My 870 tacticool turkey gun project patterned terribly with the tube I bought and I cant tell if its the barrel geometry or the choke tube. I don't want to spend too much on choke tubes fearing i may need a different barrel or gun.



Have people ever done a choke tube swap so you could try a choke and mail it back to the owner?

May check out oldgobbler.com and see if anybody is interested.

Can also be some good deals on used tubes. Buy ones you want to try then sell whatever doesn't pan out.

What choke and load combination have you tried so far?

I'll check the tube make when I get home, but it was #5 hevi shot. The choke was marked "long beard" and I made sure it says its compatible with Hevi-shot,

I'm required to shoot non-toxic shot on public lands.

I just go the gun so Im going to see if conventional chokes even pattern. Normally it has one of those crowned ported cylinder tubes meant to jab people.

Call William at Sumtoy. Tell him what you want and he will build you a choke.

I think ANY gun will pattern a good load with the correct tube/load combo.

just figure out what load you would like to throw, and then buy the correct choke for it. I have a "woods" choke for #6's and a "field" choke for #5's. You can look on kicks choke tube site and they will give you the recommended constriction for your particular gun/load/tube combination

#5 hevishot probably won't pattern that great because there's not enough pellets to get great patterns.


In HTL loads 6's, 7's, 8's and 9's are where it's at for great patterns and excellent killing power.


#5's carry a lot of energy but of your pattern sucks and you can't get enough pellets on target why shoot them?

What barrel length?

Won't be any issues patterning #5 Hevi as long as you find the right choke.

Head over to oldgobbler and go to the Remington forum where you will have tons of info on what guys are using.

I had an 11-87 several years ago.
I bought two aftermarket turkey ch. tubes for it.
I patterned the turkey chokes and the OEM Rem choke .
Guess which choke patterened better, The Rem choke of course !
70 bucks down the tube

My dad has MY Remington Super Full straight rifled choke in his 11-87. Doubt I will get it back until I inherit the gun which I hope is many years down the road.

Patterning SOB with lead #4s.

Update:

The choke is a calson long beard xr 0.660 that says its rated for hevi-shot.

I shoot 5 shot hevi out of ignorance. I used lead turkey hunting in WI with my father in law and when I started hunting public land in MN I had to use non-toxic. I didnt realize its heavier than lead and didnt drop a shot size (I've learned much reading this forum).

So the tacticool 870 has a 18.5 inch barrel and it didnt like that shot and choke combo. I plan on trying some other chokes & loads to see what happens.

Ive had good luck in my 28 inch barrel BPS with hevi 5 shot, but its a bit long when I hunt out of my blind. My BPS likes the hevi shot blended too.

exactly what I want to avoid... :-(

That would be a constriction problem, not a choke problem.

Good advice. Shells are getting so specialized choke makers are building chokes for specific loads. SumToy is not the only maker who will work with you to get the load you want to pattern well with your barrel.

When I had my 870 I was using both the Hevi Shot #5 and the Winchester Longbeard #5 and was using a TruGlo TG170X Ported Choke Tube which patterned great out to 45 yards or so.. I have since Bought a Beretta and no longer have a use for it. It is an inexpensive experiment if you would like to try it out in your gun........I have it for sale here in the Classifieds for $20.00 shipped.

I tested a fair number of choke tubes several years ago.
Ended up sticking with my Remchoke Superfull and running HV lead #4's.
Does well with Hevi shot Magnum Blend too.
Gun is 870 Supermag turkey gun.........23" bbl.
I only run 3" for turkeys.
Got this gun because 23" bbl kinda makes it a "do all".

I’ve had good luck with pattering 5’s in all my guns. Granted when I shoot heavi shot I am shooting 6s but only because I got a great deal on them years ago. When I shoot lead in the other guns I shoot 5s with great success. I would suspect that the constriction is a tad too much for the 5s to pattern well. When I talked to the people at Indian Creek they asked what size shot I wanted to shoot and I want to say there was .005” difference in the choke for the larger size shot than the smaller shot size that they would recommend.

I've had lead 5's pattern good but never hevishot 5's

A 2oz load of lead 5's has 380 pellets in it while a 2oz load of hevishot 5's has 294 pellets, so it has fewer pellets which is why it's called hevishot. It's hard to get a good pattern with roughly 100 less pellets.

I know hevishot deforms less and holds tighter down range but with 100 fewer pellets that's quite a drop. Lead 6's are 439 and hevi 6's are 382 so the difference isn't that great. Hevi 7's are 508 for a 2oz load which helps them throw big numbers.

Should be about 350 or less #5 lead pellets in 2 oz and 320 pellets in a 2 oz load of Hevi-13 #5 in a 2 oz. load. Approximately 30 pellets difference.

I was using this chart to get my numbers, they could be wrong though: Pellet Count

Every gun/choke/load is its own law and what works for one person may be the worst option when tried in a different combination of the same components. I would try a more open choke as suggested by another. As pellet size and shot charge increases, the less choke one often needs to get a desired result. The same can often be said when using harder shot. #5 shot seems to fall in the grey area between large and small shot and can go either or even both ways.

Another potential issue is the barrel length. 18.5" is cutting it pretty close to where the gases propelling the shot charge can have an effect on patterns. 20"-22" is generally accepted as a minimum length with standard powders and shot charges. Even with the extra length of a turkey tube you may be a bit short for at least that ammunition choice. With the slower burning propellants used in heavy loads this effect is more likely to happen. A box of Hevi-shot Classic Doubles is about the price of an inexpensive choke tube and might produce the desired patterns due to lower velocity and resulting muzzle pressures/gas speeds.

Something else to consider: the closer you bring the bird, the "better" the pattern becomes.

Never know on the Hevi, the chart I used was different. I do know that lead #5 fall around 170-175 pellets per oz.

sending a pm

Not exactly a swap, more like just getting it to someone who can use it. I have a new in package Roy Rhodes extended, non ported, 12 gauge .650" choke tube for standard Browning Invector, win-choke, Mossberg 500 and 9200, H&R, weatherby and SKB systems (off the packaging). Choke has a knurled end, so no wrench required. Choke is available for the cost of shipping, $7.75, using a small flat rate usps priority box.