Days gone by I had a dedicated custom barreled turkey gun. It got gifted to a friend, who put it to better use than I could in recent years past. This year I am chasing the gobblers again. I have an old Remington 870 express with the screw in chokes, and I am looking for advice on which choke to buy to put in it to make it a dedicated turkey rig. It's a 12 gauge with a 28" barrel.

Thanks for any intel.

I would try the standard full choke you have. It will probably pattern OK. Try it with #6's.

I have an 870 & that's what I use. Kills birds dead out to 40 yards-----45 if you miss judge. I'm using #4's this spring. CB

Thanks CB, I actually have an Extra Full, and neither it or the full patterned real well, probably good enough, but I was looking for better, shooting 3" #5's out of it.......

i faced the same question several years ago with my 870. solved it by purchasinf three different brands of ammo. it shot great patterns with the second brand i tried. i stayed with that one and took the third back for a refund. your gun may do the same thing.

I use an 870 for turkeys and geese. I got a nice tom last fall. I was using 3 1/2" number 5 hevi shot. I used a carlson's dead coyote choke tube it is about an extra full. I forget thew exact restriction but is supposed to the sweet spot for hevishot. Anyways I was very impressed. The shot I had has a hurry up and shoot or the bird was gone situation. I misjudged the distance. I pulled the trigger and the bird folded and did not even twitch. I got out the range finder 84 yards. I was shocked. So my advice is hevishot with an extra full choke.

Make sure you pattern everything !!!! There are many variations in chokes and ammo so check each combination, you may get surprises ! Hardened shot,plated shot, buffered shot ,steel or other non-lead shot all tighten patterns.

Hevi shot is just amazing I flatten a wounded goose with 7/8oz of 7 hevi shot at 65 yards. The goose was walking up the bank across a river. Pulled the trigger and it never moved. Mod choke.

Good intel guys, I will have to find some hevi-shot is sounds like. I've looked at Carlsons and a few other chokes, may just try a few more types of ammo in the chokes I have....

Fish, I've got a bit of experience with turkey chokes from a few diff shotguns including remingtons. I pattern turkey guns quite a bit and I've got a project going for the ultimate turkey reload right now.

From your set-up, my suggestions would be:
Rem Super Full factory choke with Hevi 13 3" 2oz #6. Most think that is a sub-par tube, but my results prove other wise and that's actually the best choke I've used from Remington guns(It approaches the hallowed 200 pellet count in a 10" circle at 40 yards with hevi #6 1-3/4oz loads). That said, I've tried: Stardot .667, Hastings.665, Hastings .660, Primos tight wad, Kicks Gobblin Thunder .665, Two Rem SFs(yes they patterned slightly diff), Rem XF, Primos Jelly Head .665 from Rem guns.

My best advice would be to try the SF or Primos Jelly head on the cheaper side or go with a Indian Creek BDS.

That primos JH tube does well with both lead or hevi #6s.

Shoot some large sheets of paper (30x30 or 36x36) and draw a 10" circle around the most dense portion. You need at least 75 hits in the 10 at your max range, but 100+ is much better. My long range rig will put 180-200 H13 #6s in a 10 at 40(Rem 870 SM H13 1-3/4oz #6s, SF .665 choke) and 100-110 at 50yds. My 835 will slightly beat those #s, but I hate to carry the loud heavy thing. My 1300(light weight rig) will place 130 in a 10 at 40(3" Win XRHD #6s 1-3/4oz) and 100+ at 50.

I've taken quite a few toms at 50 yards with those set-ups.

If you ever want to talk turkey or turkey guns, send me a PM. I've bagged 4 of the rascals so far this spring(1 in La, 3 in TX) and hope to get one more here at home before the end if I can get another volunteer

Have a Good One

Reloader

Fish,

I have tried various choke tubes in everything from a Mossberg 835 to a Remington 11-87 Super Mag. The one thing I have learned is that no two guns will shoot the same!!! I have had great success with Briley straight rifled tubes
in the Mossberg's and my 11-87 likes the Carlson Turkey Choke. My 10 Ga SP10 likes the patternmaster tube best so go figure. Also each gun will shoot one shot and one brand better than the others. If you have friends that hunt buy a couple rounds of their favorite load and see if your gun will shoot them well. It can really get expensive buying several boxes of diffrent brands and shot sizes.

Hawkeye47

Hawkeye47,

You hit that one on the head for sure. Turkey guns are no diff than rifles. One gun may prefer a tube/load combo much more than the next guy's.

That said, there are several tube/loads that tend to do well on average from similar guns.

It seems when you get into the higher priced tubes such as IC or Rhino etc, they seem to do well from many rigs. That doesn't mean the cheaper variety can't work well. IE that 1300 patterns well with a cheapo stardot I picked up on red tag several years ago at wally world.

As far as ammo, there are a couple of ammos that tend to do better than others on average. H13 is a hard to beat turkey load and if you prefer lead, Win is hard to beat. Turkey loads must have good components to perform and both of those have good components.

Good Luck

Reloader

Reloader and Hawkeye, thanks. I do shoot everything to check the pattern. We have a 'pattern wall' at our range. I've got one of the Carlsons on the way, and will pick up a Jelly Head tomorrow, they've got them at our local gun shop. I have pretty much used #5's all along, but will try some 6 shot also, I've got quite a few options, and just orderd the 3" mag with Win's version of Hevi Shot, forgot how many Ozs. of shot is in em, but I always like Win supreme ammo for rifles.....

Getting excited about this stuff again---FUN!

Those are pretty good shells Fish, I've had pretty good luck with them in my 1300. If you get a chance, try some h13 loads as well. #6 is all you need in the heavier lead shot variety. I've taken a pile of them at 50 yards with #6 lead w/o a hitch. Patterns are far more important than shot size for turkey as long as we are talking #6+.

