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so for the past 20+ years everybody has been pushing 3-1/2" long range shotguns for turkey hunting. Plus everyone is always saying .410 shotugns are only for experts.....

Gotta laugh at all the people who are now amazed that turkey can be taken with the brand new whiz bank .410's

Not raggin on anyone. You can use whatever you want.... I think a good old single shot 20 ga works fine for me, but its a marketing persons world out there .

Technology advances change things, simple enough.

i shoot a 870 express 20 ga youth, i call it my baby 8709.

3" #6 work to 30 yards with the factory extra full.

put a bear creek slip on neoprene pad to add a little LOP.

Simple and easy. Put down a 22 lb Missouri tom on Monday at 14 yards

Yep. My old 10 gauge is hell on wheels with lead but you start shooting the TSS in a 20 gauge and my 10 is no longer a badass.

Those 20 gauge TSS loads really level the playing field.

We used to have a fall turkey season here and I squirrel hunted a lot then. I killed a turkey almost every year then squirrel hunting and I did it with #6 shot field loads 20 gauge and 12. If you put a low brass lead load of 6 shot on a turkey head at 35 yards they are toast. If it will kill a squirrel it will kill a turkey head.
I had an Ithaca Mag 10 I bought for turkey hunting and after using It I figured out I was better off using the shotgun I usually hunted with. I didn't need 3 1/2 " shells and a.super tight choke to kill a bird head.

I totally agree.

Call me crazy, but I've got an itch for an SP-10. Not sure why, but I feel the need, lol.

Scratch it. Will never give up my 10.

T^^^^^

This, right here. In a tidy nutshell.

An old 16ga. single shot going back to my great grandfather has been killing turkeys for generations. A 2.75 inch load of 6s was used by my daughter to take her first turkey. She made the fifth generation to take game with that gun. Probably the least valuable gun I own and the last one I'd part with.

Awesome story.

I shlepped a Remington SP-10 around the turkey woods for years, as well as waterfowl hunting too. Had every barrel made for it, it worked with authority, no doubt! In today's turkey woods, I set up a Remington 870 youth 20ga and use the Federal 3" TSS #9's in it. 2 days ago, the little 20ga hammered a big NW IL Tom, at 40 yards, just as good as the mighty 10 ever did.



Started with a stock 870 youth with the 21" Rem-Choke barrel. Put on a Knoxx Blackhawk adjustable stock with the recoil reduction set-up, Volquartsen Exact Edge extractor, Wolff Springs spring upgrades to the striker and mag tube, upgraded aluminum follower and a Carlson .555" TSS extended choke tube. Milled a flat spot on the receiver for the Burris FastFire to keep it as low as possible. Totally made possible with the advancement in shot technology. With the adjustable stock, my buddies 13 year old daughter used it in the IL youth hunt, but unfortunately, no birds got in front of us. And then extend the stock out and I used it for seasons 2 and 4 here in IL. Leave Thursday for the middle of WI for back to back seasons there.

My dedicated turkey gun is my Encore with the 24” turkey barrel installed. Shooting 3” 12 gauge turkey loads is unpleasant, but does the trick.

For walking around killing turkeys I like 3 1/2” turkey loads in my Beretta duck gun...I’ve been amazed how far I can smack down running turkeys with it.

I’ve killed turkeys of opportunity easily with my 16 ga sxs ic and mod, with 1 1/8 oz of 5’s and once, killed the world’s unluckiest turkey at about 175 yards with a40 grain Power Point out of my 3” S&W 317.

About the only thing that hasn’t work well was my ‘97 Tacoma. The turkey ran off and the damage to the truck was minimal.

killed the world’s unluckiest turkey at about 175 yards with a40 grain Power Point out of my 3” S&W 317.


Shot by the worlds luckiest snubby shooter

I hunted turkeys for years with a Remington SP-10 10 gauge. It was heavy but was a soft shooter and patterned a metric [bleep] load of #5 shot better than any shotgun I ever used. I kick myself for ever selling it. Now I'm looking for a Browing Gold 10 gauge.

I hunted turkeys for years with a Remington SP-10 10 gauge. It was heavy but was a soft shooter and patterned a metric [bleep] load of #5 shot better than any shotgun I ever used. I kick myself for ever selling it. Now I'm looking for a Browing Gold 10 gauge.

Damn...

Success this year with a 10 in bearded denizen of the swamps was with a 1925 LC Smith Long Range, 3 in Magnum 12 GA. It was backed by an A.H Fox 1924 HE "SUPERFOX" of Nash
Buckingham fame. The combination worked with #4 HeviShot. Alabama turkeys are smarter than their cousins in other states, based on my personal hunting experience in VA and AZ.
Ol School works with instant barrel and load selection -double trigger doubles.

I bought a .410 specifically for my grandson to use last year, but he wasn’t quite ready for it. This year I bought him a 20, and since I already had the .410 decided to go whole hog on it, getting it drilled for a rail and fitting it with a prism sight. Bought a bunch of shells to try and in general had a blast futzing around with it and amazing folks with its patterns out to 50 yards. The turkeys have been absolutely no help in getting field results; not a peep so far, and only a few days left. It’s a great shooter with slugs too.

