Turkey gun for wife

[peterk123]

Done. Going fancy though. Mossberg semi auto. Going to put a red dot on it for her too. Thanks for all the comments. Very helpful!

 

[Archer829]

.410 with TSS seems like a great option for you!

 

[PNWGATOR]

TSS out of Rossi Tuffy .410 topped with a red dot.

 

[dtrkyman]

If you went 20ga, keep in mind weight of the shot load and velocity equal recoil. Federal has a low recoil load, shop around some of the smaller ammo companies, salt creek, burgess creek, fox trot and look for a 1 3/8th oz load, Apex has one in 2 3/4 for sure as well.

Sub 1100 fps will be a good gauge for recoil as well.

I hand load a 1 5/8th oz load and in a light 20ga I wouldn't have a kid or small lady shooting it, it's quite stiff on recoil even in a gas semi auto!

Any TSS turkey load will get you 40yds with 9s!

 

[Honyock]

Stevens 301 Turkey 410 with a red dot and TSS

 

[Ringbill27]

This is the gun I bought for my wife. Silver Eagle Alpha 2 12ga. It’s a M2 clone. I won it on auction for almost nothing.

She duck hunts with a black eagle 2 so I figured this would be a good because of the controls are the same as her benelli.

I went with 12ga because she can handle the recoil and is the easiest to find in my neck of the woods ammo wise.

 

[butcherboy]

I just bought the Stevens 410. Putting a Sig red dot on it. This is for my daughter but I may just get one for me as well but in a pump or auto. Freakin NM passed a law last year that makes us wait 7 days from purchase to pick the gun up. waited 6 days for the gun to come in to ffl then another 7 days after that!

 

[PaulB84]

its been said many many times already above, but another huge +1 for the 410 and TSS. You simply gotta see what they can do to believe it.

 

[roosiebull]

I didn’t realize that a 410 with TSS was so widely accepted as a 40yd turkey gun.

I am going to get a dedicated turkey gun after this year (currently still using my beater nova 12ga with TSS) and I despise shooting it, it sucks.

My wife is showing some interest and I think she will love turkey hunting when she has her first action, but there is no way she could use my gun

We have a moss 500 20ga too that’s our slug gun, And she has killed a couple nice bucks and a bull with it, and we have a smooth barrel for it too, so I’m going to get a couple chokes and pattern a load with it, but I do want a dedicated turkey gun.

My 90lb daughter killed a bull with the 20 as well, but it rocks her, and want something she can turkey hunt with… 410 wasn’t really on my radar (20ga gas gun was what I was thinking) but maybe the 410 should be considered.

 

[Gobbler36]

I'd say 40 yards max. I've never had to shoot further than that on a bird.

Sounds like I need to take a hard look at a 410.

Go with a 28g
Just bought one for my boys and they are legit getting way more pellets for the same recoil as the .410
My 7 year old shoots the 28 completely fine
Ask me all the time to go shooting now lol !

You think that tss with a 410 is impressive watch some YouTube videos with tss on the 28g 40,50,60 yd gun easy

 

[peterk123]

Thanks everyone for the comments and advice.

We got out and sighted in the gun (410 with a turkey choke) and tested some loads. This thing is awesome! Barely any recoil. At 20 yards it will literally remove the head of a bird. 30 yards its dead....



40 yards and the bird is still done.




And the most important pic of all. A happy wife....

 

[juju]

12ga only if your budget is constrained to lead shells. 410 only if you handload.

If she's right eye dominate: Stevens 555 compact 28ga., Boss 1.25oz T9s. I'd try the factory full before considering a turkey choke. If she's not backwards, one of the lightweight 28ga autos that have reversible safeties. Let your budget be your guide. Turkey hunting is not high volume, high wear.

If you do handload, find a Yildiz TK-36 .410. It weighs a little over three pounds. Some of them will pattern well enough without a turkey choke, but you may have to send it to SumToy. You want a red dot mounted. All the other .410s weigh as much as larger gauges. The which are all easier to get along with.

If you buy any of these options and have heretofore only used 12ga, you'll be switching to your wife's turkey gun after you see what it does. Bank on it.

 

[juju]

Well, now I see you got the .410. You'll need to test pattern at least one shell from each new box. Also weigh them to consistency. Good luck. You probably won't have a dud, but it's not unheard of. .410 is finicky. I only use my handloads. It took some doing to work out all the details.