Best Gauge for Turkey

[Bob J]

I think I use 3 lubed felt wads and he uses 4...is the only difference.

I use three oxyoke wonderwads with my .62cal turkey loads

Two over powder, one over shot?

 

[Bob J]

This is about 30-35yds. I built a kit from Pecatonica..just for spring gobbler hunting. Virginia .62cal. smooth rifle front and rear sights. 36" octagon to round Getz barrel, large siler lock.
I pretty much copied Roundball's paper cup turkey load. I think I use 3 lubed felt wads and he uses 4...is the only difference.

That pattern will definitely "gitter-dun"! Nice looking smooth rifle, Hoyt. You guys are convincing me that a flintlock smoothie is the ultimate way to hunt turkeys :hmm: :hmm:

 

[roundball]

I think I use 3 lubed felt wads and he uses 4...is the only difference.

I use three oxyoke wonderwads with my .62cal turkey loads

Two over powder, one over shot?

80grns Goex 2F
3 Oxyoke wonderwads
Paper shotcup
1+5/8oz #6's
Overshot card

 

[Hoyt]

Thanks Bob..I use a postit note paper rolled around a pc. of 1/2" wooden dowl (and glued with white school glue) that I put in my drill press and turned down with sandpaper just small enough to where the paper cup will ease down the barrel when filled with shot and 1 lubed felt wad inside the paper cup to hold the shot. The other two lubed felt wads I use are on top of a thin paper overpowder card. To top all of it off I use one thin overshot card..(same as the overpowder card.) I want to experiment with using a thin overshot card for .58cal. inside top of papercup just to see how it would work. I would like to get about 8 to 10 more yds. with the pattern before it opens up.
I tried the corn muffin buffer inside the papercup..and got the worse pattern of any tried. Might work not using the papercup....but I ate it while camping this gobbler season and don't plan on trying it again.

 

[Bob J]

A .62 caliber/20 ga. would be more friendly on the shoulder than a 12 or 10 ga. And with the patterns you and Roundball are getting at 30 yards, I wouldn't feel handicapped at all. Kinda like the idea of having sights (guess that's the difference between a smooth rifle and a fowler?).

 

[Hoyt]

If I was looking for a gun that would be the most effective gobbler getter I could find..I would go with the biggest bore I could handle. Unlike in modern shotguns..big bores in muzzleloaders are in most cases lighter than the small bores. Yes..they kick like h..l that little plastic 12ga. sidelock I got ..cuts my fingers on the trigger guard every time I shoot it. When I'm patterning it I wrap tape around my fingers and use a wadded up coat for recoil. But like has been posted... for a turkey gun modern or flintlock..the bigger, harder hitting, farther reaching patterns will improve your odds. However..if you go smaller..you have to take up the slack with calling and woodsman ship. That's why I didn't get a gobbler last yr. The only chance I had was at two gobblers..just a hair farther than I wanted to shoot and making a run for it.
I call my Virginia a smooth rifle cause it's made just like a rifle less the rifling.

 

[Rebel]

I have a NAvy Arms double barrel .12 ga that weighs around 6 1/2- 7 lbs. I normally shoot 95 grs of powder and 1 1/4oz of shot or a .690 rd ball and the recoil isn't bad at all. May be the stock design, but i can shoot a lot of rounds in a day, and it don't bother me, and i ain't that big a guy.

 

[Runner]

The 20 I had would try to knock your teeth out! The little Trapper I am shooting now is a pretty nice little gun, but it is too light. It is the one with the real thin polished barrel. I saw one of the Gobbler versions at the Old Mines gathering for sale at 150$ I did not buy it because I already have this one. It had the thicker barrel and no screw in chokes. I assume you could shoot a ball out of it. It did not sit for there for long before someone was gone with it. There waas a smoothbore there also at a very good price, but it was a caplock. I am looking for a flinter.

 

[ffffg]

i would like to caution against guns that have painfull shooting problems.. in shotgun sports or hunting this can be the downfall of the average shooter.. the jerk, the flinch, the eyes shutting, turning or lifting of the head, the stopping of the follow thru are just some of the symptoms that will plague the shotgun shooter, complicated and spurred on by pain.. A beginner must have a gun that feels good, and puts the shot in the right spot with the correct density for the job for good results and proper learning.. gun weight, butt width and design, pitch (angle of the butt end) comb height and angle, and cast off problems are some of the things that contribute to pain in shotgun shooting.. this is another reason for a quality gun, built or desinged by knowledgabel shotgunsmiths.. it does not take alot power to break a clay, or kill a bird.. it does take an accurate shot and a decent pattern with the right sized shot going at an apropriate velocity.. smaller guns need good patterns but the diameter of the pattern is smaller, the densisty doesnt need to be more.. a turkeys head and neck is small, so a 20 guage with accurate shot and dense pattern will kill a turkey at the same range that a 8 guage will with the same density.. density would be the number of pellets in a square foot.. usually larger guages will be set for the same density for the job but give a larger pattern, especially for moveing targets.. personally i think the big gauges will cause more problems than they will help.. before some one calls fowel, i would like to mention that ive won two montana state muzzeloading championships with a 10 guage.. .. it took tremendous work to get it to work properly with 1 1/8 ounce shot.. the short shot column tended to tip without figuring out that i had to lenghten the wads to stop occasional tipping.. . i also had gas sealing problems be couse the average nitro card (from the old circle fly co.) were not of large enough diameter to take the pressures i was developing.... it worked fine after alot of messing around.. .. another point, as patterns get dense from more shot/less powder loads, the velocity decreases, which is not a problem with turkey, becouse the head is volnurable.. But the only way to compensate on tough birds in cold weather with heavey plumage is with larger shot.. with very dense patterns you can get wing breakage, but without a followup shot or without a dog your bird will be gone when it hits the ground.. so a decent velocity , medium to little largeer than normal shot size for pennetration into the vitals with a body shot, with a decent pattern is the best way to go for moveing targets like ducks or pheasant..remember a fair number of these shots will be into the butt.. This agiain would be in a gun that the shooter can handle and in a weight that the shooter can carry for several hours, or more, in the field, maybe after driving for several hours to get to the hunting spot, and after a short nights rest, gettin up very early to reach an area at dawn.... in my opinion a smooth bore flinter with average caliber, of avereage weight, 36-44 inch barrel, and a good military style lock with large flint in a quality desinged gun will serve the shooter well (without pain) for all game from deer to pheasant to duck to turkey.. a 16 gauge, .69 cal, 8 1/2 pound gun with 42 inch barrel is right in the center of all this.. and there is absolutly nothing wrong with a 20 or 12.. .. a 10 will work fine but weight must definitly be more, and proper design and an expereinced shotgunner will be importnat... 10 guage is not a beginners gun in my opinion.. the bess could be an exception if it is loaded properly for the beginner..there would be alot of guys here that would be able to help a newby bess shooters with pheasant, turkey, deer.. heaven knows ill get fried if i dont bring up the redcoats. eace: good luck to you all.. dave

