Ok, talk to me about Turkey Guns. A friend of mine offered to take me turkey hunting in the spring and I'm gonna need to get a turkey gun.

Being perfectly clear on this, I don't want to spend a whole lotta money on this. In the safe I've got a beaten old Mossie 500 (Chukar anyone?) that I could buy another barrel for with a turkey choke, but that's $200 and that point I might as well start considering something newer.

In my perfect little world I'd love to be able to use the same shotgun for 3-Gun.

Thoughts? I'd say let's keep the costs at $500 or less.

I'm no expert, but I have killed quite a few turkeys. I dont think anything is wrong with your Mossie as long as it shoots where you point it. Even if it has an open choke or will only take a 2-3/4" shell. Some of the larger shot size pattern better in a more open choke I have found.
My father hunts with my old 500. Even though it will take a 3", he uses 2-3/4" because that and a modified choke is what shot the best pattern. By the way; it cost me a lot of money in choke tubes and a sore shoulder to figure that out.

Part of the fun of turkey hunting is calling them in close. To me that means within 40yards. And though some might not agree, you don't need an Extra Full extended choke and a 3.5" mag to take one down within that range. Of the three guns I have that I use for turkey hunting, Rem. 870, Benelli M1, and the Mossy, only the 870 shoots a better pattern with a "turkey" choke.
My advice is to buy a few different boxes of turkey loads of varying shot sizes and a couple packs of the turkey targets that show the kill zone and skeletal structure. Then go out and pattern your Mossie. Start out at 40yds and see how many pellets are in kill zone. Shoot multiple shots at the same target at the same range with the same load to figure your average. Then try some different loads on a fresh target. If you are not consistently in the kill zone,come to 35yds. Keep shortening the distance until you can consistently keep a few pellets within the kill zone. Let that be your max range, but I think you'll find that even at 35 or 40 yards you will keep a few in the kill zone. Turkey aren't that tough. It only takes one pellet in the brain or spinal column to anchor a turkey.
Now if you really want a new shotgun, look at another Mossie or an 870. Those should be easily within your price range

Back before I knew better I killed a few turkeys with a single shot, full choke Savage gun and the plain old Remington Express #5 “High Brass” shell. The turkey never knew what hit them. By today's standard that never should have happened

Try what adamhuntrer is telling you, you may be surprised at the results. There are those that will tell you the Mossberg 500 would make a first rate Turkey gun. If your barrel ends up being too open to pattern as you like you can probably have screw in choke tubes installed in your current barrel for around $100. There is a guy on GunBroker running an add for that very job

For a new gun that can also be set up to be competitive* in 3 gun I would recommend the Remington 1100 or 11-87. You can add an extended magazine tube and be ready to start. Around here there is always a used model in the gun shop or pawn shop well under $500

*Unless you are shooting the He-Man / Heavy Metal class (pump gun required) you'll be competing against folks using the various semi auto guns.

Your 500 would be a fine turkey gun. Some of the new shotshells are incredible, and having given some real extended range to 2 3/4" shells. I'd do like Adam said and shoot it a bit and decide. I wouldn't fool around with having screw in chokes added to it though, kinda like your 200$ barrel threshold, I would find a used 1187 or such before I went that route.

Coming up on nearly 20 years of turkey hunting experience, I have come to the following conclusions about an appropriate choice of weapon.
1. How well it patterns.
2. How well it patterns.
3. A sighting system visible in low light.

If you don't want to put much money into it, I would start with what you already have in the closet. The exact amount of choke really doesn't matter as long as you get an acceptabably tight pattern at what ever range you are comfortable with shooting. As far as ammo, you don't need a box that has a picture of a turkey on it at $3.00 per shell either. I have found some heavier pheasant loads that work quite well for turkeys. I also wouldn't hesitate to use a break open single shot if it throws good patterns for you.

The fun part of turkey hunting is calling them in close anyway. Most of the birds I have taken have been about 25 yards. Good luck and have fun!

