Arca swiss mounted gun clamp?

D

Dirty Steve

Member
Just wondering if anyone has a good option for this?


Situation: 12 year old going turkey hunting. Just not as accurate with 20 gauge shotgun as he should be (Mainly at 40 yards).

I have an older BOG tripod with the rubber coated fork or "Y" to rest the gun. No clamp.

Inherent issue with gun clamps is they travel right to left- no swivel up and down.


I picked up the Fat Boy tripod with the Levitate head. So why not use that- right?

I found this on Amazon:


Fanaue Arca Swiss rifle mount saddle.

This idea is for a Remington shotgun 20 gauge pump 870.
Any thoughts or other world experience??


Thanks,

Steve
 
My thoughts…… skip all the cumbersome and movement limiting mechanics. Have the little guy (or girl) work on their marksmanship, a 12 year old with a 20 gauge is plenty good to kill turkeys, and….

have the caller work on their calling to bring the bird(s) closer so the shooter doesn’t have to shoot 40 yards.
 
I'd probably keep it simple with the Bogpod for a rest.

I don't see how that clamp would work with the 870, with it either potentially blocking the ejection port or hindering the slide movement, essentially turning it into a single shot.
 
Are you sure it's the kid and not the shotgun? Putting in a turkey choke can and often does change the POI.

Also... I'm kinda like DON, maybe the kid just isn't ready for that kind of shooting.
 
Agree with all above. Clamp and 870 will create problems. I think the simple “Y” yoke is probably the best option for him. I assume you’re going to be in a blind if you have him using a tripod as a rest. If I recall, you have him shooting lead turkey loads. If he’s struggling at 40 it could just be beyond the load’s effective range. Keep the birds within the kid and the gun’s limitations.

Best lead loads across the board in my experience is the Winchester Longbeard XR loads with Shot-Lok buffering. They have shot better in my guns as well as all 20 gauges for the kids that myself and other mentors have taken out on our gun club’s youth turkey hunts.
 
the pump handle is going to wiggle in that clamp and might possibly break under recoil. you dont want to clamp the barrel either.
just something to think about.
 
All good information. I certainly appreciate all response and agree. I do agree the BOG tripod with the rubber coated fork or "Y" to rest the gun is the easiest option. Finally got him on Winchester Double XX turkey load. He loved target shooting with the low brass 7.5's. Shot 30 shells the first night with them. He is just overly apprehensive to the turkey loads. Took him a while to accept he had to practice with them before he could go. Did fair in the first session. Started flinching the last session. Offered to try my semi auto Benelli SBEII with 3 inch Turkey loads. Semi auto should absorb some recoil. He was dead against. The little guy just gets all cramped up on trying new stuff. Or taking Dad's advice. The good news is he keeps asking to practice. He really wants to go on the youth hunt this weekend. There is still time. I will get the BOG "Y" tripod out to give it a go tonight or tomorrow.

Bob, I do have some Winchester Long Beard 20 gauge we have not tried yet. That could be a huge help from what I have recently heard. A turkey hunting maniac friend of mine swears it will give 10 yards further accuracy. The boy is steady out to 30 but that potential stretch to 40 is where accuracy drops to 50/50. Running a Carlson Spur full choke.

I still might get that clamp for future operations potentially with a rifle that has no Arca Swiss mounting capability to the stock.:unsure:
 
God gave the perfect place to balance a turkey gun, the knee. If at 12 the 20ga is too much for him then maybe wait until he’s 13 or buy a Youth Model. My dedicated turkey gun is a Youth 870 20ga, lol. Can’t bring myself to replace it and it has killed birds from South Florida to Washington and a lot of states in between.
Set up where the turkey is inside of 30yds when he shows his head if 40yds is an issue. If you’ve patterned and set up the gun, you should have a small beach ball pattern at 40, if he’s missing that, it’s definitely too much gun for him.
And NEVER have a kid shoot a turkey load before hunting!! He’ll never notice the difference when shooting a turkey, but he’ll definitely notice it when shooting paper.
 
