12 Gauge Turkey Loads

[wtilenw]

I'm interested in hearing about anyones progress and tecniques on developing turkey loads for the 12 gauge. I'm supposed to recieve my Pedersoli 12 gauge side by side on Friday and have ordered 12 gauge wads and cards from Track of the Wolf. Hopefully they will be here by the weekend too :hmm: This is my first venture with a shotgun and I have the feeling that developing a hard hitting dense patterning load may be frustrating. I am excited about learning the gun and am grateful that I now have such a wealth of information to draw on. You guys have been a great help to me and keep me fired up about blackpowder on a daily basis. Any help would be greatly appreciated.Thanks!
Idaho PRB

 

[Rebel]

Until you receive the gun and know whether it has cylinder bore barrels or is choked it may be hard to tell what is best. The standard starting place is equal measurer of shot and powder (ie if your measurer is set for 70 gr. of powder that comes out to 1 oz. of shot in the same measurer) 80 gr setting for powder = 1 1/8 oz of shot. 90 grs. of powder = 1 1/4 oz of shot. Usually though, you will get denser patterns with a little more shot than powder, like 80 gr powder and 1 1/4 oz of shot. You can also tighten your patterns by using either plastic shotcups, or paper shotcups. For turkey you want the densest pattern you can get, with enough power. You might try 80-90 grs of powder and 1 3/8- 1 1/2 oz of shot and see how it patterns. All of this is assuming you have cylinder bores. If you have chokes you may find that different loads work better.

 

[Hoyt]

95grs. blk pwdr one thin overpowder card one t.c. felt cushion wad 100grs by volume nickle plated 6's 20grs by volumne nickle plated no. 4's and 1 thin overshot card.
That's what did the gobbler in for me last yr.

 

[Protrucker]

I settled on a 100 grain charge of FFg Goex with two Wonder Wads on top. Then 100 grains of #5 magnum lead shot & one Wonder Wad to hold the shot in place.
I don't remember what choke I have without checking it but this load produces a nice dense pattern at 30 yards without any holes in the pattern. I have taken several turkeys with this load & even took a double once.
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