 

[ffffg]

some more info and thoughts, the edit time has expired on the previous post this morning.. first off id like to bring up that overloading guns is risky, and the proper way to handle this is to go to a larger gun.. to post over loaded data on a national website is dangerous, and not responsible..i am guilty of this and had to remove some data from this post as i wrote it... beginners will not sometimes workup loads, and anxios to get results, will go right to a posted load looking for these fantastic results in a poor quality gun. then when it dont fire,or in the excitement of a new gun, load it again with the same load and shoot... so please let common sence prevail and not post loads for a gauge larger than what should be used, keep it to your self.. we have all seen guns damaged from accidents, and too heavey of loads from novis and expert alike.. back to the earlier post... the 10 guage i had at the time was a pedersoli sxs percussion with screw in chokes.. it was a stone dead killer and could handle big loads . .. this was very uncomfortable and i found that the lighter loads in this 10 would be much more accurate for me, and do a better job. i decided the 10 was unnessesary for ducks and pheasant. if geese enter into the picture or your sitting in a blind and your not faint of heart thier is nothing wrong with a 10 guage.. but as tof said about the 12 gauge you need a wheel barrow to carry around the balls (about 540 grains each).. In a cylinder bore for pheasants and your young it will throw a tremendous wide pattern of large shot at the bird, rivaling a modern 12 guage.. a modest load in a 10 is just right when you need power, there is no doubting that for a second... but as a lifetime quality/expensive gun i dont think it is the one to sink your money into.. as legs get tired, and age sinks into the bones, an accurate, well made 20/16/ 12 will do a great job, be a pleasure to carry, have light recoil with ball or shot, and handle like a dream.. the mortimer 12 guage by pedersoli is an excelent example of this except it is a cheap gun with a small lock, difficult to knapp in the field (which i feel is a poor feature)which made it a poor overall choice for me for competition and long days bird hunting. the 16 guage mark silver by chambers is a little heavy, 8 1/2 lbs, but long enough and heavy enough for dampening recoil.... the 20 guage in a light gun is liked many for pheasant and turkey and deer.. these guys are good shots, and know how to hunt thier quarry, and enjoy their 20s. but tecknically are for experts,( and id better add for the beginner who wants to learn)... they will be able to carry thier 20 to the grave... dave

 

[Bob J]

in my opinion a smooth bore flinter with average caliber, of avereage weight, 36-44 inch barrel, and a good military style lock with large flint in a quality desinged gun will serve the shooter well (without pain) for all game from deer to pheasant to duck to turkey.. a 16 gauge, .69 cal, 8 1/2 pound gun with 42 inch barrel is right in the center of all this..

Thanks, Dave, for sharing your experience. I love the Pedersoli 10 ga. s x s, have the load worked up for it ( 4 drams of 2f and 1 1/2 oz. #5s). Recoil was quite noticeable working up the load from the bench, which by the way is the max load for this gun, but two or four shots a year turkey hunting its manageable :: Now thinking about a flintlock, the 16 or 20 gauge sounds like it would be much more fun working up a load for it. :winking:

 

[Ron LaClair]

When in doubt, bigger is better. 12ga. fowler..30yd's

 

[No Deer]

Well now, I don't necessarily disagree with the others that bigger is better, but my 20 ga did a good job on 2 turkeys this spring. Each was a little less than 20 yards. I think gettin close and having a good pattern is just as, if not more, important than size of the gun. :imo:

 

[Runner]

Someone tell me he did not say that!!! He did not just say that size doesn't matter and getting closer is more fun, Did He????

 

[Bob J]

When in doubt, bigger is better. 12ga. fowler..30yd's

Nice fowl AND nice fowler! :: :hatsoff:

 

[Ron LaClair]

I think gettin close and having a good pattern is just as, if not more, important than size of the gun.

If you've got a big gun you don't have to get so close. :no: :shake: :redface:

 

[Russ T Frizzen]

Hey Longhunter! How about some specs and closer photos of that fowling piece? I'd like to know more and I'll bet I'm not alone. It looks like a more robust version of my 20 bore English fowler.