What's Your Good Turkey Pattern?


dbHunterNY

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You always hear people say their guns pattern well but they leave out some details. I haven't exhausted testing patterns by any means but one that I'm ok with is the one I'm using now:

132 pellets in the head and neck of a standard HS Turkey head patterning target at 35 yards. There's 77 pellets on the left half and 75 on the right half of the 11"x11" target. I'm shooting 1 3/4 oz of #6 hevi-13 shot, from a 12ga Benelli Supernova with a Pure Gold ported turkey choke.

So that's 37% percent in the head and neck. 78% on an 11" x11" paper target. like i said at 35 yards.

what does this compare to what setups others the rest of you have? this okay, good, great, or amazing? lol I'd like to know.

Edited by dbHunterNY
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Sounds like your gun is underachieving with the Hevi Shot for some reason.

I tweaked my Mossberg 535 tactical with an Indian Creek Choke and shoot 3 1/2" 2 1/4oz. Hevi Blend (5,6,7s). I wasn't able to accomplish the 230-240 pellet count at 40yds in a 10" circle like some but I am at the 200 count. I can tell you that it absolutely leveled my bird at 45 yards this year. I only had 9 pellets low in the body when I butchered him.

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There's 77 pellets on the left half and 75 on the right half of the 11"x11" target. I'm shooting 1 3/4 oz of #6 hevi-13 shot, from a 12ga Benelli Supernova with a Pure Gold ported turkey choke.

So that's 37% percent in the head and neck. 78% on an 11" x11" paper target. like i said at 35 yards.

To clarify, 132 pellets within the 11"x11" square or all within the head/neck outline on the target?

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132 in the head and neck. 77 off to one side and 75 off to the side not in the head or neck. Total of 284 on the target.

I'd like to stick with at least hevi13 #6 oppose to 7 or mag blend as #7 are effective out to only 35 yards or so.

Trying to make a combo work with a bunch of federal heavy weight #5 that would really hammer a gobbler but the flight control wad has limitations.

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My load is 3 1/2" Federal #4's out of an Undertaker choke tube in a Remington 11-87 Supermag. At 40 yards there were 50-60+ in the head I have killed out to 62 yards with this load before. The flight control wad isn't to bad out of my setup. The patterns are pretty tight with the #4's and dropping down to #5's the pattern tightens even further. try to keep most of my shots within 45 yards and so far every bird has it the ground for the count. I do have a few other chokes and loads to try after this season to see what gives me the best pattern.

Archerjg

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132 in the head and neck. 77 off to one side and 75 off to the side not in the head or neck. Total of 284 on the target.

I'd like to stick with at least hevi13 #6 oppose to 7 or mag blend as #7 are effective out to only 35 yards or so.

Trying to make a combo work with a bunch of federal heavy weight #5 that would really hammer a gobbler but the flight control wad has limitations.

That is much different than I understood. Those results are VERY good. I would shoot it at 40 and 50 at the same type of target to see what it looks like and probably go with it. I doubt it will be bad at 40. Those are good numbers.

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not sure how crazy I want to make this pump Benelli but stuff I could have done would be to lengthen the forcing cone a little and laser port the barrel itself. the gun was pretty dirty with that pattern too. So more realistic and cheaper improvements... I've cleaned it up. barrel has a mirror finish but choke is a little rougher. I will definitely polish the inside of the choke and that should help some too as the transition will be a little better. that and a clean barrel should separate a lot of the 3-4 pellet clusters so the pattern will be even more filled in. I can't seem to find heavier pay loads right now of Hevi13 #6 (2 or 2-1/4 oz) they might do better without getting mashed or blown out.

right now with #8 bird shot it'll rock a woodchuck's world at the back of my back yard, as I found out yesterday evening.

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Are you shooting 3" or 3.5" shells? Nitro makes a 3.5" with 2 7\16 oz. but if your reloading the HW #7's hit hard. You could always try some TSS but i Must warn you there is no turning back once you shoot a TSS haha.

I'd like to stick with at least hevi13 #6 oppose to 7 or mag blend as #7 are effective out to only 35 yards or so.

I know for a fact that your effective yardage out of the #7 hevi shot is well beyond 35yds and with a pattern like yours your good well beyond 35yds. I prefer to shoot them at 30yds but dont let those 7's fool you. I shoot Nitro shells out of my 12ga and the patters are unreal and the effectivness of them is head shaking awesome.

I shoot TSS 9's out of my little 20ga i built and they are unreal to say the least. But thats a whole different animal.

Edited by 3seasons
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What's Your Good Turkey Pattern?

Are you shooting 3" or 3.5" shells? Nitro makes a 3.5" with 2 7\16 oz. but if your reloading the HW #7's hit hard. You could always try some TSS but i Must warn you there is no turning back once you shoot a TSS haha.

I know for a fact that your effective yardage out of the #7 hevi shot is well beyond 35yds and with a pattern like yours your good well beyond 35yds. I prefer to shoot them at 30yds but dont let those 7's fool you. I shoot Nitro shells out of my 12ga and the patters are unreal and the effectivness of them is head shaking awesome.

I shoot TSS 9's out of my little 20ga i built and they are unreal to say the least. But thats a whole different animal.

Yea not a reloader of shotgun shells so not not getting into TSS. Here in NY can't order ammo online so Nitros are difficult. That's due to our current dictator of a Governor here in NY and the recent gun laws that resemble those of Nazi Germany back then. When ammo gets passed the NY boarder and I've got more time I'll post some updates and any improvements I've made.

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  • 4 months later...

My load is 3 1/2" Federal #4's out of an Undertaker choke tube in a Remington 11-87 Supermag. At 40 yards there were 50-60+ in the head I have killed out to 62 yards with this load before. The flight control wad isn't to bad out of my setup. The patterns are pretty tight with the #4's and dropping down to #5's the pattern tightens even further. try to keep most of my shots within 45 yards and so far every bird has it the ground for the count. I do have a few other chokes and loads to try after this season to see what gives me the best pattern.

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My load is 3 1/2" Federal #4's out of an Undertaker choke tube in a Remington 11-87 Supermag. At 40 yards there were 50-60+ in the head I have killed out to 62 yards with this load before. The flight control wad isn't to bad out of my setup. The patterns are pretty tight with the #4's and dropping down to #5's the pattern tightens even further. try to keep most of my shots within 45 yards and so far every bird has it the ground for the count. I do have a few other chokes and loads to try after this season to see what gives me the best pattern.

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  • 5 months later...

Nothing wrong at all with that pattern. If you want to try more loads...got for it. With that kind of pattern though, I'd have the "if it ain't broke, don't fix it" attitude. Only thing...like Don said...try it at longer ranges too to check for your max killing range.

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