375er

If this is an excuse for you to get another gun, DO IT! You can kill turkeys with your existing gun, but if you want another I would take a look at a the Remington 870. They make this model with rifle sited barrel that takes choke tubes and are generally 20" or so. That would be ideal for both turkey and 3-gun. There are TONS of aftermarket products for this gun that allow you to make it just what you want.

My personal turkey gun is my ideal that I put together. It is a 870 Super Mag (you do not NEED 3.5" shells, but might help on long birds) with a 23" rifle sited barrel that will take choke tubes. The stock is a Knoxx Spec-Ops which is adjustable for length of pull and also reduces recoil. If I added a mag extension, it would fit in perfectly for 3-gun.

Here's a turkey load article you might be interested it.

http://www.wildlifedepartment.com/turkey_loads.htm

Good luck.

While I have shot turkeys with rifles and even handguns, most people like to use a shot gun.

I have killed turkeys with 12 ga 2 3/4" and 3", 20ga 2 3/4" and 3" and with my 28ga Blaser R 93 barrel.

I most often use No 6 or No 5 shot.

However this year I killed 2 big gobblers with one shot of 20ga buckshot.

So your Mossie with 2 3/4" No 6 or No 5 shot should work fine.

I do know that from now on I will have buckshot as my second shot, if hunting with one of my drillings.

Might even use it for the first...

quote:

Originally posted by N E 450 No2:
While I have shot turkeys with rifles and even handguns, most people like to use a shot gun.

Most people don't have a choice, shotguns are required by law in many states.

About any shotgun will work but a short barrel is real nice if the bird happens to come in a different direction then expected. Having some type of rear sight helps to keep you head down, there is a tendency to lift your head if you only have a front bead.

This is a little above your price range but it's a great turkey gun.

Ok,
I guess I am the disenter here but, let me first say that shotguns should come with two barrels, beside each other, unless you are shooting at clay targets. However, I turkey hunt quite a bit and started out with a Remington 870. I used several different chokes and it patterned well with several different loads. Over the years I have come around to decide that the turkey shotgun should be semi-auto. I have chased enough turkeys down to finally kill them to be an expert on that particular subject. My present turkey gun is a well worn Remington 11-87. The barrel is 25 inches and has a fiber optic (long) bead on the rib. It has a Gobble Stopper choke in it right now that works well enough that I have stopped looking. And no, I do not shoot perfectly everytime AND the pellets don't come out of the barrel the same every time. I really don't take that many long range shots either. This is just my experience and I know there are others that will differ. And by the way, I paid $268 for the 11-87 at a gun shop. It is used but in good shape. If you are only going on one hunt, take what you have as the others are saying, but if you are going to hunt them often, get a dedicated turkey gun.

I like my AYA Matador 10ga. 32" full and fuller
,
but as said above your mossie is fine.

Bought my eldest an 835 3 1/2" 12ga. with an after market super-full turkey choke--
he promptly splattered one at 70+ yds just to out-do the old man and the 10ga.

So, back to the topic. For my first year of turkey I'm going to take my friend up on his offer to borrow his 870 3.5" turkey gun. He's already got it set up and I get to play with an existing setup to make a decision on this.

GREAT advice guys! I'm spending a week in Texas looking for Turkeys the week after Easter. Fun fun fun!

I laugh when I read about "turkey" shotguns.....just screw an extended full choke on your 12g, get some hevi-shot #5 and you're good to go. I killed a few with steel and an IC choke(my duck set up)before I "knew better".

And the only reason I say Hevi-shot is because I usually fire ONE shot per season so a box will last a decade.

As mentioned what is legal varies state to state. Here in Texas we can use rifle or shotgun( I suspect handgun). I had a Savage 24V combo gun which was .222 one barrel and 3 inch 20 guage the other. The .222 with fmj does minimal damage and was the better choice for most shots. I did have a 1x-4x Leupold on it but with the rifle on the shotgun was a little low. One son in law got a turkey with it and I gave the gun to another son in law. I have killed turkey with a 2 3/4 20 guage and it worked fine.