Turkey Loads?!?!?!?!?

Howdy.

I've been perusing the plethora of "turkey" loads recently and am downright astounded at the options and prices of "turkey" loads for both 12 and 20 gauges. The prices seem to run all the way from earthly to astronomical. How could there be such a spread in prices or performance? I tend to think that there cannot be such a thing as a $3.00 shotshell that's actually three times better than a $1.00 shotshell. What gives with this latest trend in "designer" shotgun ammo? Is this stuff designed to bag turkeys or just shoot holes in turkey hunters wallets?AW

Adobe, Mostly wallets if you are a skilled Turkey hunter and can pull them in close. Those Hevi shot loads do extend killing ranges by 20 yds or more over lead shot. They also pattern very tightly. I talked to a guy today who killed a Jake last year at 74 paces. That's a poke for a shot load. I normally shoot Winchester buffered 3"#5 shot. It's been about the cheapest shot out there. Over the years I patterned a bunch of different brands but my tightest patterns came from some 1 1/4 oz#5 handloads in 2 3/4 inch AA cases. I used Lage Uniwads and Blue Dot. I never tried turkey hunting with them but they drop those big Iowa Roosters a long ways out. RD 

The_Mountaineer wrote:     I don't think you can go wrong with trying a bunch of different loads unless you bankrupt yourself.  If you find a load that satisfies you right off then there's not much reason to keep trying unless you just want to burn money and have fun on the range.

Mountaineer, Our local gun club had a cure for trying a bunch of different loads for your gun without facing bankruptcy. We got one of the local ammo dealers to bring down a bunch of assorted brands and guages of ammo. We had a turkey sight in and patterning day. The club provided backing frames and cardboard to tape turkey targets to. The dealer sold ammo by the shell along with targets. This allowed guys to try as many different brands as they wanted without having to buy full boxes. People were trying out each others guns or even choke tubes. The club sold pop and barbecues as a little fundraiser and a good time was had by all. RD

Howdy.

Thanks for the comments. I tended to think that in my old tightly choked 12's that any real improvements over a good 1 1/4 oz heavy field load was probably going to be pretty small percentages of increment based on the shot hardness, buffering, and wad type. Improvements are great but when your gains are microscopic in comparison to your expenditures, it becomes a bad joke. I'll probably try more shells on the pattern board in the future out of curiosity, but not till my wallet can better stand the concept.AW

Rockydog wrote: Adobe, Mostly wallets if you are a skilled Turkey hunter and can pull them in close. Those Hevi shot loads do extend killing ranges by 20 yds or more over lead shot. They also pattern very tightly. I talked to a guy today who killed a Jake last year at 74 paces. That's a poke for a shot load. I normally shoot Winchester buffered 3"#5 shot. It's been about the cheapest shot out there. Over the years I patterned a bunch of different brands but my tightest patterns came from some 1 1/4 oz#5 handloads in 2 3/4 inch AA cases. I used Lage Uniwads and Blue Dot. I never tried turkey hunting with them but they drop those big Iowa Roosters a long ways out. RD

My bird and pot shooting 12g loads in Win AA hulls using Win AA white wads were filled with 35gr of Win 540 and 1 1/8 oz of 4's,5's,6's 7 7 1/2's at 1425fps.using 1 1/4oz loads & the same powder & shot yielded 1330 fps using Win Red wads.We won a lot of pot shoots, my shooting partner & I would buy 12 lb kegs of Win 540 about every couple of months as we were shooting every Sat,Sun & Wed night for several years.

Edited by 24mod12

I found even better stuff for Turkeys It's called Dead Coyote. Great stuff. I got my bird at 70 yards this year.

 

 

Rockydog wrote: Adobe, Mostly wallets if you are a skilled Turkey hunter and can pull them in close. Those Hevi shot loads do extend killing ranges by 20 yds or more over lead shot. They also pattern very tightly. I talked to a guy today who killed a Jake last year at 74 paces. That's a poke for a shot load. I normally shoot Winchester buffered 3"#5 shot. It's been about the cheapest shot out there. Over the years I patterned a bunch of different brands but my tightest patterns came from some 1 1/4 oz#5 handloads in 2 3/4 inch AA cases. I used Lage Uniwads and Blue Dot. I never tried turkey hunting with them but they drop those big Iowa Roosters a long ways out. RD

 I used Blue Dot until I had an experience ground sluicing a grouse the bird wasn't hit by a single pellet but there was a complete circle around it in the dirt,from that point on I switched to what my duck & goose hunting friends were using with great success Win 540(now HS6) sky busting  birds.I never had anymore blown patterns  with 4's,5's,6's & 7 1/2's that can really reach out a long ways and touch them.I used Win Double A's and cleaned up at the money shoots in this region .I had a really tight pattern out of my full choked 30" 870 trap barrel and the birds never knew what hit them. This is my turkey load if I ever could find any in the San Bernardino NF which I can look out my window and see.

Edited by 24mod12

Rockydog wrote: 24, Have you considered that that may have been a wad problem rather than a powder problem? RD

 One of my shooting buddies was also having blown pattern problems until I introduced him to Win 540 then we started buying 12lb kegs every 3 to 4 months and went meat &  money shooting at ranges in Lucerne Valley,Arrowhead,Big Bear,29 Palms,Yucca Valley ,Redlands, Inland Fish & Game,Desert Hot Springs,Banning,Salton Sea & at our own range in Yucaipa,CA.

Sounds like a wad problem to me.  My turkey guns are an 870 with a 30 inch full barrel I bought in 1960, 2 3/4 inch no rib; and an 870 20 guage ultra light.  Both kill them with one shot of 2 3/4 inch remington "club" loads at $3.95 a box.  head shots are the key, too many guys shoot for the body!

I'm trying Winchester Supreme Double X Turkey Ammo 12GA 3" #5. I hear it performs consistently through ranges for most people.  If it will pattern from 10-50 yds, I won't look any farther.  I don't see me taking any really long shots.  I've got open sights on my turkey barrel and itty bitty sights.

Merriams are the purdiest of turkeys, in my opinion.

Edited by Muleskinner