28 gauge Turkey loads

[lexington1]

Does anyone have any 28 gauge turkey loads? I recently picked up a 28 gauge smoothrifle and am thinking about trying it for Turkey.

 

[Britsmoothy]

No but I would pitch my .45 at a turkeys noggin to 25 yards any day of the week with 3/4oz of #7or #6!

 

[ohio ramrod]

I don't hunt turkeys with my 28 gauge. But it is deadly on rabbits out to 25 yards with a load of 3/4 ounce shot and 55 grain FF. For rabbits I use #6 shoot, but for Turkey I would advise #4 shot.

 

[deermanok]

That's kinda small for turkeys. Most states allow 12, 16, or 20 gauge. A few allow 410. Best to check the regulations in your state to see if your legal.

 

[recurvebill]

I have a T/C .56 cal. smooth bore which i load for birds. 70 gr. FF , then reset powder measure to 60 gr. for shot charge , which will be approx 7/8 oz load . A couple things i have found ; this ain't no "wispy"upland field gun , so start your swing quickly ; for "on the wing"shooting , extend your lead ; one of the first things i found is "TAPE DOWN THE REAR SIGHT " , as you will be trying to aim and then shooting about 20 feet behind these little speed balls of the Grouse and partridge family ! This rifle is a squirrel collector ! Practice on some pine cones to get an idea of the capabilities !! Oh yes , i use #6 hard shot .

 

[Britsmoothy]

I have a T/C .56 cal. smooth bore which i load for birds. 70 gr. FF , then reset powder measure to 60 gr. for shot charge , which will be approx 7/8 oz load . A couple things i have found ; this ain't no "wispy"upland field gun , so start your swing quickly ; for "on the wing"shooting , extend your lead ; one of the first things i found is "TAPE DOWN THE REAR SIGHT " , as you will be trying to aim and then shooting about 20 feet behind these little speed balls of the Grouse and partridge family ! This rifle is a squirrel collector ! Practice on some pine cones to get an idea of the capabilities !! Oh yes , i use #6 hard shot .

Your only the other person I have come across that uses more powder than shot!

 

[recurvebill]

Your only the other person I have come across that uses more powder than shot!

Well sir , the T/C reloading instructions for the .56 cal rifle , page 79 , specifically state 80 gr. FF with one over powder wad , then , "reset" powder measure to 60 gr. for shot charge , with one T/C over shot wad tamped firmly in place . M.V. 1116 FPS . My only concession is reducing powder charge to 70 gr. A little slower , yes , but get's the job done . Now , my latest acquisition , a 12 ga. T/C Tree Hawk will be a "square load" gun , as soon as i feel comfortable with makin' smoke with it . Keep your powder dry and your head on a swivel ! Bill

 

[Britsmoothy]

Well sir , the T/C reloading instructions for the .56 cal rifle , page 79 , specifically state 80 gr. FF with one over powder wad , then , "reset" powder measure to 60 gr. for shot charge , with one T/C over shot wad tamped firmly in place . M.V. 1116 FPS . My only concession is reducing powder charge to 70 gr. A little slower , yes , but get's the job done . Now , my latest acquisition , a 12 ga. T/C Tree Hawk will be a "square load" gun , as soon as i feel comfortable with makin' smoke with it . Keep your powder dry and your head on a swivel ! Bill

The swivel is getting a little stiff .

I'm going to try this a little. I'm all for bending the rules some. Well, except Gods!

 

[recurvebill]

The swivel is getting a little stiff .

I'm going to try this a little. I'm all for bending the rules some. Well, except Gods!

Fully agree. Please keep in mind that the stats i quoted are for the T/C RENEGADE .56 CAL. SMOOTH BORE RIFLE ! NOT a 28 ga. shotgun ! I am 75 , so know all about the swivel getting creaky .

 

[Britsmoothy]

I tried a little less shot to powder today at an old tin bucket and a squirrel in my 45. It did ok and certainly packs a punch.
I will do some more testing one day.

 

[The Crisco Kid]

There are 3 reasons I didn't shoot this Gould's turkey this morning. Least important first: he was in the parking lot. 2nd reason, the season is closed. 3rd and most important reason, I didn't have my gun.

 

[Ponderosaman]

Unless you live in Mexico the Gould’s requires special very hard to get draw tags. I had a dream once that I
was in the Peloncillo Mountains in Southeast AZ hunting Gould’s. I hope that it’s a portence.

 

[The Crisco Kid]

This photo was taken in the Ramsey Canyon Preserve in the Huachuca Mtns in Southern AZ.
Maybe that's a 4th reason I didn't shoot it, it was in a preserve. Now that I think about it, the 5th reason might be that there were a lot of bird watchers along with a lot of California license plates in the parking lot. People I don't usually get along with. Apparently the Goulds are making a comeback in recent years.

https://www.azgfd.com/hunting/species/biggame/turkey/

 

[megasupermagnum]

That's kinda small for turkeys. Most states allow 12, 16, or 20 gauge. A few allow 410. Best to check the regulations in your state to see if your legal.

