Home Forums Birds & Dogs Turkey Hunting Closet gun & turkey gun project: XS front sight or tiny fiber optic

I "justified" buying a rem 870 express tactical with xs ghost ring sights and a optic mount in case I want to build a short barreld turley gun.

Its the closet security gun right now.
Debating if that 18 inch barrel is too much velocity loss...


I put a rem shur shot pistol grip stock on and now I am looking at the front sights wondering if the big XS dot is too large and will cover the turkeys head too much at longer ranges? Maybe thats why you have a shot pattern

So guys...

Keep the xs?
change to fiber optic
Or just mount a red dot, fast fire, or low power scope on it?

My go to turkey rig is a 870 chopped to 18 threaded for remchokes. Set of clamp on rifle style fiber optics on the rib. I was thinking the XS for house duties but thought it was too big. Perfect world I would of put a small reddot on it. But this gun was more about price than function. Was a plain 870 express no option to mount a reddot without added expense.

For turkey duty the rifle sights work great. Have not worried about velocity loss. If there is some the turkeys don't seem to notice. I cannot even begin to count the number of birds this gun has dropped. Taken birds cleanly out to 65 yards with 3" hevishot. Their original turkey loads that were not too fast to begin with.

Velocity loss from a 28 to an 18" barrel will be 75-100 fps. Not per inch, but total. I don't think you'll ever get a turkey running away saying "It's a good thing that shot wasn't going 75 fps faster".

At longer ranges the sweet spot is going to be at least 10" in diameter. I don't think the large front sight is going to introduce that much error.

I like a smallish fiber optic front bead. With that said, I don't aim at the turkey's head either. Instead I aim at the wattles and that leaves the head visible and floating just over the bead. That way I can see if the gobbler jukes or moves suddenly and with the 60/40 pattern my gun throws the majority of the shot is striking the neck and head. A big bead might obscure the head at just the wrong instant. I prefer 24" - 26" barrels for the better handling characteristics. I have an 18.5" threaded for chokes barrel with rifle sights for my Benelli M1 and have used it to kill turkeys, fox, bobcats and coyotes. The shorty is ok but I much prefer my 24" as a first choice and my 26" barrel as a close second choice.

High velocity turkey shell from that short barrel is gonna blow your eardrums out. Not literally, but you're not gonna like the ringing after you calm down. I'm using 28" barrels and standard velocity loads to make things nicer on the ears. You kinda need your hearing to hunt Spring gobblers....

On your sights: Most gobblers that are missed are missed high. Aim at the neck to counteract the tendency to shoot high. Aim at the neck where the feathers stop. Aiming at the neck means the head will sit atop your sight. A blade is better than a dot for that. Red dots ain't bad if they're working.

I recommend you try what you got at a realistic turkey target. Adjust from there. Don't go customizing a turkey gun until you've hunted what you got. You might find you want something else entirely. Costs of customizing can be applied to new guns.

Did I mention aiming at the neck?

my current set up is a old browning bps 28 inch with bolt on fiber optic sights. This is the first year I used the sights and I liked the small front bead. I think helps keeps my bead down on the stock.

Not sure if I should drill & tap the browning for an optic when I want to do that... or just use the short gun.

Thats a good point on aiming at the base with the big dot sight at the neck.

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