Home Forums Birds & Dogs Turkey Hunting Best turkey gun under $500?

10-4 Lazy. Sounds like he just needs to buckle down. In his defense he's got a young wife and 2 little ones so I'm sure he's busy. Also here in NY where he's originally from, he got spoiled hunting out our back door. I'm suppose to get out there in the next year or two so I'll see for myself. He's talking about meeting in Montana for some trout fishing so we'll see

I just started using the Mossberg 530 auto last year and was really impressed with it. For factory turkey chokes, you can't beat Mossberg. They are priced very reasonable. It also has a Burris # 3 red dot on it as at 77 it helps me in the heavy timber we hunt sometimes. I also have a Beretta camo Pintail and a 870 20 ga youth camo. I got it for my Granddaughters but they like shooting the 12 gauges. My only wish is that Winchester would bring back the elite supreme shells. Anyway, look at the Mossberg Turkey 530.

Remington 870 by a wide margin.

Did they quit making them altogether or are they just a seasonal run?

charlesdaily is a fine gun

They are, but IIRC, KCI went out of business; so no warranty and spare parts may be hard to come by.

Remington 870! It's the Chevy of shotguns. Everyone who is anyone makes something for it to make it souped up. I have several and they all are deadly on long beards. A Indian Creek or Rhino choke and you are golden!

Academy has then for sub $300. Catch Remington this spring offering a $20-$30 rebate and you'll be in a new shotgun for mid $200's...

D2D, your making me drool with those low #s (grin). Looks like I'm gonna have to get these Christmas bills squared up and and get serious about this dedicated turkey gun idea. Thanks for all the input guys

Think about this if you do as for modifications over time;

1) Indian Creek .665 Choke for Hevi shot #6 or larger, .660 if you want to shoot the #7 loads (special order for the non standard constrictions). ( http://www.indiancreekss.com/choketubes.html _

2) Timney 870 trigger kit ( http://www.timneytriggers.com/index.php?option=com_wrapper&view=wrapper&Itemid=87 )

3) TruGlo StarBrite Deluxe in Green ( http://www.truglo.com/pc_product_de...p;catid=CC464CC39D4E4360BF05DD8A38F256EC )

4) Gun Dipped - Hydro Graphics - in a early spring pattern with lots of greys and a splash of green here and there ( http://www.hydrographicsinc.com/patterns/camouflage/wtp-380.html )

5) Nitro Company Custom Turkey Ammo - MH378i ( http://nitrocompany.com/ammunition.htm )

6) Rob Roberts Custom Barrel Work - Forcing Cone, Entire barrel polished, EDM porting ( http://www.robrobertsgunworks.com/turkey.html )

They stopped making them altogether. They said cost was a factor on the components.

Dang. Those pattern better than anything in my 870. I've got a few boxes left that should last awhile but may have to start testing some other stuff.

Guys, if you keep shots within 40 yards - you owe it to yourself to try #7 Hevi Shot. It smashes turkeys!

I wouldn't pay upwards of $5 a shell for something that I had to keep my shots within 40 yards. Any modern 12 gauge with a turkey choke should be able to kill a turkey every time inside 40 with lead 5's or 6's.
I'm not an advocate of shooting turkeys at long distances. I like for them to be right around or just inside the 30 yard mark. If they get much closer than that a lot of stuff can start to go wrong.
That being said, if I'm on a wide open bench in the mountain or a river swamp where you can clearly see 100 yards plus thru the woods and one hangs up at 47-48 yards cause he can't see a hen he's coming home with me anyway.
I don't want to step in here and start a war but #7 hevi actually has less energy than a lead 6, especially when launched at the low velocities that hevi-13 loads them at.
To each his own though, I know some real turkey killers that absolutely swear by them, they just aren't for me.

Rem 870 with rem #6 nitro I have only found 17/8 oz but they leave a rag hole in the target head of a turkey at 30yds.

Remington 870, for a reliable economical semi auto I got a Remington SPR 453 (Baikal MP-153) a few years ago for 399. It is 3.5" and the recoil with 3" shells is about non existant. It is threaded for Tru Chokes though, so you don't have the choke options of Rem, Mossberg or pretty well anythin else. Kick's and Carlson's make chokes. I use a Carlson's .665" (it might be .660) which works well. Benelli Novas are a dime a dozen used also, but I like the 870 better.
You could also use "Camo Form" wrap on your current gun which won't mar the finish and comes off easily. It's very similar to 3M Vet wrap if you are familiar with that product.

Thanks TakeEm. I am not very familiar with the camo wraps. It was something I've considered tho. Does the wrap come off with ease? No residue? It's an option that I've thought of due to the fact that the gun does hold a great pattern and I'm a little concerned with hanging it up and buying a new turkey gun, then finding that I went backwards.

Best Pump Shotgun for Turkey Hunting on today's market is the Browning BPS 12 GA Stalker with 24 or 26 inch barrel .

I've got a black matte Mossburg 930 semi-auto. Makes the 3 and 3 1/2" loads a bit easier to shoot.

Yes, it only sticks to itself so it comes off very easily, it's about $14 for a roll of it, comes in lots of different camo. No residue at all.

http://www.mcnett.com/tactical/camoform#19503

Give it a shot. Don't expect a dipped gun look like you can get with vinyl tapes or 3M kits, but it will camo it up for turkey season and you can take it off the rest of the year if you want.

I'm using a BPS now and it does well, one of my sons carries one too. My other son uses a 870 that I passed to him several years ago. I couldn't tell u how many turkeys or ducks that 870 has accounted for. To my knowledge its never failed to function properly.
Go to a gun store and feel which one you like, buy it & don't look back.