I also invested in a specialized 20ga for myself, a meat-gun O/U for whatever pops up. That one may be going back for barrel alignment work, but as a turkey gun it’s ready to go, and actually weighs about the same as the .410. I expect to have a lot of fun with both of them, after neglecting shotguns for a long time. My heavy-azz A5 is getting some work on claybirds; my first attempts on the real thing instead of hand-thrown ones.

Any shotgun that will kill a squirrel will kill a turkey's head. And at the same range. I bought an Ithaca Mag10 years ago to turkey hunt and found I did better with the Browning 12 Auto 5 I hunted everything else with.

One of the best turkeys I ever saw was killed by a beardless youth with a 20. His father called it in to him. Turkey hunting is mostly about calling, to me.

That was my point exactly

Ill keep my 870 supermag turkey model.
23" remchoke.
Only shoot 3" in it. 4s at high V.

I got it cheap and its been a champ.
And w 3.5" could be used on geese w steel if need be.

Had excellent results w my 1100 magnum. But i hated taping it up every season.
Got an 1100 SP now w 26" remchoke bbl.

What I took this yr.

A few years ago I went with a muzzle loading 20 bore flintlock smoothbore and it made Turkey hunting even more fun that it was before.

Picked up a Browning Citori Satin Hunter 12ga 3-1/2" gun with 26" tubes with thoughts of turkey hunting with it for a great price. Doubt I'd use 3-1/2" shells, been there done that, but after the performance of the little 20ga I put together, it might just be used for pheasant. But the little Winchester 96 20ga is great for that too... what a conundrum! Lol! I'm not just a rifle looney, I'm a firearms looney and lovin it!

People will never understand marketing.

Fishing lures ain't made for catchin' fish.
They are made to hook fisherman!

And in any market that produces durable goods aimed at leisure pursuits,
You have to create new trends. To maintain demand.

Gotta laugh my butt off at the 410 fanboys. Chasing the trend. (Love laughing at trend chasers)

Sure, you used a 12. Now you just love tungsten in a 410-by-god-its-the-best-you-should-buy-one!
Ironic.
Same guys told me I needed 12 gauge 3 1/2" 2 decades ago.
Not understand in my 3" 870 had the forcing cones lengthened.
A (then) top shelf choke, red dot scope. I won my share against custom guns at the turkey shoots.
But their shells were 1/2" longer.😂

No, I didn't condemn the 410 loads. Dont be butt hurt.

But, hmmmm?

If that tungsten is so great in a 410?
No.
Just wouldn't work in a 12.😉

Careful you'll start a fad.

The trick with TSS is you can equal what you had in a bigger gun with something handier. 3.3# .410 is nicer to carry. It's unlikely to have a big 12 that will throw a lead pattern to hang with TSS from my 6# 20ga.

Using TSS is big guns is pointless unless you can't kill a turkey without shooting at ranges so long it isn't sporting.

What do you consider as "sporting" distance to kill a turkey? I got buddies that hunted last Spring with 20ga shotguns that have extended aftermarket chokes killing turkey's @ 60+ yds with TSS shells.....that distance is further than I would try with my 12ga M2 shooting Winchester 3" Longbeard #5 lead but I didn't think it was unsporting of those guys as they still called the birds they killed in, they didn't field snipe their gobblers with rifles like a few others I know...Hb

Anyone who knowingly shoots at a turkey at 60 yards and beyond is a Turkey sniper no matter what they shoot

What today's turkey hunter lacks in confidence in his turkey calling/hunting ablities he tries to make up for by stretching his guns range....that has been what TSS has been about from the git go.

TSS has 'nothing to offer me'

Why....because most turkeys I shoot are under 40 yards and I don't want my meat damaged by a chance hit with TSS micro shot.

I'm a grown man and I shoot a 12 gauge shotgun. I don't carry many turkey hunting trinkets with me so saving a couple of pounds of gun weight is not going to make or break and me...
I figure if a feller can't carry a 7 or 8 pound gun he might better think about staying on the porch.

If I know a Turkey is farther than 50 yards I figure if he's out of "ethical gun range". I shoot Winchester ammo and was sickened by their marketing strategy of promoting long range shooting with Winchester Longbeards.

Have I accidentally shot and killed turkeys way past 50 yards...yes but it's never been something I thought worthy of bragging about if anything it made me feel ashamed.

Shoot what you want. Doesn't bother me. I can see the draw to lighter easier to pack rigs.

With Longbeards my 12 outshoots my 10 gauge but guess which one goes to the timber the most in the spring?

Yeah that bastard is heavy but I know exactly how it kills, where it points/hits.

That weight helps me to hold it very steady when an old gobbler gets me a little unnerved!!

agreed. If I can't get him within 40 yds, he won. Its not about the killing, its about the hunt

Good points. If you cant call them in for whatever reason, just enjoy the experience and let them go. Some of my best days hunting I never pulled the trigger.

Lmao, I agree.......Hb

Hate losing, especially to a Turkey. um 3 1/2" 2 1/4 oz #9 TSS , *uck Tom from the long .... 😎😎