First, I have progressive osteoarthritis in both shoulders, and the doctor's orders are to avoid heavy recoil at all costs. A 28 gauge smoothbore reduces the likelihood of damage to my joints to a reasonable level, as long as I don't get carried away trying to load it up to magnum levels.
Thank you for sharing your experiment. Can you please share what gauge weapon you shot these patterns from?I decided to to a test today with a very light load in my gun with a removable choke. This is a load from another thread, and I did not want to diminish his accomplishment by posting this there. The load was 55gr FFg, 7/8 oz #4 lead shot. He did not state what he used for powder or wads. I used Goex red can FFg, two nitro cards over the powder, and a thin card wad over the shot. I used #4 lead shot pulled from a Winchester shotshell, and weighed exactly 7/8 oz of shot. I then fired two patterns from exactly 20 yards, one with a cylinder bore, and one with an extra full turkey choke.
The patterns are pictured below. The circles are actually 10 1/8", which is why I did not count the holes directly on the line. What I got were 31 hits for the cylinder bore, and 51 hits from the extra full choke. I want this to be an example of just how careful you have to be with light loads like this. With the extra full, sure, it will probably kill a turkey most of the time. The problem is that it won't kill one every time. Lets say that at best it will kill 75% of the birds you perfectly center that pattern on. Are you willing to bet those odds? I don't think I even have to explain the cylinder bore pattern. If you kill 2 in a row with that at 20 yards, you should buy a lottery ticket.
Does that mean light loads can't work? Of course not. Use smaller shot. There is no reason at all for using #4 shot in a poof load on turkeys. That same load with #7.5 would work just fine for turkey at 20 yards. Don't learn the hard ways like I did. Pattern your gun, and don't be overly optimistic about your results. Neither of those patterns are even close to being acceptable for hunting at that distance.
There was an old recipe from an 18th century writing. You should shoot 1/3 more shot than nitrous dust. In my 20 gauge double I load 75 grains of 2f powder and from the same measure set at 100 grains, filled with shot. I have killed two turkeys with this load. Get a good pattern then test the penetration into a tin (not aluminum) soup can. If it goes through one side of the can. It will be powerful enough. The load I suggested will probably go through both sides at 25 yards. I never had any luck with square loads. (same amount of powder as shot set on the measure). They seemed to spread to wide. You need to add a little more shot to fill in the holes in the pattern. I load powder, nitro card, cushion wad lubed with crisco, over shot wad, shot, and then another overshot wad. I use this load for everything even clay pigeons. In my 12 gauge I use 80 grains of 2F and 110 grains of shot. Both of these loads have worked fine for me. Good Luck
I thought that I had built a square load that was 75 grains 2F and 1 1/4 ounces shot. Turns out my scale measured the powder more accurately than the shot since as the weight got heavier the scale became more inaccurate. I since calibrated my scale and now know that the square load is 75 grains 2F and about 1 ounce shot. It patterned well and I’ll probably will use it for clays, but will need more for turkey I think. I will shoot some turkey targets before I go for turkey with this muzzleloader.
That must of been 4f then
Originally called B.S. but then noticed the”1” and 1/8 oz load.
PROPOSED 2021-22 TURKEY HUNTING REGULATIONS CHANGES • Allow for the use of .410 and 28 gauge shotguns as a legal method of take • .410 and 28 gauge guns must use shot sizes 7 through 9 with a minimum shot density of 18 grams per cubic centimeter (G/CC). • Change allowable shot sizes from #2 and smaller to #4 and smaller for all other gauges (recommendation from NWTF Safety Task Force). Long-Term (1922-2003) NH Deer Harvest WMU - A (state.nh.us)I believe you may be mistaken. I just read through the NH regulations, and find no restrictions at all on what shotgun you can use. All I can find is that a bow must have a 30 pound draw. In the prohibited section, it states "It is unlawful to take a turkey with a rifle, air rifle, dogs, electronic calling devices, live decoys, or while it is perched in a tree."
I then dug into the NH general regulations, and found nothing there. I did find the following quote in the restricted section that has to be the single most bizarre statement I have ever read in a hunting regulations book.
"Negligently shoot, wound, or kill a human being while hunting, or abandon a wounded or killed human being"
That has to be written???
Anyway, in NH it appears you can use any smooth bore gun, with any size shot, and presumably you could shoot a single ball. I'm not seeing anything that says you can't hunt them with handguns either.
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