Home Forums Birds & Dogs Turkey Hunting 12ga 3inch or 3&1/2

what do you think is the best 3" or 31/2" in 12ga for kiiling those long beards.

I run 3 1/2" shotguns because I believe they are best. Some do not like the recoil and I don`t either, but can tolerate it for the sake of having the best setup I can use.

I like the 3" inch guns. The 3" inchers still handle like a shotgun. They are lighter, shorter, better balanced, there are more 3" loads, and the shorter 3" loads may tend to pattern better than the longer "Roman Candle" 3.5's, they recoil less, and are less expensive to feed. A 3" .12 gauge can kill a turkey gobbler at 50+ yards with the right choke and load combination. What else could you ask for?

Which ever your gun patterns best...

Go with the 3.5", it'll give you that extra edge that is sometimes needed and you can always (most models) back off to 3" or even 2&3/4" in the same shotgun. If you have a 3.5"'er, with a well patterened choke and shooting hevi-shot, you've got a 60 yd weapon. I mention 60 yds because we sometimes misjudge the distance.

An example; Mossberg 835 ulti-mag, 24" ported bbl, Rhino choke and hevi-shot (triplex loads)from the Nitro Company in Missouri. A prefit de-celerator or limbsaver pad helps, too!! With this setup and a polished bbl bore you should hit + 300 pellets in a 10" circle at 40 yds. It's almost surgical and you can avoid hitting/peppering other birds in the near vicinity if they are present. You can also miss'em pretty easy if they are close up!

My .02$

3.5 inch for me. I shoot lead number 5's I don't want to pay for the expensive stuff so just put a bunch of lead in the air. I've got the job done several times with a 20 gauge though so I don't need it just want best I can get. (without spending a bunch on shells)

Good points and all true.

Expensive stuff to the forefront, when I consider what I spend most years chasing turkeys, e.g., cost of; 2-4 day hunts, diesel, hotels, food, etc., the cost of a few shotgun shells ain't squat by comparison for me and like you, I want what works best under those circumstances.

Those Winchester Extended Load #5's are no slouches either. Prices are right, too.

My 870 Supermag likes the Xtended Range quite well. I have decided #6 is what I have the most confidence in. I shoot #6 in my 10`s as well.

The 3 1/2" Winchester Supreme 2oz Hi-Velocity #6 is really great stuff for the less expensive route, I shot it exclusively last spring to harvest my 4 birds.

My 11/87 12ga 3" Winchester #5 has taken Tom out to 50 yards. No flopping around. My 835 Accu-Mag 3 1/2 24" ported has taken Tom out to the same distance. The only difference is the 11/87 doesn't kill on both ends.

Ken

Ken, there are a few other differences too. The shorter receiver, lighter weight, faster handling, ect. as I laid out in my post above allows the 3" guns to behave like a shotgun should. To me the 3.5's handle like a fence post and for what? Another few yards in distance is really stretching true all around utility after a certain point.

My fence post is fairly light thus the Limbsaver pad and long eye relief red dot. Depends on where you hunt and how you do it but the old adage still remains, Pard, "bring enough gun". Now, if you hunt Turks from your backyard/porch, use a .410 crack bbl and call it good.

Somehow,,,I never noticed receiver length being a factor for shotguns but I'll pass that on to my Goose hunting buddies, they don't know!!! Call'em the "unwashed". I've yet to 'shortstroke a pump shotgun' much less an semi-auto one and somehow I always equated faster handling with straight (English style) stocks & shorter bbls, not receivers but every day is a new day and one learns something whether he/she wants to or not. We're talking giving up an ounces for pounds out of the business end?? How many times does one shoot in any given turkey season,,,,,? Recoil, take it like a MAN, dude! Just joking on that. You'll never feel it when levelling down on a nice Tom. Probably wont even hear it discharge.

BTW, Amigo, another few yds. in distance is/can be everything, especially with a tight pattern. But,,, your mileage may vary on that pending where and how you hunt. Travel, expenses and lessons learned the hard way will open your mind, I've found. But, what the hay, eh?

No slam, just opinions here which is what a Forum is for.

