Dedicated Turkey Gun - 3" or 3.5"?

[Murdy]

I shoot a Benelli Supernova in 3.5 -- why not? It's not like you shoot that much each year that the extra cost is gonna kill you. They all kick like heck. The way I see it, any advantage, even a small one, is worth it. (Unless there's a huge difference in the upfront cost of the gun)

 

[boom]

I shoot a Benelli Supernova in 3.5 -- why not? It's not like you shoot that much each year that the extra cost is gonna kill you. They all kick like heck. The way I see it, any advantage, even a small one, is worth it. (Unless there's a huge difference in the upfront cost of the gun)

that is a badass gun.

i dont have the room in my life for a dedicated turkey gun. i simply dont hunt them enough.

if i could, i would build up an over and under turkey gun. i think they look cool.

 

[bradb]

Heck I shot one with a break action 16 gauge of my Grand pa's last year. No front sight, no back sight, taped on front stock...total piece of junk. Missed the bird with the first shot, since I never thought about a second, had to un zip my front pocket and dig another shell out, re load and got him. Have shot them with .410, 20, 16, 12, muzzle loading shot gun, bow. Like I said I prefer the little 20. Modern shell and chokes do so much....especially compared to the break action 16 gauge idea

 

[boom]

Heck I shot one with a break action 16 gauge of my Grand pa's last year. No front sight, no back sight, taped on front stock...total piece of junk. Missed the bird with the first shot, since I never thought about a second, had to un zip my front pocket and dig another shell out, re load and got him. Have shot them with .410, 20, 16, 12, muzzle loading shot gun, bow. Like I said I prefer the little 20. Modern shell and chokes do so much....especially compared to the break action 16 gauge idea

haha..i bought those crappy ass snap on sights that clip onto a vented barrel. the back one even fell off. i did use a turkey choke.

man i love turkey hunting..i just dont do it enough.

 

[bradb]

Fun morning double, I pulled grandpa's... - Brad Baryenbruch | Facebook


I shot one a buddy had shot one first

 

[7mmremmag]

I shoot a benelli supernova. Tested 3” and 3.5” Long Beard XR’s.

Went with the 3”.

Tested others but that shell was the best factory round I could.

Here are the results from my pattern tests last spring.

running with the .650 Carlson Choke.

Winchester Long Beards:

- 3.5" 2oz #6
- 3" 1 3/4oz #6

Opened one shell of each to get a pellet count. The 3.5" had 466 pellets and the 3" had 420. Admittedly, it was very difficult to get an accurate count as the substance used to hold pellets together makes it very difficult.

It is interesting how well the pellets stay together and how difficult it is to pull them apart. Here is a picture of the pellets cut from shell.


@30 yards

The results were impressive . The killing area of both targets was too openes up to get accurate count. After six shots the cardboard backing was completely blown away. Granted, this cardboard has already been used for all prior testing so could be just a function of being over used. Nonetheless, saw nothing like this with any of my other tests.

@ 40 Yards

Long Beard 3.5"

- 10.6 Pellets in the killing zone
- 12.89% Choke Efficiency

Long Beard 3"

- 16 Pellets in the killing zones
- 22% Choke Efficiency


Conclusion: The Long Beards had better results than other tests. Hard to explain the difference between the 3" and 3.5" at 40 yards. I shot the 3.5" first and the kick difference is noticeable. Could be influencing my shooting. Because of this, I will run with 3" Long Beards this spring. Feel extremely comfortable with my maximum effective range of 40 yards. With more testing and comfort with this gun may be able to go a little bit further. Might do some more at longer ranges just to see, but part of the fun is getting them close (for me at least


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I run an almost identical setup, but with a patternmaster code black choke and the 3.5" xr'swith similar results. Great turkey setup. I have never tried the 3" xr's out of it but my significant other wants to hunt some birds this year, might be worth looking into for her.

 

[Forestryguy]

3.5 belongs in a 10ga.

I have been dropping birds the last few years with 3" heavy shot #6 at 1450 fps. Pattern Master tight choke. Same setup is used for waterfowl hunting, other than stepping up to #4 during late season.

 

[duckhunter175]

For a dedicated turkey gun I guess it would depend on your location and style of hunting.

