Oddball shotgun for turkeys?

[Ironeyes969]

The cheap end of starting is probably a 3" 1.75-2oz lead #4, 5 or 6. Just about every shell brand makes one. Winchester Longbeard XR are very popular but XX or Remington Nitro have killed many many birds

 

[Ironeyes969]

Lots of folks swear by TSS nowadays but at $10-$20 per shot it's very expensive to be testing choke combos with.

If you live/hunt in an area that prohibits lead then the next least expensive would be a quality steel shot in similar sizes (obviously lighter payload) or bismuth or copper

 

[Pilsner]

My experience with turkey loads is so limited that I am going to let the more experienced guys give you advice on this one. I just stopped by wally world and grabbed a couple boxes that had a turkey on them and tried them out. My shotgun like the Longbeard load which was the second one I tried. Kept that box and gave the rest to buddies.
Although I now have a break action 410 that I want to use this year so I will be checking into the TSS world.

 

[dtrkyman]

In 12ga TSS is not needed, buy a turkey choke, if you have an overbored/backbored barrel start around .675, standard barrel .660.

Longbeard loads will look best on paper but are stupid tight up close, 1.75/2oz copper plated 5s will get you 40yds easy.

If you want to push past 40, longbeards in lead, Hevi shot mag blend or TSS.

 

[Pnw_heli]

copy all. I hopped on this thread mostly because a) want to hunt turkeys and b) was concerned an english stocked o/u 28” might not be enough or even just the plain wrong gun.

It’s standard invector choked so I think not back barreled. I’ll look for .660 and try out some patterns. I’ll start with copper plated 1.75/2oz #5 and go from there.