Spurchaser said:
And NEVER have a kid shoot a turkey load before hunting!! He’ll never notice the difference when shooting a turkey, but he’ll definitely notice it when shooting paper.
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I was going to suggest just having him practice with field or target loads, then dad do the pattern testing with the kickers. Totally agree that the boy won’t think about getting kicked if he’s staring down the barrel at a bird.
 
Yep, it's fancy full camo 20 gauge ,made in NY, youth model Remington 870 shot gun. He shoots it pretty good. Confidence and experience is what he lacks. No matter how many times I tell him he will NEVER remember the recoil felt on a successful hunt, he still gets overly apprehensive during target practice. We'll continue to work on it. I had to use snap caps to get him over trigger flinch and jerking the trigger on his .243 to deer hunt. And I hope the shot does come at the 20 yard distance. He smashes everything at that range. Will be hunting from a tent and shooting from a chair. He complains he can't shoot sitting down. We'll be some 3.5 hours from home and won't have access to gear that I don't take with us. My buddy I am going with, the turkey hunting maniac, says he has BOG death grip with clamp that he takes the youngsters with. But that will have all the issues inherent to a gun clamp that a clamp comes with for shotgun.
 
A BOG or any other "clamp" type will work, just don't tighten it up. Just use it as a support to help hold up some of the weight and steady up his aim.

Spur, I bought a ATA youth 20ga several years ago whenever I got back into rabbit hunting. That's now one of my favorite shot guns.
 
Buddy of mine has neck issues, so gave up on the 12 & went to a 410 Tristar auto with the TSS ammo, & is dropping birds at 12 gauge distances.
 
TSS is all the rage in turkey hunting. Crazy money. I keep telling people- hard to believe anyone ever killed a turkey before they came out with TSS at nearly 20 dollars a shell for 12 gauge 3.5! :rolleyes: 20 gauge is $70 for 5 shots!! Holy mother, no thank you!
 
Dirty Steve said:
TSS is all the rage in turkey hunting. Crazy money. I keep telling people- hard to believe anyone ever killed a turkey before they came out with TSS at nearly 20 dollars a shell for 12 gauge 3.5! :rolleyes: 20 gauge is $70 for 5 shots!! Holy mother, no thank you!
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Nope! Hard nope!… Maybe, and I mean Maybe I would invest if I was doing a tour of a bunch of states and had a pile of cash invested in traveling and whatnot. If I only had a couple days to get it done before heading somewhere else.

I’ve been killing birds dead just fine with lead for over 35 years. I can only think of 3 that were shot at that didn’t die and one was a clean miss at 7 yards! 🤣 Gotta hold tight at that range with super full choke!
 
I still have 45 shells left of TSS I bought at less than $10 a shell. Due to the price tripling, I bought a box of XR #6 and they patterned surprisingly good for $3 a shell, lol! I haven’t shot a bird over 30yds in years so I’m saving the TSS for those out of state trips, lol.
 
my wife hunts turkey with a 20 ga semi auto and winchester target loads. dropped a nice at 25 /30 yards, one shot.

turkeys arent tanks. that thin boned head wont stop 7 1/2 shot, or move on to high brass 6's
 
bohunr said:
my wife hunts turkey with a 20 ga semi auto and winchester target loads. dropped a nice at 25 /30 yards, one shot.

turkeys arent tanks. that thin boned head wont stop 7 1/2 shot, or move on to high brass 6's
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It has nothing to do with turkeys vulnerabilities to shot or shot size…it has to do with being able to predict distance and your guns pattern. I’m fairly experienced at hunting and hunting turkeys, but still misjudge yardage from time to time, especially when you take me out of my element.
I try and set up so when I see that gobbler to get a shot when he’s inside 30yds. But it doesn’t always happen how I “predict” it. What looks in range on the Kansas prairie, is way off. What looks in range on the side of a mountain in NM can be way off. In the heat of the moment, judgement gets clouded sometimes. That’s where your shell selection and patterning pay off. What you predict is 35-40yds and it’s actually 45-50yds is the difference between a dead bird vs a wounded bird with the right shell and choke. You aren’t going to consistently kill a bird with 1oz dove loads at that distance, heck not even at 35-40yds.
People will spend some serious money creating a load for deer or even predators, but balk at the idea of doing the same thing for something with feathers. Heck I even pattern dove and duck loads.
 
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