Very few states regulate the size of shotguns you can use. Your own state of Oklahoma does not at all. You could shoot them with a 32 caliber smooth bore if you want. And that is just your spring season. Your fall season it looks like you are free to use just about anything, including rifles, It looks like 22 LR is about the only thing prohibited.

I just checked my area. SD doesn't have a minimum, ND doesn't, WY doesn't, MT doesn't, WI doesn't, MN just eliminated theirs last year. Of course MN then had to be total dinks, and then put a 10 gauge maximum on it, as if anyone was sniping them with their 8 gauges.

In the world of muzzleloaders, there's no reason at all a 28 gauge wouldn't work just fine. There is no shell to restrict you. Shot stringing doesn't matter, since you are shooting turkey in the head while standing still. Personally, I think some of these people are risking it too much with the tiny payloads. I know I couldn't get 3/4 oz of shot to pattern tight enough for turkey hunting at anything beyond spitting distance. I'm not saying it can't be done, but it isn't easy. Of course once you introduce choke into the mix, things change altogether. If your barrel is choked extra full, you can get away with a lot less.

 

[chuck1956]

Does anyone have any 28 gauge turkey loads? I recently picked up a 28 gauge smoothrifle and am thinking about trying it for Turkey.

Here's what I use in my 28 smoothbore:

For turkey I use 55 to 65gr 2F and 3/4 to 7/8oz of either #6 or#4 shot. With turkey you need to do a lot of patterning for a good load that will put a minimum of three pellets on Mr. Drumsticks head at your maximum range. Generally with a cylinder bore muzzle loader that is going to be about 30yds although you may stretch that a bit with the sky chief load.

Skychief's Shot Load Link

I was out this morning trying my luck.
To dang windy.
Good luck and let us know how you make out.

 

[megasupermagnum]

No way. 7/8 oz of #6 shot is about 197 pellets. You would need about half of your shot inside of a 10" circle at 30 yards. That isn't happening with a cylinder bore, no matter how you load it. 100 in a 10" circle puts 5-6 in the brain and spine of a turkey. Even with half that requirement, I don't see it happening. At 15 yards, sure. 20, maybe, but it takes a ton of work.

For a new shooter, just starting off with cylinder bore muzzleloading shotguns. A realistic expectation for 3/4 to 1 ounce of shot would be about 20 yards for a turkey, and I would definitely go for a #8 or #7.5. With #6, you would be looking at 15 yards. I was only able to achieve 25 yards with a 2 ounce load of #6, and that took WEEKS of pattern testing to get that far.

You can only skimp so far until one day a turkey runs off wounded. Personally, I will not hunt with a load that will not put at a minimum of 75 pellets inside a 10" circle. It's all a numbers game. One pellet to the head is all it takes to kill a turkey. The problem is, if your pattern only puts 1-3 pellets in a turkeys head on average, eventually your average is going to run out, and you get 0. At 5-6 in the head, you are about guaranteeing a kill.

 

[Ponderosaman]

Where were all you guys when Britsmoothy was arguing about this with me.

 

[megasupermagnum]

Where were all you guys when Britsmoothy was arguing about this with me.

The thing is, Britsmoothy has been at this for a long time. I'm sure with years of load development, you can get away with less shot. My argument is for a new shooter. You aren't going to be able to start off brand new and expect a 3/4 oz load of anything to drop a turkey at 30 yards every time. Based on my experiences, it doesn't much matter what load you use, 30 yards is really pushing it for a cylinder bore muzzleloader on turkeys.

Wing shooting is another matter altogether.

 

[Ponderosaman]

The thing is, Britsmoothy has been at this for a long time. I'm sure with years of load development, you can get away with less shot. My argument is for a new shooter. You aren't going to be able to start off brand new and expect a 3/4 oz load of anything to drop a turkey at 30 yards every time. Based on my experiences, it doesn't much matter what load you use, 30 yards is really pushing it for a cylinder bore muzzleloader on turkeys.

Wing shooting is another matter altogether.

No, I kid. I know why I didn’t get any backup while arguing with Britsmoothy. The guy is kind of a legend on here.

 

[The Crisco Kid]

I'm an old dog trying to learn new tricks, like shooting the 20 gauge I built. I've tried 3/4 oz of #6 and 60 grains of FF at 25 yards and could maybe kill an unlucky turkey. 60 grains is a little over a 2 dram load. I'll keep fooling around with it until I get a respectable pattern at whatever distance shoots best. The question I have is will less than a 2 dram load give enough velocity for a kill shot? In other words, which is more important, velocity or pattern? I know it would be nice to have both but that may be hard to come by.