Yea, well how many dedicated skeet, grouse, or quail guns have a receiver to handle the roman candle? When you look for fast handling, responsive shotguns, 3.5" aren't in the running. Your goose blind buddies sit on their butt and swing is all important for their pass shooting style. The guys humping the hills and flushing game ain't using those heavy, long receiver, fence post. I suppose if I hunted farm lots or green fields where I could drive up and off load my gear into a blind or a stool and didn't have to lug the monsters around, then perhaps I wouldn't be too bothered either. I hunt the big timber of the National Forest here in the Ozarks and put many miles per day on in rough, steep, country. I value compactness, weight, and easy handling. I like to shoot my birds on THIS side of the half field mark and find my Benelli M1S90 3" .12 gauge and Kick's choke to work just fine with Winchester's Supreme Hi-Velocity #5's. There are no shortcuts or substitutions for woodsmanship... No slam, just an opinon.

Noted. Noted and well said, MOGC. But, 1st, last and always, we're talking turkeys on the turkey hunting forum, no?

I do, however, hunt Missouri and Kentucky, work allowing. Kinda thick there but the 3.5" Nitros will cut a path to them ,,all 'woodsmanship' aside.

Never said that 3.5" was for skeet, quail, grouse or pheasant. Most I know that chase'em use O/U's for that, big money shotguns with "short receivers" (that you are hung up on). Bet you've used a dagger and slingshot for Toms, no? benjamin pump (short stroke model), maybe?

Lighten up, Bro. We are on the same side just different experiences and different ways. Again, no slam atchatya.

MOGC,

I agree that a 3" is less weight than the 3 1/2" but not by much. My 11/87 does get heavy after awhile and is my go to gun. I did a trade on a Benelli Nova 3 1/2" and it's heavier then the 835 Accu-Mag. All will do the same job given their limit in yardage.

I love my 11/87 so much that I have a camo 24" rifled slug barrel cantilever, 28" camo VR for my birds and a 21 smooth bore which I choke improved cylinder for rifled slugs. At 50 yards it will print 1" groups 3 shots. My deer shots are out to 30 yards in my shotgun area. I'm also going to make a 23" turkey barrel for this gun. I've got a 28" blue donor to cut and re-thread for just a turkey choke. Then I will send it out to have a camo job. I still need to purchase a 26" barrel also. I want every barrel configuration for this shotgun. That's how much I love this gun.

Remington only makes a 23" for their 870 & the 11/87 super mags and that's why I'll make my own 23". Now ! Enough talk, Lets go get Tom !!!

Ken

Toot,
I ain't mad, I'm just beatin' the brush to see what comes out of it.

SBE2 weighs .1 pounds more than a M2 a little bigger difference if both guns were weighed loaded but still not much of a difference. Have to be pretty sensitive to notice the difference. I hunt big woods too no farm or fields. Other companies guns other than benelli aren't a lot heavier in the 3.5 chambers either.Remington list both the 3 inch and 3.5 inch model 870 turkey guns having the same weight even though the 3inch model has a shorter barrel. When you misjudge distance or an unseen branch knocks down some of your pattern the extra shot in the air will help. Plenty of upland bird hunters use 3.5 inch guns around here because alot of us use one shotgun for everything. Pheasants, grouse, and woodcock are all killed in wisconsin by guys using guns chambered for 3.5 inch shells. Just a ton more versitile.

Whats best is whatever YOU like best.

3" is all I use because it works for me.

Wellll, you got me, MOGC, and ran me out of the brush pile!!

On light shotguns, a friend bought his son one of the Rem 870 pump turkey guns, 20" bbl, camo, you know the one. He polished the bore, choked it and uses the Nitro Co. 3" 20 ga. shells and that little puppy is a shooter and near ideal for running and gunning. That one made me sit up and take notice for the day when I can't run at a trot. It comes with the Limbsaver pad, fiber optic sights, etc. With 3 Grandsons I might could make a fair case for getting one.

Hey, no harm, no foul. As another said - 'whatever works for you'.

Toot,
I just bought my wife a .20 gauge 870 Youth Model with coffee colored brown laminated stock, recoil pad, matte finish, 21" vent rib barrel, choke tubes, ect. I put a sling swivel kit on it and a trim sling. I'm probably going to order her a Kick's Gobblin' Thunder choke tube and begin experimenting with some "heavier than lead" new tech shotloads. If everything goes well I think I can squeeze the range out to 40 yards with the right 3" loads. That'll do her well, light and trim, easy packin' and natural pointing.

winchester lead number 5's worked for me and others in 20 gauges when I used a 20 gauge even at 40 yards.