Home Forums Birds & Dogs Turkey Hunting Anyone turkey hunt with a single bead sight

So I'm going turkey hunting for the first time and am wondering if I need to change anything with my gun. All I have is an 870 with a 26" bbl with a single bead sight. I'm wondering if anyone hunts with a single bead or if I need to pick up a new barrel? I'm on a bit of a budget right now so I figure it dosn't make a lot sense to pay $250 for a new barrel that I will only use on a 3 day hunt in my friends back yard if it isn't needed. On the other hand, I don't want to seriously handicap myself either.

Also, all I have is a modified choke. Any recomendations on a good turkey choke?

You'll be fine with the site. That's all I have on my 870. I use an extra full choke on the 870. My dad (he's 72) still swears by what he calls his "bird gun". It's a old Remington 1100 with a 26 inch improved cylinder barrel.
That thing has killed more turkeys than all my guns combined.
Practice and learn how far you throw a good pattern. Really take a little time and shoot from 20 yards, then increase by 5 yards each time and check your pattern. I'm using some of the heavy shot this year for the first time. I killed one yesterday with it from a good distance..

If you really want a sight you can get a TruGlo or a William sight that attaches to the vent rib. It gives you the option of adjusting your point of impact. They are around $40-50.

Wisam-- I'm not an expert but my advice would be to buy a good turkey choke ( My brother in law has 870 single bead with a Carlson turkey choke) It works great with #6- 3" turkey loads up to 40 yards. Pattern your shot on a large sheets of paper (2'x3') at different yards to see where your shot is concentrated . You will find the limits of your gun this way. My guess would be For the first time keep your shots 30yards and under and make sure its a head shot. Being able to judge different distances in the woods is a must. Know what 30yards looks like compared to 40 ,45 yards. --If you have any action what so ever, you will be hooked.--Good luck --Web

I'd get a good choke before I worried about a double bead, but that is just me.

Jelly Head is pretty popular, and so are the chokes by Remington. You should be set up pretty nicely for about $50-60.

The bead, that is personal pref. The double will help you get the alignment better. A smith could put on on for you much cheaper than buying a new barrel. If you have a vent rib, there are a bunch of different options for beads or sights.

I do have a vent rib barrel. If I did get a second bead, any idea how long it would take for a gunsmith to install it as well as how long it would cost? I would imagine that it wouldn't take more than 15 mins to install assuming I could find a gunsmith willing to install the same day.

If I went that route, would a second bead be any kind of distraction when using the gun for it's primary purpose (killing phesants, ducks and clays)?

Sounds like the second bead isn't needed, but if the price is right and I can get the work done quick I might give it a shot. Definately want to avoid shelling out the case for a real fancy sight though.

Tzone is right, don't worry about a double bead. The Remington .065 chokes are not very expensive, you may even check Ebay (although they have gotten finiky about gun parts).
I'd screw an extra full choke in that thing, pattern it, and hunt. We as hunters sometimes tend to over analyze and accessorize........
When I was a broke teenager, I shot them with a full choke 1100 bead sight 2 3/4 inch shell.
Now I'm a broke 45 year old and I'm shooting a Rem 870 with a .065 choke. Shoot it, see what it's doing and hunt. You'll be fine

My dad uses an 870 Express Mag with an Undertaker Choke and single bead. He busted two birds last year just past 40 yards. One was on the wing.

I'm still using my 1100 2 3/4" w/ full choke barrel that I bought 20 years ago. It's killed plenty of turkeys. Still use only the single bead.

So, I'm agreeing with the others. Just practice with your set-up and you'll have no problem dropping a bird. I like to put the bead right on the head and touch it off.

One thing you might look at also if you stick with the modified choke is trying some of the duplex loads if it's allowed in your state.

Sounds like I'll be keeping my gun the way it is.

If I get a turkey choke, I've heard guys say to stay away from the ported ones as they tend to hurt you're pattern. Is this true?

Naw, I don't think that is true. I haven't noticed anyway.

Insatlling the double bead shouldn't take that long. It would probably be less than $50.

