bwlacy Posted January 7, 2006 Report Share Posted January 7, 2006 My son wants to Turkey hunt this spring, but he is afraid to shoot my 12. What is the range on a 20 gauge turkey load? I have a 20 he could use but I have never put any turkey loads thru it. I thought about letting him practice alot with the 12 with some light target loads and then when its time to shoot a turkey he wouldn't expect the recoil, and you don't really notice the recoil with one shot on game. Any advice? Matt Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AJ Posted January 7, 2006 Report Share Posted January 7, 2006 Re: 20 ga ? Matt, How old is the kid? If he is too young or small to take the pounding of a turkey load, he needs to wait. There is a huge difference between light target loads and turkey loads. I would not advise doing a bit and switch with him. You do indeed feel the big magnum loads going off even with a big bird in front of you. You don't have to use heavy magnums. You can use lighter loads but the range goes down. This is due to pattern density, not the power of the pellets. If you are shooting a 3" magnum with a 2 ounce payload of #6 shot going 1250 fps and you want to try a 2 3/4" heavy field load of 1 1/4 oz #6 shot going 1250 fps, which pellets have more power? The answer is neither. They are equal. As long as the shot cloud is traveling at the same speed, the individual pellets will have the same energy and penetration. The benefit of the heavier payload is more pellets with the same amount of energy. you can pattern some 2 3/4" heavy field loads and see how they pattern with a turkey choke. It may suprise you. As for the 20 ga, get some 3" Hevi Shot 20 ga loads and they will shoot 40 yards when choked properly. I hope it has a good recoil pad on it. It will still have quite a bit of recoil. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bwlacy Posted January 7, 2006 Author Report Share Posted January 7, 2006 Re: 20 ga ? Well guys I think it's just a mental thing with him. He hasn't even shot a turkey load in the 12. He is 15 years old, 5'11 and about 140 lbs. He shoots my 30-06 pump gun just fine. He has seen me shoot the 12 and said there is no way he wants to shoot that gun. That is why I thought I might be able to do the switch on him. I don't think he is too young or too small to shoot the 12, he is just scared it will kick him too much. I keep telling him if he can shoot the 06 he can shoot some turkey loads in the 12. Thanks for the input on the loads for the 12 and 20. Matt Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
too_pointer Posted January 7, 2006 Report Share Posted January 7, 2006 Re: 20 ga ? bw, what kind of 20 ga. do you have , and will it even shoot 3" shells ? AJ is correct on the hevi-shot, it is really good at throwing great patterns at longer ranges than most others, but it will still kick. You might look in Cabela's for a full, or x-full choke for the 20 if it takes interchangable chokes. They have a good selection on their web site. too_ Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bwlacy Posted January 8, 2006 Author Report Share Posted January 8, 2006 Re: 20 ga ? The 20 I have is a Older H&R single shot. It will not take interchangeable choke tubes, it will hold 3 inch shells. I haven't tried to pattern it yet with some turkey loads. I would have to look but I think it is Improved Cylinder, so that will limit the range. We'll just have to shoot some in the next couple months and see if he can work up to some turkey loads in either the 12 or the 20. I will not do the switch on him. I he can only shoot a heavy field load then so be it. Maybe his range will only be 20 or 25 yards, as long as he is comfortable shooting. I have shot several turkeys at that range and closer. Thanks for all the info. Matt Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Texan_Til_I_Die Posted January 10, 2006 Report Share Posted January 10, 2006 Re: 20 ga ? I'm missing something here. He can shoot a 30-06 pump without flinching, but not a 12 gauge? It would take a pretty heavy 12 gauge load through a lightweight shotgun to get as much recoil as that 06??? Sounds more like a mental thing to me. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bwlacy Posted January 16, 2006 Author Report Share Posted January 16, 2006 Re: 20 ga ? Well guys my son has shot about 50 shells thru the 12 over the last couple weeks. So he tells me yesterday that he will try a turkey load. So I gave him one. He shot it just fine. He said it kicked like crazy and he didn't really enjoy it, but he could deal with it for Turkey hunting. It was just a mental thing. Thanks for all the replys. By the way the 12 with a 3 inch turkey load does kick a bit more than my 30-06. Now I guess I need to order a turkey barrel for my NEF Huntsman. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
WaCoyote Posted January 16, 2006 Report Share Posted January 16, 2006 Re: 20 ga ? I didn't review what everybody else said so hope I'm not being repetitive. My daughter shoots a 20 ga. and has no probs at all. When she was 10 it hurt a little, 11 she did better, 12 she could shoot well. She uses 3" hevi shot for turkeys. We shoot a few rounds of light loads whenever we go out and she can hit any stationary target. Moving? thats a different story. We get good patterns out to 30 yds with a jellyhead h.s. choke and #6 hevi. Probably lethal out to 35 but it would be a close call. I just put the dec at 20 yds and hope they come in. My 12 ga. 3 1/2 incher kicks like **** and only buys me 15 more yards. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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