Which New "Turkey Gun" to Buy

[ayeaye]

Leaning towards a Rem 870 SPS 12ga. 26"bbl 3 1/2" Mag.

Any opinions/suggestions?

Will 'pattern' before 'spring gobbler' comes in on 4/26 here in PA.

Any thoughts/experience on Rems 'HeviShot' loads?

Thanks in advance..

And good luck to all you turkey hunters!!!!

 

[M. Jager]

Well naturally advise you to follow suit and go with the "gun" I use on turkeys, its made by Golden Eagle........turkey hunting is just more fun with these low recoil, low noise versions.
But on the subject of those noisy and more effective turkey slayers......good choice although just about any pump or even a single shot would be fine for the turkey woods. One suggestion is if you plan to use it for turkey only I would go with a 21-22 inch barrel.
Matt

 

[Dave McCracken]

Good choice, IF you handle recoil well and have some experience.

If not, still a good choice IF you use 2 3/4 or 3" loads. Heavy loads will tear you a new one if your fit and form are not up to spec.

Conventional wisdom says all turkey guns should have bunty barrels. IMO, what you suggest will have more versatility and do the job too. One of the better Gobbler Getters I've known used a 28" barreled repeater.

 

[Arcli9ht]

I would also like to know people's opinions on this. I am looking at getting a Benelli-Nova-Pump 28"-barrel-all-camo-what-have-you shotgun to buy in 5 months, after basic training, for fall turkey hunting. Anyone have an opinion on this rig?

/Arcli9ht

 

[HSMITH]

Hit a gunshow and pick up a used Mossberg 835. You might as well save $150+ while learning that 3.5" turkey loads out of a pump gun HURT!!!! They are nasty, and takes an experienced shooter to handle them.

For the use a turkey gun sees an 835 is built well enough for 1000 lifetimes and then some. They are very very close to the 870 in durability, probably a toss-up acutally.

Lots of guys had to have the 3.5" and they bought the only game in town under $900 for over 4 years, the 835. They got SMACKED by it, and went back to 3" shells. Now the 3.5" auto is getting a lot cheaper and they are selling them off at an alarming rate to offset the auto. Last gunshow I went to had at least 10 835's, in 85% condition they were $180, in 99% they were $225.

In a dedicated turkey gun the 835 is by far the best value out there if you want 3.5" capability. Use the $150+ you save for other adventures afield.

EDIT: A BPS 10 gauge is WAAAAYYY more pleasant to shoot heavy turkey loads out of, the extra weight makes a world of difference. A nice used BPS 10 will be darn close to the price of the 870 or the Nova new. Just a thought.......

 

[Dave McCracken]

Turkey hunting is more about calling, location, concealment,camo, etc, than the hardware. Just about any tightly choked 12 or 10 gauge and a load of hard, possibly plated 4s,5,or 6s, can do the job.

Of course, patterning is essential.

If one sets up for less than 35 yard yard shot opps, a standard Full choke will do well. And, the RIGHT 2 3/4" load may put as many pellets where it counts as those expensive and punishing Magnums.

Arc, the Nova with a Full or Extra Full choke will do OK.But there's also lots of other shotguns that can be said about also, including the Big Four.

H, this reminds me of the for sale ads after the first Dirty Harry movie....

FOR SALE:

S&W Model 29 44 Magnum. New condition, shot once.

HTH...

 

[Arcli9ht]

I've used a shotgun with 3.5" shells before, it does hurt, but I'm a big guy so my shoulder absorbs a lot of it. I don't mind ending up laying on my back, gun pointed straight up after firing (rotate hunter 90 degrees back ), just as long as what I was aiming at is dead.

The Nova pump is really light because its mostly plastic (yeah, yeah, polymer), but its supposed to have a recoil reducer in it, so I dont know how a 3.5 feels coming out of it. The Mossberg 835 I tried is a little heavier and without any recoil reducing stuff in the stock, and a solid plastic plate on the end of the stock, it had me backpedaling after every shot and left my with a nice bruise on my shoulder after only 5 shots.

Browning also has a contender in this, I forget the model number. It was much heavier than the Remington 870, Mossberg 835 or the Nova Pump. Had a bottom eject. The weight might make it easier to take the recoil, but lugging it around all day with all the other junk you need might get to be a pain. It also costs a bit more change than any of the other shotguns I was looking at.

Dave: I know that turkey hunting is mostly about calling, location, and hiding, but all of that is discussed at great length in the videos and tapes I've gotten on turkey hunting. For some reason, they all seem to gloss over the hardware part.

/Arcli9ht

 

[ruger357]

870 SPS is a good choice.

 

[makdaddy03]

Winchester 1300 12ga pump.

 

[Dave McCracken]

Maybe they gloss over the hardware part, Archli9ht,because it's relatively simple.

Find a gun/choke/load that puts 6-8 legal sized pellets in the head and neck of a turkey at a given distance and only take shots within that distance.

Back when I patterned many turkey loads for use in Frankenstein, my over publicized parts 870, the second best load for actually putting the pellets where I needed them was a 1990 era Remington 1 3/8 oz load of 6s,IIRC.

This beat out some 1 7/8 oz, 3 inch barnburners for actual hits,though the silohuettes I used showed plenty of holes elsewhere. That's from an Extra Full Colonial tube, long cone.

Patterning for a turkey load is simple,but not easy. One straps on a wearable recoil pad like the PAST, adds weight to the shotgun,ingests one's anti-inflammatory of choice and grinds out the patterns until one load shows those 6-8 pellets or better where they count. If that proves difficult, change shotguns or choke tubes.

The super tight aftermarket tubes get their praises sung, but IMO anything over 40 POC or so is overkill,and often the patterns with most loads are worse, not better. Every now and then it all melds,though,and the setup is a legend in the making.

If you keep at it, you'll get there.

HTH, and good luck....

 

[ayeaye]

OK - Went w/ the '870 Express Turkey' 21" bbl w/ extra full turkey choke tube.

Numerous claims of 3 1/2" painful experiences convinced me to stay w/ a 3" mag.

Picked up a box of Federal 1 7/8 oz #4's and #5's to pattern tomorrow.

I'll let ya'll know how it goes.

Still - anyone have any experience w/ the Remington ' HeviShot' loads???

Thanks again,
Larry

 

[Guyon]

That Express 870 is a great gun. I do have the Super Mag version, but I must admit that I've only shot one 3.5" shell through it. Likely, it will be the last one I shoot through it. Muy painful. Damn near broke my nose with my right wrist because I wasn't anticipating the recoil. Read somewhere that the recoil on a 3.5 inch magnum is greater than a lot of these "elephant" rifles that safari hunters use.