Stupidly expensive Turkey loads

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DukeConnor said:
I suppose head shots are possible but I've never seen a turkey hold its head still.
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They are possible . I once got one in the head from 60 yards shooting offhand , but I was not aiming at the head when I shot . His head must have moved 6 inches while that bullet was in the air . My young sons thought I was the best shot in the world until I explained that I just got lucky.
 
I just killed a turkey with my 66-year-old Mossberg bolt action at 49 yards using 3-inch tss , I wanted to hunt with this gun because it was a carbon copy of the gun that my dad bought for me when I was 10 years old. I miss judged my distance by 9 yards but it got it done
 
Only turkey hunting I've ever done was with archery equipment. I have yet to score. Very difficult to draw up close without being seen.

And, turkeys can move amazingly quickly when spooked.

I'm telling you, if turkeys could smell, they would be un-killable. I'm having enough trouble getting close enough without an additional handicap.
 
jmr40 said:
Some of those are $80-$90 for 5 rounds. That breaks down to close to $20 with every trigger pull.
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I’m so out of touch with today’s turkey loads. I’m still using some Winchester super X copper plated 4’s and 6’s from the 70’s. That should tell y’all how many shots I’ve had but it’s still one of my favorite hunts. Good luck to those that go.
 
Here is a great thing about the high tech turkey loads. If you do not think they are worth it just buy something else. I doubt if you can save much money reloading them because of all the development and patterning to see if your load is working right. I can not see that you would need many of them. Maybe 1 or 2 to pattern the gun initially and then 3 or 4 to hunt with. Many people shoot that much money in target loads in an afternoon at the sporting clays range. I do not view companies that offer super expensive specialized products as necessarily trying to rip us off but rather applaud them for expanding the range of things available. Even if I do not buy them.
 
Swampman said:
Meh.
I heard depleted uranium is WAY better... :)
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Tungsten is a bit harder than spent uranium but both are similar densities (just over 19 gr/cc) so against turkeys we should expect very similar results. Uranium only works better against armored targets that are hard enough to cause a pyrophoric reaction in the spent uranium. The extra low level radiation is an extra bonus too, if you really dislike your target.
 
Well if I can't find reasonably priced ammo for my spring turkey hunt I can always go to my crossbow it's got better range anyway. LOL
 
When turkeys were first introduced around these parts, guys went after them like ducks and geese......body shots with large lead. That quickly evolved into things like copper plated #6's, going for head and neck shots. Dad bought a 3" 12 gauge with 30" full choke barrel just for that purpose. What I find interesting is when looking at some of these new turkey loads, shot size has dropped to 7 1/2, 8's and even 9's. Would not think #9 shot would take down a turkey, but apparently it will.

So not sure how some of those high $ 1 3/8 oz 20 gauge loads differ that much from just a 1 1/8 oz skeet load of #8's in 12 gauge, shot through a 28" or 30" full choke?
 
A friend who shot turkey #101 this week is currently using the WW Longbeard XR which is copper plated No 5 in a trick wad.
Of the three thus far this season he has killed one at 42 broken ground paces, one at 22, one at 23. Missed one at 50+. Yes, he aims to put a tight shot pattern on the head and neck.

He and his family have eaten a lot of game, venison and turkey, over the years, but company gets beef and Butterball.
But it is also his main sport, he describes his battles with the birds on TFL.
https://thefiringline.com/forums/showthread.php?p=6863344#post6863344
 
The two types of turkey hunters I’ve met are

1: the guy (generally younger) that’s buys all the gear spends all the cash, he hunts every day of turkey season, he wants to be able to kill a turkey at 150 yards if possible, a 4” 8ga shell would be fine even if it required a new 5k gun and $50 a round, so long as he can get a extra 5 yards with it.

2: the guy (generally older) that will tell you “if I can’t get him inside 30 yards, then I don’t deserve to kill him” these people use whatever ammo/gun setup they have, sometimes a .410, these also turkey hunt everyday of season.


Most companies targeted buyers are guy #1
 
Bush Pilot said:
Seriously? I guess buying a pre-plucked turkey ready to cook is much more difficult than getting up in the middle of the night and matching wits with a bird with a pea sized brain. From what I've heard wild turkey really isn't all that good
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I really hope this was in jest. Store bird has no fat and therefore no flavor. They dry out quickly too. Wild birds have some fat but not much. The fat does hold flavor and it is quite tasty. Especially when cut into 1” cubes and stuffed with a little cheddar cube, a chunk of a pepperocini pepper, and then wrapped with bacon before hitting the grill. Grilled til bacon is done...stays moist, keeps wild flavor but it blends with cheese and pepper to a point of perfection.

