I found them on closeout and just received one today. I will replace the short stock with a full sized one. Trulock and Kicks offer 16ga Turkey chokes and I plan on using the Federal 1 1/4 oz copperplated Magnum load with either 4s or 6s. My first question is should I use 4s or 6s? My first thought is to go with 6s since I have a fairly small charge to begin with and the 6s will hold over 100 extra pellets. Or would you go with the thinner pattern of harder hitting 4s? 5s would be ideal but the magnum loads aren't offered in 5s, although Fiocchi does a 1 1/8 oz load of nickeled 5s that would do. Kicks recommends XX Full for 4s and XXX Full for 6s, Trulock offers an Extra Full and Turkey in .060 and .070 so I'm trying to decide what to order. I realize I'm putting way too much thought into this since I probably won't kill sh*t anyway but any opinions?

Only way to know is try both and see which gives the tighter pattern....all things being equal I'd opt for the 4's.....

+1 - you have a way with words!!

PS Been looking at buying one of new Browning BPS 16 gauge pumps for myself.

I have the Kick's choke and Comp-n-Choke, not really impressed with either one using the Federal 11/4 oz load

I'd go with the 6's or the Fiocchi Golden Pheasant 5's. Or, if you look real hard you may find some 16 ga. mags. in 4's or 6's, each provide extra pellets in the pattern.

This was discussed on an earlier thread "Newbie needs help" that I just bumped back up to the top. If you want to go with #4 shot, I would follow the manufacturer's suggestion and go with a more open constriction. I am assuming that your 870 came with a set of choke tubes, if so, try patterning with the factory full choke with #4's, you might find that it patterns pretty good. Just out of curiosity, what are you gaining by using the 16ga. instead of a 12ga. 870? The 16ga 870 is built on the 12ga. frame, so it weighs the same. If your looking to deliver a 1-1/4oz payload at 1260fps you can find a lot more 12ga. loads than 16ga. I am a 16ga. fan and have used, and will continue use mine to turkey hunt with, just because I think it's cool, but if I was looking to buy a new rig to deliver better performance than a 20ga. with less weight than a 12ga. I would be looking for a 16ga. built on a 20ga frame such as the Browning BPS or the Ithaca 37. If your just wanting to scratch the 16ga. itch, then the 870 is definitely the least expensive way to get a modern 16ga. repeater threaded for choke tubes.

""I am assuming that your 870 came with a set of choke tubes, if so, try patterning with the factory full choke with #4's, you might find that it patterns pretty good.""

The Express only comes with a modified. Remington has discontinued the 16ga tubes (along with the guns) and they are no longer available. I'll have to order aftermarket tubes regardless.






""Just out of curiosity, what are you gaining by using the 16ga. instead of a 12ga. 870? The 16ga 870 is built on the 12ga. frame, so it weighs the same. If your looking to deliver a 1-1/4oz payload at 1260fps you can find a lot more 12ga. loads than 16ga.""

Absolutely nothing. I just enjoy hunting with oddball stuff. The same reason I hunt deer with something like a .401 WSL, a .375/06 Improved, a 9.3 or some other oddball. I'm certainly not looking to "gain" anything from a performance standpoint.



""I am a 16ga. fan and have used, and will continue use mine to turkey hunt with, just because I think it's cool""

Exactly.


""but if I was looking to buy a new rig to deliver better performance than a 20ga. with less weight than a 12ga. I would be looking for a 16ga. built on a 20ga frame such as the Browning BPS""



I have other 16s, a Browning Citori, Jap Sweet Sixteen and an old 24 Winchester but none are for rough and tumble turkey hunting. I will certainly pick up a BPS Upland as soon as possible but the matte/synthetic 870 will be better suited to crawling around on the ground looking for Tom.

I can sympathize with that. I like hunting with oddball stuff, that's why my pre-war A-5 16ga. goes turkey hunting with me when I'm working on my last tag. But.. I really think that there is a practical use for the 16ga. in turkey hunting, that being a light weight gun for "runnin' & gunnin'" type hunting. I've been keeping an eye out for an Ithaca 37 in well used condition to make into a turkey gun (will cut the barrel to 21" and have it threaded for Colonial tubes). A 6-1/4lb 45 yard turkey buster isn't a bad thing to have when you hump several miles of ridges a day during turkey season. Good luck with the 870, and if you can't get a pattern to your liking with the factory loads, look into rolling your own, my handloads have performed better than any of the factory stuff I've tried so far, and I get to choose my shot size. #5's have been the best, so far, but BPI is cataloging nickel plated 5-1/2 shot that I plan on trying out the next time I load up a batch. Might just be the best thing since sliced bread.

I just picked up a well-used Stevens Single Barrel in 16 ga., choked full....fuller-than-full, actually. Preliminary testing shows it to be more than adequate for turkey. (Note: I often hunt with a similar Stevens single in 12 ga. With 1 5/8 oz. of 5's, it is a real turkey killer.) I will find out for sure beforehand, but my guess is that in the 16, Fiocchi 5's will perform well for turkeys.

+1