[possom813]

I'm not familiar with a lot of shotguns. But my mother in laws boyfriend and I were talking and he asked me to look for a good Turkey gun for him.

So, I know what I like, but that's not necessarily what he likes. The requirements that he mentioned were:

It needs to accept up to 3.5" magnum loads
He wants little to no recoil from the magnum loads(semi-auto maybe?)
He doesn't want to spend a fortune

With my limited knowledge on shotguns(I've got what I need), all that I could think of that fit the bill was the Mossberg 935 Ultimag. The only reason it crossed my mind is because I asked about one a while back on here. He doesn't like that one because it won't handle slugs because of the 10ga barrel.


Any help would be appreciated...

[Floppy_D]

Little to no recoil on a 3.5" magnum load? Sounds like either a crew-serve or fixed emplacement type gun.

[KelTecian]

3.5 turkey loads with little or no recoil...good luck with that.

[possom813]

3.5 turkey loads with little or no recoil...good luck with that.

That's kind of what I was figuring. The guy it's for is in his mid 70's and is a smaller framed guy. I'm just trying to find a reduced recoil shotgun that he wouldn't have a heckuva time handling.

[Ash]

He's turkey hunting. 2 3/4's shells fully turkey choked will do fine. Generations of men have mixed the brains of turkey and such shot to fine success.

Ash

[natman]

"It needs to accept up to 3.5" magnum loads
He wants little to no recoil from the magnum loads(semi-auto maybe?)
He doesn't want to spend a fortune"

You've posted three contradictory requirements and slipped in a fourth (must shoot slugs).

A 3.5 inch turkey load launches almost 1000 grains @ 1150 fps. It is going to kick, no matter what you do. You could use a gas driven semi to take the edge off, but decent 3.5" semis are NOT cheap.

3.5" shells are great if you are participating in turkey shoots; i.e. your goal is to get the maximum possible amount of shot in the air. However, if you are willing to be satisfied with merely killing turkeys, then a 3" or even 2 3/4" gun will serve nicely. It will also be cheaper, lighter and kick less.

Check out this gun:

http://www.mossberg.com/images/Mossberg_Guns/930/NEW/85312.jpg

It's the Mossberg 930, model #85312. Semi auto, camo, adjustable sights, ported barrel, shoots 2 3/4 and 3" shells. It uses standard 12 gauge barrels, unlike the 935.

[jmr40]

3 1/2" turkey loads have recoil levels right up there with elephant guns such as the .458 win mag. Not worth it for a 20-25 lb. bird to me. A used Remington 1100 or 11-87 is gas operated and will reduce recoil and is not too expensive. I have no experience with the Mossberg 930, but many like them. I have found the Limbsaver recoil pad on my Remington 870 really tames recoil down to about the same level as a semi-auto.

[Dave McCracken]

I'm a little old school. If I were going after turkey, I'd use a 3" 870 with short barrel and tight choke, testing loads until one proved best.

In fact, that's what I did.