Good Luck

Reloader

Thanks Ronnie, I'll get some 6's in.

Pardon my ignorance, but what are h13 loads?

Just got in my order from Cabela's, new turkey vest--don't know about it yet...new face-mask/hat combo---like it---#5's in, wouldn't you know it, backorderd the choke on me! DAMN!

Will try the chokes I have with the Win #5's and get some 6's tomorrow if I can.....always something tripping you up isn't there?????

Hevi-shot Hevi-13 turkey loads. Check out the rebates on Hevi-shot.


http://www.hevishot.com/images/panels/turkey/HeviShot%2...3%20Sell%20Sheet.pdf

http://www.hevishot.com/rebates.html

Thanks Wrongtarget, I feel a little like

appreciate the link to the rebate--got some on the way.

Midsouth is a good place to buy the h13, look under the turkey loads section, not under hevi shot for some reason.

Good Luck

Reloader

Fish,

The Carlson's tube works very well in my 11-87 super mag! I like the heavier shot if you are useing lead. #6 will not penetrate a plywood pattern board as well as the 4's or 5's but if the #6's shoot a better pattern then that's what you need to shoot. Just try not to shoot over 35-40 yards.

Good Hunting,
Hawkeye47

My Remington 1100 likes the Rem SF choke the best and my Benelli Nova likes the JellyHead. They both shoot a point of aim tight pattern out to 50 yards and the Nova out to about 65 since it is a 3". I found that the 3.5" did nothing more for me than hurt the shoulder, so I stick with the 3". The Nova also likes the regular plated turkey loads in 3" #5 shot while the 1100 likes the duplex loades.

Fish, listen up here, I'm going to try to save you some time, money, and sore shoulder pain...

I'm 57, live in Alabama and have killed a coupla eighteen wheeler loads of gobblers with various shotguns. I owned prolly the first custom turkey barrel with interchangable chokes made. I've shot em all(almost)...

listen...get a Rhino .660 Extended Turkey choke and a box of Nitro Ammo Co's triplex 4-5-7 hevishot turkey loads, not the Remington or any other brand. NITRO AMMOO CO. only.

You will now have the best combo for turkey KILLING that any money can buy, irregardless of what anyone else may tell you. You have my personal guarantee. And I do not have any tie to Nitro or Rhino.

My wifes Beretta 20 guage will put 270 4-5-7 pellets in a ten inch circle at 35 yards. 20 guage. Your 870 will do better, prolly a real honest fifty yard turkey gun. Just hold tight up close!!!!
troy

Troy, You can get a 50 yard gun without Nitro/Rhino.

I have a 55 yard gun with H13 and that's only 1-3/4oz #6. Took abird at 70 yard with that rig(aint proud of that one, but it worked. long story...) I also have a bud that get's better patterns than I with H13 in a couple rigs.

Nitro and Rhino are over priced IMO and the shells are way over what's considered safe pressures IMO.

The reason Nitros pattern so well is they contain many bird shot sized pellets such as #9 and #8 in their triplex loads, which look amazing on paper. There's been tons of talk on that subject on the NWTF forums the past few years.

You can load Nitro type ammo yourself for less than 1/2 the cost except for the high start up costs....

I'm working on a reloading project now for the ultimate turkey loads, but I have no desire to add the tiny shot pellets in my loads like Nitro, I just strive for 200+ in a 10 at 40 with larger pellets.


Have a Good One,

Reloader

heck, I've had a 50 yard gun for years before Nitro...Benelli+Briley Super Turkey+black Win 3" #5's=50 yard gun....

I don't reload...not going to for less than a dozen shells a year either!!!!! I do reloads for just about everything else though...

Wife's Beretta 20 guage, Nitro 4-5-7 3" load, custom choke(out of La too)...maybe 20 years ago.


35 yards 270 pellets in a 10 inch circle....


troy

make that 207 pellets....

Guys interesting info. I got the Carlsons choke in today, and some Hevi Shot on the way. I'm out to the forest in the morning, so I'll have a field report, we have a range there for patterning, and I'll be hunting with my ML in the AM.

I'll see what happens and get some feedback.

That's a sweet pattern for a 20.

Ain't a tom walking that could survive that combo.

Ya'll have a good one.

Reloader

I've heard nothing but good things about the Winchester Supreme turkey ammunition. These are the ones with the black shell.

The Federal loads with the Flitcontol wad, I've found, work exactly as advertised. Even with just a regular full choke they pattern well enough for me to be effective at 35 or 40 yards. I haven't put them through an X-full, but I suspect that they would be a stellar performer.

For me, Hevi-Shot has patterned the best by far. I had a bunch of the Remington waterfowl loads (3", 1.25oz #6 shot @ 1450fps) around and decided to pattern it in my Browning Gold. The standard full choke put 98 pellets on a 8.5"x11" piece of printer paper at 35 yards. Not mind-blowing, but very good for that load. Considering that the dedicated Hevi-shot turkey loads have a higher shot weight / pellet count and lower muzzle velocity, I can only assume that the patterns possible from these loads would be incredible.

An addendum to my above post:

Be careful when buying Hevi-Shot. HS isn't all the same anymore, like when it was a Remington-branded product. Now, Environ-Metal has gone and monkeyed with the recipe. They've left us with three different densities, not all of which are better than lead.

The density of the old Remington-branded HS was 12.0g/ml

New Hevi-Shot goose loads are that same stuff, 12.0g/ml

"Hevi-Duck" is 9.8g/ml, which is lighter than lead

Hevi-13, their turkey load, is 13.0g/ml.


If you're going to try it, make sure it has a picture of a goose or turkey on the box.

i have an old JC higgins model 20 w/ a std full that does the job w/ 2 3/4" duplex loads.