Dedicated Turkey Gun - 3" or 3.5"?

[Brendan]

If you were going to pick up a new semi-auto as a dedicated turkey gun, is there any real advantage to a 3.5" gun over a 3" gun? Any reason I shouldn't get a 3.5"? I'm thinking about patterns, available ammo, effective range, etc.

Generally I'd like to maximize the effective range of the gun, paired with a dedicated turkey choke, good ammo, a red dot, and some pattern testing. I'm also aware of the trade-off that a dense pattern at longer range means you have to be much more precise at short range.

Probably can't go wrong with either, but want to hear what you think...

 

[johnsd16]

In my mind there is absolutely no question that the 3.5” is an advantage for turkey. If buying it dedicated for turkey I would no question go 3.5”. With that said, ammo and chokes have come a long ways and the gap IMO between a well thought out and tuned 3” setup and a similarly thought out 3.5” setup is less now than it was 15 yrs ago. Turkeys are tough and one or two more pellets in the right places can mean a lot. Recoil is a non-issue in a turkey gun I think as well, it is not high volume shooting as can be the case with waterfowl. That is all good rationale for going to up 10ga as well but the options for guns, ammo and chokes is also more limited so to me the incremental benefit of a 10ga is overshadowed by those shortcomings.

 

[bates]

With modern ammo I personally see no reason for either


If I was setting up a dedicated turkey which i am I’m going 20 gauge


I just don’t see the point now of a 12. But I’m also shooting tss ammo and putting an rmr on it

To this point I’ve only used 12’s but a 20 is so light and handy and now that tss is available loaded
This makes a 20 even more appealing.

But if you don’t want to spend the money for tss then I probably wouldn’t go 20.

As far a 12’s 3inch is plenty. I just patterned my old 870. With #9 tss and a .660 Indian creek I put 494 pellets in a 10 inch circle at 40 yards

But I can also take hevi 7’s or long beard 6’s and kill birds at 50 yards all day long. For the money long beard xr is. Nasty. I get a more open pattern with the hevi 7 though

Red dots are awesome front and rear rifle type sights are mandatory on a gobbler gun for me.

 

[mlob1one]

I can't comment on the patterning.
For ammo the 3" is way more prevalent.

I have found that a really good choke has dramatically improved my grouping out to 70 yards.

I can tell you that a 3.5" turkey load is not something you want to shoot more than a couple times in a day because the recoil can be punishing.

Good luck on your quest for the perfect turkey gun.

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[Superkodiak38]

I would think with 3" you would have a better re-sale potential and if you are buying a semi you could water fowl with it as well. As others have stated with chokes and ammo it's probably a fairly even field. I like to get em close, a 20 gauge makes it a challenge but lugging a semi 12 for miles even with a sling can be a PIA.

 

[N2TRKYS]

I've been loading TSS for a couple of years now and have an 870 20ga. However, I still like my 12ga 3.5" 870. I don't notice much difference in recoil between my 12ga and my lightweight 20ga. Carrying the 12ga doesn't bother me, either. The only difference I notice is the barrel length. My 20ga has a shorter barrel, which makes it handier once setup. If I changed barrels on my 12, then this would be a push, as well.

Good luck with whatever you decide.

 

[Brendan]

Sounds like a range of opinions - I guess it's like every other gun or bow out there

Any Beretta A400 Fans out there? With a 26" barrel, camo'd/dipped from the factory, could very easily pull double duty as a waterfowl gun and shoots everything from 2-3/4" to 3.5" shells. I have one of their O/U's and I'm a fan...

 

[Backpack Hunter]

My preference would be a 20ga with TSS, second would be a 20ga with Hevi 13, third would be the 3" 12ga. When you are averaging over 250 pellets in a 10" circle at 40 yards it more or less makes the 3.5" irrelevant.....unless you just want more recoil/shot.

 

[bowhnt]

My preference would be a 20ga with TSS, second would be a 20ga with Hevi 13, third would be the 3" 12ga. When you are averaging over 250 pellets in a 10" circle at 40 yards it more or less makes the 3.5" irrelevant.....unless you just want more recoil/shot.

One day I’m gonna get around to loading up some tss for my 10 gauge. Mostly just cuz I can.


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[Nuke Man]

Most semi auto 12 gauge shotguns (all that I own anyways) will shoot 3 or 3.5. With that, I always head to the turkey woods with 3.5's. They group better and hold there pattern better for me. Plus with a gas operated semi auto you can't tell a difference in recoil. If you were using a pump, then most definitely you can.

 

[Bearded Bowhunter]

3.5" Winchester xtended range has killed a lot of birds for me. Always has patterned better than hevishot out of my sbe2 with just a full choke

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[Backpack Hunter]

One day I’m gonna get around to loading up some tss for my 10 gauge. Mostly just cuz I can.


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The patterns can be mind blowing. Something like 550 in the ten inch circle at 40 yards....sometimes even better.

Esse quam videri

 

[OG DramaLlama]

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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[Downeaster]

Ive shot the 3" longbeards. They shot fine, even have and shot a bunch of premium blend hevishot 5,6,7 and most things in between. Cant say anything has ever patterned better than 3" copper plated federal #5's. Cheapest ones and ive shot a truck load of birds with them. Love the 835.

 

[bradb]

In the smaller bore 12 s we are often trying to push to much down to small a diameter barrel. Don't get me wrong the 3.5's still can work good, but maybe bot much gain over the 3". In a overbore barrel like the mosseberg the 3.5 is a better match. Really is personal choice and what testing shows you. I do much prefer to grab my Weatherby sa 08 youth 20 gauge, I in no way feel handicapped to my 3.5 12.

 

[FLAK]

My 13 y/o is set up with a youth 20 shooting 3" Hevi 7's.
He killed his first longbeard with a Browning Sweet 16 with #6 Pheasant loads. DRT.

 

[boom]

my local birds come in close!! i could kill one with a dove load.

having said that, i use 3" shells. Hevishot stuff. it's the thing i use when i have exhausted all my other efforts with my bow or pellet gun. i like the 3" because it is easy to find in my area. i need non-toxic

 

[andyfier]

I don't shoot a semi auto, but my 870 'super mag sps turkey' shoots the long beard xr 3.5's awesome. With the standard Remington turkey choke I can shoot much further than I ever imagined. I started turkey hunting with a 2 3/4 chamber single shot 20 with a full choke and the cheapest turkey shells around. I've shot the smallest legal shell all the way up the 3.5s
I don't go gun hunting turkey without the 3.5 12's now.

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[gdog]

20ga. Not sure why you would need anything more if your actually calling them in to close range. I've shot enough turkeys that if I can't get them in close...I just don't shoot. Actually toying around with the idea of breaking out the 28ga this Spring.

 

[cjl32]

With the newer generation long range shells and a decent choke, a 3" gun should easily give you clean kills at 50 yds. My setup is deadly at 65 yds with the Winchester 3" XR #5's and the Carlson's XR specific choke. I'm shooting a 3" Benelli Super 90 with 21" barrel. You will likely want adjustable sights as the pattern at 30yds is still 6" or smaller for me. Never thought I would need a range finder for turkey hunting.