I personally prefer a 20ga with Heavyweight #6s as a lightweight run and gun set up. If you are relatively static and more worried about birds hanging up 'out there' and less worried about toting around several extra LBS all day then I would get a gas-operated 12ga (or maybe 10ga) like a Browning Gold or Maxus or Beretta A400. 3.5" with any premium load that you test with a good choke will be more than adequate.

 

[Brendan]

Thanks everyone.

After thinking on it, and realizing I didn't have a great waterfowl gun, decided to go dual purpose. Working on chokes and ammo to test out now.

 

[tommymo]

I use my Benelli M2 as a dual purpose gun with its primary focus on waterfowl. During turkey season I throw on tru glo sights on the rib, scew in my turkey choke, take it to the range, pattern it back up again and go kill a thunder chicken.

3" shells seem to work well, I can't get the gun to pattern past 40, it is what it is.... So far the best load for me is Win XR #5 out of a Jelly Head.

From what I have read and personally experienced Bennelli M2 are finicky with choke and load combinations, I have several friends that shoot Remington 870s SPS and Mossberg 835 ULTI-MAGs out of the box that are absolutely insane patterns with XR loads out to 60 yards. If I ever decide to go with a dedicated gun it will be the SPS, but for now this setup is working for me.

 

[Hesseltine32]

Out of my nova Iv seen no improvements using 3.5s over the 3s other then a harder kick.

 

[KJH]

I used to hunt turkeys often with a shotgun and really loved it... As time went on it was less and less fun, so I made it a goal to shoot one with a .410, 28, 20, 16, and 10. I easily accomplished that goal. What I found out that is 90% of turkeys I killed could easily be with a very small gauge trap load. I really never need to shoot a turkey over 30 yards. Last year my kids killed turkeys with a 20ga and .410.

When I started I thought bigger was better and mostly used 10 ga and 12 ga 3.5" shells. In the early 90's I bought a 12 3.5" because it was "important". I now firmly believe it totally unneeded. I also think that the cheapest #8 trap loads out of a full choke is the best turkey load there is.

I am a large advocate for buying whatever you want and that you can never be overgunned. I wouldn't let the 3" or 3.5" issue be a hangup if you're looking for a turkey gun. Shoot whatever makes you happy for turkeys. If its a big dedicated gun then bang away and smile.

 

[ianpadron]

No difference until you get out towards the ragged edge of the range you'd want to shoot a turkey. Up to about 50ish yards a 3" and 3.5" shell will post damn near identical patterns.

There is a great article on the Google machine somewhere that I just read about this very topic. Here it is:

American Rifleman | 3 1/2-inch Turkey Loads: Worth the Recoil?

Good stuff and real world proof of what I'm saying.

50 yds is a LOOONG shot on a turkey...I'd never shoot anything more than a 3". Your choke is about 100x more important than the length of the shell you're running.

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[DougP]

I had a discussion with my brother the other day about his dedicated turkey gun he bought last year. He proceeded to miss 3 or 4 turkeys with it. Brought it to smith for new sites and still can’t get it to shoot right. Meanwhile, he’s a hell of a wing shooter with his cheap, 3.5 inch Charles Daly autoloader.

I’m new to turkey hunting, with only 2 birds so far. However, both shots were quick where I through the gun up and fired instinctively. Since I duck hunt a lot, I’m extremely comfortable with my benelli SBE and both were clean kills.

My question, why not use the gun you shoot the most? I don’t care how tough you are, you’re not going to want to shoot a bunch of 3.5” turkey loads out I a dedicated turkey gun for practice.


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[land cruiser]

I am downsizing to 20ga this spring. No reason to lug around a waterfowl gun when tss and red dots made it easy to reach out to 40 yards,which is all I typically need. As a rng hunter I carry enough crap as is. Removed a ton of calls from my vest as well to lighten up, felt like I was going for years instead of 3 hours.

Not sure how much you need to practice with a dedicated turkey gun. I pattern mine once pre-season every year and that's all I need. Range time is spent on long-range and bow.

 

[ianpadron]

I had a discussion with my brother the other day about his dedicated turkey gun he bought last year. He proceeded to miss 3 or 4 turkeys with it. Brought it to smith for new sites and still can’t get it to shoot right. Meanwhile, he’s a hell of a wing shooter with his cheap, 3.5 inch Charles Daly autoloader.

I’m new to turkey hunting, with only 2 birds so far. However, both shots were quick where I through the gun up and fired instinctively. Since I duck hunt a lot, I’m extremely comfortable with my benelli SBE and both were clean kills.