Do you have any friends that turkey hunt with a Remington shotgun? See if you can use their choke for a few shots, before you buy one. I'll check and see if I have any Remchoke X fulls laying around. I don't think I have any left, but I might.

My uncle uses a Kick's Gobbling Thunder (ported choke) on his Mossberg and it helped the pattern a lot. The only thing I've really heard is stay away from using Hevi-Shot type loads in a ported choke. I guess the irregular sizes of shot will damage the ports.

I would not get a second bead installed. If you get sights of any kind, just buy some adjustable Fiber optic sights like the Williams universal slugger sights that run around $30.

If your gun shoots straight the way it is, Tru Glo makes a set of fiber optic sights that are non adjustable and just clip on your rib. They run less than 20 bucks and give a good, bright, definite point of aim.

Your main concern should be wheter or not your gun shoots to point of aim as it is now. Most shotguns do not shoot to point of aim, especially when tighter chokes and better ammo are involved.

You must shoot large sheets of paper to see what your gun is doing. You can get a 35" wide by 140 foot long roll of brown paper in the paint section at home depot for 10 bucks. Cut some pieces 3 foot long, draw a dot in the middle, and shoot from a solid rest at 30 yards. Draw a ten inch circle around the most dense portion of the pattern and count how many pellets are in the circle. If you have more than 80 hits in the circle, move the target back five yards and try again. It doesn't matter what choke you use or what ammo you use(as long as it's legal), the distance you can consistently get 80-100 hits in a ten inch circle is your max distance.

If your gun is dead on with your factory bead, just use it or buy the cheap clip on TG sights I mentioned. If the POI is off, you will need adjustable sights like the Williams I mentioned.

Turkey hunting doesn't have to be expensive. If you want some great shells for not much $$, go to Walmart and pick up a grey box of the 3" winchester 1-7/8oz #6 loads for $6.47 a box of ten. Screw your full choke in and shoot some paper. If you want more range, buy a turkey choke. You must check the gun out with any mod you make as many chokes will shoot to different POIs and alot of ammo will shoot to different POIs as well. Hunt with exactly what you used to pattern, shoot no further than your maximum effective range of your set-up, and go whack some turkeys.

Ported chokes pattern great, even better than nonported.

Good Luck

Reloader7rm

I hunt with a single bead on my 870 and use a Ventilator choke. I had really good luck with the Tru-Glo Gobble Stopper and my buddy really likes the Primos Tight Wad, you can get either one for under $25.

I use single bead sights, full or extra full chokes. Never felt the need to change.

My family has shot plenty of turkeys with a modified choke. Just use bigger shot (#4, #2 works). You're not going to put a lot in the head, but you will hit them in the body also.

And yes, #4 will penetrate the through the feathers, but #2 works better.

Many states limit the size of the shot used to no larger than number 4's. Just a mention to make sure of the legality in your state if you go that route.

A single bead will work OK *IF* you can get a perfect cheek mount for every shot. However in my experience turkeys show up from any direction they want to and you'll end up taking shots from all kinds of odd positions. Fiber optic sights are easy to add if your gun has a rib. Adjustable models let you center your pattern.

Check these out:

http://www.truglo.com/content/products/firearm/turkey/pro_series_magnum.asp

I would recommend an extra full choke tube. Remington's choke is not too expensive and would be a good start.

Sure you can kill a turkey with one bead and a modified choke, but you can improve your gun considerably for turkey hunting for less than $100 with sights and a turkey choke.

i use a single bead and it works for me as you can see in the link on my signature

I hunted with an 870 with a 26 inch barell and bead for years, never felt it was an issue. Most any aftermarket extended choke in the .670 range will do, some are better than others, but IMO the vasy majority will serve you fine. Try a few different shot sizes and amo brands for best pattern.

YMMV

I have a Pure Gold ported choke in my Benelli that I use for coyote hunting. I have fired dozens of Hevi-shot loads through it at coyotes. I even fired one at a turkey two years ago. Ported chokes are fine, if they were bad, they wouldn't make them.

You can get a good choke for $35 or so.

I bought some fiber optic sights that clamped onto the vent rib. Makes for a nice precision shot.