3 1/2 inch shotgun really neccissary?

I use #4's for turkeys. 6's just don't have the oomph people claim.

Yeah ya might get more hits, but at 50 yards and out that's more like a bunch of boney fingered women poking the target.

You only need a couple of swats from Iron Mike.

A shot charge can be too heavy and fly slower, have less than desired pellet energy at a certain range.

It's not just the number of hits that result in things dying. You gotta have enough hard hits to do the job.

With choke tubes making for denser patterns, where enough pellets will strike with lesser shot charges, you can crank the lighter charges out faster, making your 4's even that much better.

#6's for turkeys, might not be bad if hunting public ground....less chance some idiot will kill you with them.

Outside of that I'd say the load is silly.

5's minimum, 4's better.

Had some web reading buds who liked smaller shot sizes. Lost yotes and turkeys changed their tune.

Lots of whimpy hits just doesn't cut it.
 
Originally Posted By: nuketheyote243I use #4's for turkeys. 6's just don't have the oomph people claim.

Yeah ya might get more hits, but at 50 yards and out that's more like a bunch of boney fingered women poking the target.

You only need a couple of swats from Iron Mike.

A shot charge can be too heavy and fly slower, have less than desired pellet energy at a certain range.

It's not just the number of hits that result in things dying. You gotta have enough hard hits to do the job.

With choke tubes making for denser patterns, where enough pellets will strike with lesser shot charges, you can crank the lighter charges out faster, making your 4's even that much better.

#6's for turkeys, might not be bad if hunting public ground....less chance some idiot will kill you with them.

Outside of that I'd say the load is silly.




5's minimum, 4's better.

Had some web reading buds who liked smaller shot sizes. Lost yotes and turkeys changed their tune.

Lots of whimpy hits just doesn't cut it.

i will have to respectfully disagree with you. between my buddys and I, we have taken a boat load of birds at 45+ yards. i see more and more people moving away from #4 shot for turkeys because, the energy gained per pellet shooting 4's doesnt make up for the pattern density of #6's. more and more people are realizing that, its only a turkey, and out to 50 yards 4 shot and 6 shot kill equally as well, maybe even a litle farther. sure the 4 may carry more energy, but 6 still carries more than enough.
 
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i use # 6 hevi shot for turkeys and can reach out to 50 with my gun
i normally dont like long shots but i have made 2 1 was 51 yards 1 was 47 yardsi try to get em under 25-30
both long shots were in open field too so i didnt have anything in the way of the shot
 
Originally Posted By: titansfan2104well..... i am currently listening to scott carlson on brian downs predator talkcast(older episode) and he said with all their data, that a 3.5 really has showed no improvement over a 3" because your trying to force more shot through a choke and in turn it causes more fliers and more holes in your pattern!! basically he said you will have less trouble getting a good pattern with 3" and might have to try alot more different loads in the 3.5 to get a satisfactorry pattern!! or at least thats what i got out of the poddcast!

Exactly why I said if I wanted longer range I'd get a .10 gauge... better patterns from the more square .10 bore loads. The long Roman Candle 3 ½” .12 isn't as efficient as and seldom patterns as well as a .10 gauge. That is why Mossberg barrels went to the .10 bore size of .775" for their long 3 ½” .12 gauge (standard American .12 gauge bore is .729"), trying to give a little wiggle room for that grossly out of square shot column. It helps in some instances, but isn't a magic fix for the problem and can actually cause problems in other ways. Some .12 gauge wads won’t seal that huge overbore and the gasses blow right by the shot column losing a ton of velocity and blowing patterns to heck and back. Most other companies that want to overbore their barrels stop at .735” - .742” and don’t try to venture up into the .10 gauge range. The 3 ½” .12 gauge is a compromise trying to do it all kind of deal that looks better on the drawing board than actually works out on the pattern board. It isn't a terrible thing and can be versatile enough given lots of time and effort spent on the pattern board, but in general it isn't all it's cracked up to be. Good 3" .12 gauge loads tread very hard on the heels of the Roman Candle and do so in handier gun packages. And good .10 gauges usually easily pattern better with less recoil than the Roman Candle.
 
"good .10 gauges usually easily pattern better with less recoil than the Roman Candle."
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In the five ten gauge shotguns I have owned, that did not hold true. Remember Mark Banser? I bought a couple of choke tubes from him for a Browning BPS, but never could get any improvement in long range patterns over a good 12 gauge. When speaking with Mark Banser on the phone, he stated "we are seeing the same thing out here"

The theory is good, and the mighty ten gauge should be superior to any 12 gauge. The biggest problem for us coyote men is the lack of good coyote loads in ten gauge right now. That is how I see it anyway.
 
Having owned more ten gauge scatterguns (and 8 and 6 bore) than I can remember; a few things are evident. First, they have really improved in patterning ability, "out of the box" over the last decade. The massively overbore Brownings are the prime example of this. They, in particular, are very easy to over choke. The other development is the introduction of better 10 gauge ammunition from a variety of manufacturers. In literally hundreds of different shotguns that have been patterned in our shop. The 10 Gauge is BY FAR easier to make shoot large payloads of large pellets into small patterns at longer ranges. There are some big trade-offs though; recoil can be a problem, and the 10 gauge shotguns are normally quite heavy.
John
 
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