My question, why not use the gun you shoot the most? I don’t care how tough you are, you’re not going to want to shoot a bunch of 3.5” turkey loads out I a dedicated turkey gun for practice.


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I use 2 different guns because they are specialized tools.

An SX4 with a 28" pipe in the marsh because it points like a wand and is gas operated. Next to no recoil. But dragging that gun around in the mountains is something I'd never consider.

Mossberg 500 with a 20" barrel with fiber optic sights for turkey. Can strap it to my pack, move around in the woods in close quarters and drop the hammer when needed.

Either one is capable of performing the other's job, but not nearly as good, as they are both specialized tools.

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[mproberts]

I use one gun for all. 24" 12ga SBE2 with steady grip stock.

Started out as a turkey gun really, but got so used to shooting with that stock that I never changed it for dove or waterfowl season. Ended up selling that expensive comfortech stock years later for a few hundred bucks. The steady grip stock just seemed to shoulder and shoot better and more naturally for me. I think it sort of mimics the muscle memory of tactical shooting with an AR.

I obviously found the best choke and ammo for each situation and all I do is change out the choke and ammo before each season. Heck I even have a setup for pred hunting with it. I ran a few red dots on it for turkey but ended up destroying all of them. Went through multiple truglo 2x red dots, they kept warranting them but they kept breaking from the recoil so I finally gave up. I also tried the Burris Fastfire 3 out but it didn't do much for me. Used an aimpoint t1 for awhile but also seemed pointless with no magnification.

I shoot 3.5" for turkey, waterfowl and preds. I always liked the range it offered me and the recoil was never an issue. It also is nice having a 24" gun, it is a lot easier to sneak thru the woods with or use in a duck blind. But at the end of the day to each their own.. do you!

 

[DougP]

Dedicated Turkey Gun - 3" or 3.5"?

I use one gun for all. 24" 12ga SBE2 with steady grip stock.

Started out as a turkey gun really, but got so used to shooting with that stock that I never changed it for dove or waterfowl season. Ended up selling that expensive comfortech stock years later for a few hundred bucks. The steady grip stock just seemed to shoulder and shoot better and more naturally for me. I think it sort of mimics the muscle memory of tactical shooting with an AR.

I obviously found the best choke and ammo for each situation and all I do is change out the choke and ammo before each season. Heck I even have a setup for pred hunting with it. I ran a few red dots on it for turkey but ended up destroying all of them. Went through multiple truglo 2x red dots, they kept warranting them but they kept breaking from the recoil so I finally gave up. I also tried the Burris Fastfire 3 out but it didn't do much for me. Used an aimpoint t1 for awhile but also seemed pointless with no magnification.

I shoot 3.5" for turkey, waterfowl and preds. I always liked the range it offered me and the recoil was never an issue. It also is nice having a 24" gun, it is a lot easier to sneak thru the woods with or use in a duck blind. But at the end of the day to each their own.. do you!

Mine is a stock comfortec, but also with the 24”. I completely understand having dedicated tools. Lord knows I go overboard with that with much of my gear. Although, it’s hard to beat an all-around 12 gauge that you’ve shot 1,000’s of rounds through and have complete confidence in. It’s a trade off one way or the other whichever way you choose.


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[Sodbuster]

3.5 Benelli SBE's x2 here.Plus a Beretta Extrema 3.5 as a backup.
The Tungsten shot has changed the Turkey game into a long range sport if you choose it.
Smaller and lighter weight shotguns with more killing distance has a lot of appeal.

I keep the comfort stocks on the SBE's but have a steady grip on hand that I have tried out a couple times.Once in a while a surprised tom coming in will flush,air shots are not hard but easier for me with the comfort stock.

I have long distanced gobblers and reaped them at five yards, every hunt is different.The guns above have all had loads tested to maximize their choke preferences for Turkeys, waterfowl and upland birds.They are light enough for me to pack around and semi auto recoil is not bad at all.

Like rifles,pistols,and arrows, everyone has to find what they like.

 

[npm352]

I use an old Benelli Nova 24 inch pump in 12 ga. I use 3.5 inch heavy shot. Heavy shot is not needed under 50 yards, but once and again I have stood up from the tree to grab the floppong bird and realized, "dang...that was a lot further away than I thought."

I use that gun for everything. I like the shorter barrel, especially on turkeys and chukars.

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