Favorite shotshells?

[Morel_Hunter]

As a beginner turkey hunter, I am interested in what gauge & type of shotgun shell you experienced guy's prefer. I am currently using a Mossberg 500 12ga. I have a couple of boxes of Winchester supreme double X magnum 3" 2oz #6 turkey loads to test. I was also thinking about trying the Federal magshok turkey loads with flitecontrol wads. Has anyone tried these? Apparently you don't need a fancy turkey choke to get tight patterns up to 40yrds. The flitecontrol wad apparently stays with the shot longer to produce a tighter pattern. I'd be interested to hear your opinions on shotshells. What size of pellets do you use, & why. Here in Ontario we are limited to #4, 5, & 6 shot sizes.

Regards,

George

[whitetail101]

I would suggest that you purchase a box of each manufacturer and shot sizes that you are considering and pattern each round at 20, 30 and 40 yds to see which one your gun and choke combo work for you, as what works best for me or someone else might not work best for your setup. As even a gun of the same manufacturer and choke tube setup will shoot the same load differently due to differences in dimensional tollorances of the barrel and choke.

As an example, I shoot the Federal Magshok 3" #5 with the flight control out of my Rem 870 with an 20inch barrel and HS Undertaker choke and found this to be the best combo for me at the three mentioned ranges. I got 20 hits in the kill zone at 40 yds from this load, Remingtons Nitro Turkey #5 gave 12 hits, where Winchester only gave me 8 at 40 yds. At 20 yds the Federal gave me a bullet hole(wad passed through target at this range) and remington gave me somewhere around 40 hits(I lost count several times and gave up counting them), Winchester was like Remington at this distance.

So as I stated you need to pattern a couple loads and even choke combos to see what shoots the best for you, use what I and others will tell you here as a guide to start with.

good luck and welcome to turkey hunting

[strutzonevermont]

I shoot Fed Magshock #6 3" out of my Mossberg 835 with a Comp N Chock XXX Full chock tube at 40 yards I get 30 to 40 pellets in the head and neck of the QB turkey target and at 20 yards it polks a hole clean threw the target and turns a turkeys head to jelly. My wives Winchester 1300 with the same set up does the same thing. We got these guns shooting this way after alot of time on the range and a alot of testing. Take time to test your gun and some different loads, the best way to do this is to get a couple of friends and each buy a ten pack of shells ( Feds, Remingtons, Winchesters anddifferent size shot #4s 5s 6s) and try each others at 30 yards, because what works for me may not work for you. But get with some friends and get some targets and different loads and have some fun. It's all most turkey time.

[shaman]

I'm shooting Federal Magnum 12 GA Turkey loads in 3" #4. They're nothing all that special, but they put a hurt on a gobbler if I do my part. I tried #5's for a while, but something changed and now #5's don't pattern nearly as well in my gun.

Prior to that I was shooting 2 3/4" 12 GA Remington Nitro Mags for about 10 years.

[proturkeyhntr]

3 " 2 oz #6 winchesters...Although I bought a box of federal's same load, with the new flite control wad... Havent shot them yet though. Get with a couple of buddies and each of you buy a different box of shells and have a patterning day....At least this way its a little easier on the wallet...


scott