And for a critter with a pea sized brain, they sure do put some brain cells together when it comes to avoiding being shot. Their entire thought process is (find mate, don’t get eaten, find mate, don’t get eaten)fairly simple but their survival instinct is somewhat impressive.
 
For pricing...
Ballistic Products is generally fair. The big boys likely get much better pricing than this, but it does go to show that the materials are far from cheap. $2 per ounce of material and they use 2 ounces per shell for the premium 12 ga stuff. About 1.5 oz for the 20ga. That’s $3 or $4 in nothing but shot. It likely takes a special wad, so another quarter, and the general high brass shell and powder rounds out the material list. Looking at around $5 per shot if you make it yourself. Now add into consideration that they are dedicating a production line, have to pay for R&D, special packaging, and have to pay a fortune to get ads out there and get magazine reviews to favor the product enough for somebody to be willing to pay the premium for the shells. If they use the very best tungsten then it adds about $2 to each shell. You make it yourself and your looking at $35 a box. The $40-$50 range suddenly seems reasonable in this light. 9A8A1ADB-4B65-41D5-BFB2-C493173CB315.png
 
AK Hunter said:
Well if I can't find reasonably priced ammo for my spring turkey hunt I can always go to my crossbow it's got better range anyway. LOL
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$65 for turkey loads? I wonder if I would get in trouble for simply using the #5 pheasant shells that have been in my arsenal for years. I wonder if the turkey's head would even care a tiny bit.
 
splattergun said:
$65 for turkey loads? I wonder if I would get in trouble for simply using the #5 pheasant shells that have been in my arsenal for years. I wonder if the turkey's head would even care a tiny bit.
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#5 high brass pheasant shells from a fixed modified choke in an old 16ga pump (closer to full but listed as mod) did good on my first bird.
 
I never loaded tungsten but I gave hevi-shot a go 20 years ago.

Ballistic Products had everything including protective wads, buffering material and Teflon wraps. The hevi-shot was sold in like 8 lb jars. Your shooting a material harder than your barrel.

My results were mixed. I thought #2s and BBS would thump honkers at moderately long range. Didn’t work out real well. But I loaded some #6s and they were deadly on ducks at long range. One day I was hunting with 2 partners and the way the conditions were, they worked into them, after they shot, the birds would flair over me. Every bird was a minimum of 45 yards, some closer to 60. I think I was 9 for 10 that day but what amazed me was there wasn’t a single cripple. But it was cost prohibitive so I still have the remnants of that experiment taking up room in my loading room.

The state I live in requires non-toxic for everything, including my passion, chukar hunting. So I’m paying more than $1.00 a load, closer to $1.50 a round for an upland game round. 1 1/4 oz bismuth.

I have 2 other options, quit hunting which isn’t really an option, or hunt my neighboring state which I do mostly.
 
kalielkslayer said:
I never loaded tungsten but I gave hevi-shot a go 20 years ago.

Ballistic Products had everything including protective wads, buffering material and Teflon wraps. The hevi-shot was sold in like 8 lb jars. Your shooting a material harder than your barrel.

My results were mixed. I thought #2s and BBS would thump honkers at moderately long range. Didn’t work out real well. But I loaded some #6s and they were deadly on ducks at long range. One day I was hunting with 2 partners and the way the conditions were, they worked into them, after they shot, the birds would flair over me. Every bird was a minimum of 45 yards, some closer to 60. I think I was 9 for 10 that day but what amazed me was there wasn’t a single cripple. But it was cost prohibitive so I still have the remnants of that experiment taking up room in my loading room.

The state I live in requires non-toxic for everything, including my passion, chukar hunting. So I’m paying more than $1.00 a load, closer to $1.50 a round for an upland game round. 1 1/4 oz bismuth.

I have 2 other options, quit hunting which isn’t really an option, or hunt my neighboring state which I do mostly.
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BPI had bismuth at one point. Are you loading with that or are you just buying factory shells? I am curious on how bismuth loads as I have a friend from college who lives in non-toxic land and we were talking reloading last time we talked. He was griping about the cost of Barnes bullets and asked if I knew of a good alternative. I don’t since I shoot lead.
 
jmr40 said:
They use tungsten for the pellets. Most are loaded with smaller #8 or #9 shot to get a lot of pellets down range. They hold tight patterns and the tungsten still penetrates even in the smaller shot sizes.
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I saw some reports of 28 gauge #9s being used with great success on turkeys at great distances.
 
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