I am going to attempt to get a turkey this year.I have a Benelli SBE II that I used for ducks and swans and doves last year. I am looking for a good turkey choke for it. I am planning to use either #6 Heavy Shot or Winchester's version of it. I am looking for suggestions on chokes. Not just every choke manufacturer makes a turkey choke that is compatible with both Heavy Shot and the SBE II. Anybody done this before? Thanks for your time. D

Don't have a SBE but have several friends that do and they are no different than gearing up with any other turkey rig.

Don't know how experienced you are in this type of shotgunning so I'll give you the advice I'd give anyone new to the sport.

Some helpful pointers I can give you from my experience with several turkey guns:

#1)Buy some adjustable fiber optic sights that clamp on your rib. I personally prefer the Pro Series Magnum Extreme Gobble Dot fro Tru Glo, they run around 45 bucks on the net and are made out of durable metal and much stouter than the cheap sights out there on the market. Some of the cheap sights do ok but they can be easily knocked off the gun or knocked out of alignment. You don't want those cheapies that don't adjust. The Truglo Pro Series Magnum Gobble Dot Extreme has allen head screws for adjustments and they stay put. Take a look here at cabelas:Truglo Pro Series

#2) Whichever choke you get you need to pattern different loads because different loads pattern differently. The wad has a great deal to do with the pattern. I've cut open several different loads and studied the different wads and their effect on patterns. In my findings, Winchester has about the best wad and their loads proved to pattern tighter and more uniform in my turkey guns every time I tested them against several others.

#3) When you move to a turkey choke it's nearly like shooting a rifle because the pattern is so small at close range. You MUST sight in your shotgun with your turkey choke and the loads you intend to hunt with. Some guns will not shoot exactly where the bead is hence the need for the adjustable sight. Set up a target at 30 yards that's about 3'x3' at least and zero your shotgun so it patterns dead center. Then experiment at 40, 45, and 50 yards to see what your effective distance is. I prefer to set my max distance at a range where I can consistently get about 15 pellets in the neck/head of a Hunter's Specialties turkey target.

#4) Don't let anyone tell you #6 shot isn't big enough or doesn't carry as far, That's pure Hog Wash! I hear it all the time. I have not been able to get 4s or 5s to pattern as well as 6s in my guns simply because they don't have as many pellets therefore I LOSE range because of my set limitation on lethal hits at a given range. You don't really need Hevi shot either but buy it if you must. I have taken a pile of turkeys at 50 yards and dropped them dead as a hammer with plane jane #6 copper plated lead shot. You'll probably laugh but the best loads through my favorite turkey gun are the cheap Winchester loads in the grey box(3" 1-7/8 OZ #6). They outpattern all of the high priced brands I've patterned ths last few years. I just came to the conclusion most of it was just advertising hype like anything else we buy. Last season I snagged a Red Tag sale at Wal-mart and purchased about 7-8 boxes for about 3.50 a box. Just last season I took 2 at 50 and one witnessed at 65 yards!! Yep, those cheap grey boxed winchesters. By the way, I didn't know that Turkey was that far, it was heat of the moment when I was making a move through the brish and there they were. It did however kill him stone dead and we measured from the bird to the hull where I fired. It was luck no doubt but, another slam on the claim that #6s don't carry

#5) You don't need 3.5" Magnums to kill a turkey, They will not give you any more range and often blow patterns. They just give you alittle more recoil and a shell that impresses your buddies. 3" will do fine.

Those simple hints will save you countless hours of range time and possibly save you from losing a Boss Tom when the opportunity arises.

That's just part of the equation. Camo, decoys, calls, calling technique, scouting, and studying turkey's are all different parts of the equation in becoming a successful turkey hunter.

I'll try and help you out the best I can if you need any other advice.

I will warn you, when you bag a couple of Boss Toms you'll be hooked for life. When you bag one of those Big boys that take you weeks to get and you finally outsmart him, you'll be hooked even more. When a Tom shakes the woods with a gobble at close range on a cool quite spring morning my heart beats so hard I believe a guy sitting next to me could probably hear it!

Best of Luck,

Reloader

DHunter, I smooth forgot to put in some choke selections in my last post.

Also remember that the tightest constriction doesn't mean it will give you a tighter pattern, Some of the Hevy shot tubes aren't as tight as the lead tubes. Different loads will pattern better in a larger ID tube than tighter tube.

There are alot of good ones out there. Kick's is a good choke as well as some of the others. Some of the lower priced chokes like the Hunter Specialties or Truglo will work great.

Believe it or not, The best patterning choke I have is a cheap tru dot extended and ported tube. I have it in a light weight camo winchester 1300 and it consistently gives me 15 deadly hits at 50 yards and around 40 hits at 40 yards.

I don't know if you can find the tru dot tubes anymore.

The Hastings, HS, and Tru glo tubes should be easy to find.

Good Luck and Best of luck bagging some big Toms this season,

Reloader

Here's some I found on ebay, they say they are threaded for Benelli but, I'd send them a message and make sure they are for the SBEII:

Turkey Tube

Primos Tight Wad

Jelly head By Primos

Strut Stopper

Here are 4500 threads on the subject:
http://www.nwtf.org/message_board/

Also, I like a low power scope - just like your Africa big-bore!!

I ended up getting the Kicks Turkey choke. I will pattern it this week and do what I can to get ready to hunt next weekend. I have several different loads of ammo including winchester 3 inch and 3 1/2 inch extended loads. Thanks for your help. "D"

The very best one we found for my hunting partner's SBE was the "Undertaker". Solid one-shots on birds out to 60 yards.

Reloader did not steer you wrong. The best shells I found for my Nova were the Winchester #5s in 3". I could never get the 3.5s to shoot all that well, but it hasn't mattered.