Home Forums Birds & Dogs Shotguns Short barrel turkey gun conspiracy?

I got into turkey hunting using my browning BPS 12 3" with its 28 inch barrel and its been deadly for me.

Only once have I ever had issues with the long barrel when I was hitting overhead branches as I moved my shotgun from one side to the next as the tom was looking away...

I've never missed and I figure the long barrel and plain bead give a long sighting plane. Maybe people miss with the short barrels for that reason.

My question is... Is there any performance reason for a short barreled turkey gun other than handling? Wouldn't the loads lose velocity like a short barreled rifle?

Is this just a marketing ploy to get us to buy short barrels or more shotguns???

(disclaimer - you can have as many shotguns in your arsenal as golf clubs in a bag ;-))

I figure it's like putting rifle sights or scopes on them - it's to sell to people who don't do any wingshooting. I grew up shooting quail when they were common and turkeys were rare, and I would just go home and eat Spam before I would admit I couldn't hit a turkey's head with a shotgun.

Tru-Glo sites make my 21" deadly on Toms.
Come to think of it, I use that Turkey Special 870 for most things bird.....
Nary a problem.
Don't know about marketing ploys, but I sure love the lightness and having that sling at times.

Light is good, especially in the hill country. I used to use a BPS just like the OP's, but I ran across a 12 ga double choked full and fuller that weighs 6.5 lb and can be easily carried in one hand. The barrels are 28" but I save about 3" by not having a magnum receiver to tote, so the difference isn't much.

Whatever you like to use is good. One of the best turkeys I ever saw was shot by a beardless youth with a 20 ga, whose daddy was calling for him.

I bought a Win 1300 turkey gun back when they first came out, as at the time all I had a a modified barrel on a Mossberg. The mossy did ok first year actually, but... I now use that 1300 for dove at time, pheasant at times, grouse, turkey, goose and rabbit - if I am somewhere that is very brushy.

It is one light gun and the stock isn't quite, uhh, recoil friendly? You do not want a steady diet of 3" anything with that gun.

I've shot a bunch of 25 straights at trap with an 870 Express turkey gun (21"). It's all in the fit and the mindset.

I did pretty well with it at sporting clays, too, just for giggles. Again, it's all in the mindset.

Mindset, and FIT. You will shoot a Savage that fits better than a Purdy that doesn't.

Not that I have any hands-on experience with Purdy's

If I lost them all and started over, I think I'd get one of those "Upland Specials" that Browning and Remington sell. 22" barrel, screw-in chokes, and straight grip.

There is a good use for a scope on a turkey gun. It makes it easier to NOT shoot turkey hunters, esp. in low light.

I bought one of the Browning Deer/Turkey BPSs back in the 90s...it came with the extended extra full turkey choke and the extended rifled slug tube....a real nice set up but if I go turkey hunting I usually just grab one of my old SxSs.....

You are supposed to know your target and beyond from firearms safety! Relying on a scope to spot someone 30 yards out means you don't know whats out there and you probably shooting beyond legal hours.

If you are using your scope to sort out people versus turkey's... you are pointing guns at targets you don't know and you should be using binoculars instead. Gun mounted scopes are not binoculars.

If your eye sight is that bad that a 1x or 2 x scope helps you that much... time to get glasses or stop hunting period.

I've got a short barrel with rifle sights and a long barrel for my 870 express. I like the short barrel more for turkey hunting.

It ain't rocket science. You get the bird's head in a (preferably) tight pattern & he's dead be it an old beat up sxs choked full or a modern Turkey gun with camo , short bbl, xfull turkey choke. If you are "into it" & moneys no object get what you please & enjoy it.
I love nothing better than hunting with old (classic) shotguns, sxs, pump, single shot, etc. (even semi auto-s)

you won't lose much velocity, but are likely to have more trouble finding a shell and choke that pattern well.

Oh, and since you publicly stated you've never missed, you know what will happen!

It's anti American not to have a shotgun dedicated to strictly for Turkey hunting. What would happen to our economy and the well being of our firearm companies if everybody used just one shotgun for everything?

Cursed I am.

Which is exactly why people like a shorter barrel. I started with a 28" barrel on my Mossberg, got tired of the barrel getting tangled in brush, especially when carrying it over my shoulder on the sling. I switched to a 20" and I'm not going back.

No one would question using a 20" carbine instead of a 28" barreled rifle for brush hunting. Why it's even a question with shotguns escapes me.



This is a classic example of a point that's true, yet completely irrelevant. The difference in point of impact caused by the change in sight radius at 50 yards or less is a fraction of an inch. This would be worth worrying about with a 22 target rifle but is completely pointless when talking about a shotgun pattern with a 10 inch sweet spot.



There is a velocity difference, but it's not nearly much as with a rifle, maybe 75 fps or so between a 28 and a 20 inch barrel. Not 75 fps per inch, 75 fps total. Not enough to worry about.

Patterning is virtually the same, a short barrel is somewhat louder (but I wear electronic muffs when hunting in either case and so should you).

In short, get a 20" barrel, put on some open sights and go hunting.

My dedicated turkey gun for years has been a 12 ga. Browning BPS Upland Special with 22" barrel, original Jellyhead choke, and fiber optic sights I put on. I love how it handles and shoots. The turkeys aren't quite so fond of it .