Best Gauge for Turkey

[Bob J]

What's a good gauge/caliber for turkey hunting? Thinking about getting a flintlock smoothbore primarily for turkeys, don't really care about ball loads. Want something that throws a good pattern to 25 or 30 yards.

 

[Rebel]

I shoot a .12 ga, but a lot of guys have good luck with a .20 ga. If i was planning on using it for turkey only, i would go with the .12 ga., or an .11 ga. Check out the offerings at Early Rustic Arms. They make .75 cal./ .11ga barrel models. .11 ga wads are available from Circle Fly Wads.

 

[jdixon]

My preference is a 10 ga. It provides you with the most versatility. Even with the best load I can muster out of it, the 10 ga. MZ is only comparable to a modern 12 ga. 2 3/4" in my estimation. Personally, I would not go lower than a 12 ga. in a muzzleloader for turkey. Ten gauge is also the top end, there are obviously larger but, in some states (as with mine) 10 ga. is the largest you can carry into the field to hunt turkey, modern or muzzleloader. Going larger may restrict your hunting options. As for range - with an extra full choke tube in my Pedersoli SXS - I can get a killing pattern out to 33 yards on a good day, 30 is typical outside range.

 

[ffffg]

guage isnt as important as hunting skills.. i like 16 gauge becouse i reason that its the best balance between reasonable shot load and ball size.. 1 1/4 oz shot or 400 grain ball.. not too big not too small.. none of them will be worth a darn if you cant get within 25 yards of a turky becouse you dont have a choke.. if you can, buy a GOOD smoothbore, one you will be prowd of , so you dont have to start over.. youll enjoy it for the rest of your life.. go to http://www.flintlocks.com/default.asp i have the marksilver in 16 guage, their is also pensylvaina foweler in 20, new england foweler in 10-11-12, and english fusil in 20 gauge all to me would be good choices.. getze told me the round face lock is a home run, it is interchangeable with the virginia lock, which is what i have on my 16.. what a pleasure to shoot!! the key to these guns are thier barrels and locks,, jim is as good as it gets in lock making/tuning.. along with his flash hole youll have a good shotgun worth a lifetime of pleasure..somthing that goes boom when you pull the trigger when it counts first shot of the day.. i prefer to have getz make the barrel custom for what you want, pay a little extra, wait a long time,, also if you can afford it get a custome stock blank from dunlap.. actually it didnt cost me much more at all,... or get an inexpensive smoothie and save for the good one.. second hand may be possible to find, but not around here.. dave..

 

[roundball]

What's a good gauge/caliber for turkey hunting? Thinking about getting a flintlock smoothbore primarily for turkeys, don't really care about ball loads. Want something that throws a good pattern to 25 or 30 yards.

I have a .62cal/.20ga smoothbore Flintlock...with paper shot cups, it puts eight #6 pellets into coke cans at 40yds.

80grns Goex 2F
3 Oxyoke wonderwads
Paper shot cup
1+5/8oz #6
Overshot card

A problem with going after the larger bores is that there doesn't seem to be very many available in Flintlock...maybe there are, but the only ones I've seen are rare SxS Flintlock doubles that cost a fortune, etc.
:m2c:

 

[robinghewitt]

A problem with going after the larger bores is that there doesn't seem to be very many available in Flintlock

That's because long 20 gauge barrels was normal until 1796 and Nock's patent breech. They used larger bores for muskets, but not shotguns. I don't think the 12 gauge was at all popular until live pigeon shooting and percussion.

Personally I think 16 gauge is just about perfect for flint.

 

[smokeblower]

I use a repo 1842 .69 Springfield by Armi Sport. It would be considered a 14 guage. I get great patterns using #4 shot. Plus it is considered a PC gun by the Civil War actors, if that is a consideration.

ALERT ALERT
be careful bush hogging or hay cutting, those birds are nesting.

 

[DannyB]

IMHO, the more shot you put in motion, the better off you are. I presently shoot a 12 ga., but I'm considering building a 10 ga.

 

[Hoyt]

I went with .20ga. because I thought it would have been what the majority of turkey hunters would have been using. (I just got off the 3-1/2" mag. kick couple of yrs. ago.) Also I went with the smaller bore for the same reason I choose to use flintlocks to hunt... for the added challenge. I didn't want to start with a bigger bore and then feel like I wanted to add to the challenge..and needing a smaller bore. So I decided I would go with the smallest bore I felt comfortable using. One that I would need to work with and tweak the best load I could get and then try for the 30yds. zone.

 

[Bob J]

My preference is a 10 ga. As for range - with an extra full choke tube in my Pedersoli SXS - I can get a killing pattern out to 33 yards on a good day, 30 is typical outside range.

That's interesting. My Pedersoli 10 ga s x s has the imp cyl and mod (fixed, not adjustable)and I get 25 yard pattern out of the imp cyl barrel. Was thinking about a 10 ga. smoothbore flinter (if there is such a thing) so I could use same Circle Fly wads.

 

[robinghewitt]

IMHO, the more shot you put in motion, the better off you are.

What happened to the ethical hunting and respect for your quarry lecture I was getting? Turkey hunting by Caronade :crackup:

 

[jackc]

My preference is the 12 gauge but that's all it is, a preference. I wouldn't feel too handicapped with a 20 or 16 gauge. Scouting the best location and calling skills are way more important than gauge. (Of course, the shotgun needs to throw a good, dense pattern) :m2c: jack

 

[DannyB]

Quite simple. More shot usually means a quicker demise for the critter. Ever had to chase a gobbler down? With only one shot you need to make it count.

 

[Runner]

I have a 12 with the screw in chokes. The full choke tube does not throw the best pattern with cardboard wads. The improved tube does. More powder does not throw good patterns either. I shoot a 90/120 load and I killed my bird at a little over 40 yards this year. The inmportant thing is spending enough time developing a load so that you know just what the gun will do.
The 12 is going to be better than a 20 for turkeys. If you plan on shooting heavy turkey loads, buy a gun heavy enough to use them. Mine is about 4.5 pounds. With turkey loads it tries to kill on both ends. It is very nice for lighter loads.
At the shoots, a smoothbore has to be fintlock and has to be able to shoot a ball to compete. Mine can't be used there because it is caplock and can't shoot a ball. Now I need a smoothbore for the shoots also.

 

[robinghewitt]

I have a 12 with the screw in chokes.

:youcrazy:

 

[Bob J]

Quite simple. More shot usually means a quicker demise for the critter. Ever had to chase a gobbler down? With only one shot you need to make it count.

That's why I'm thinking of a 10, 11 or 12 ga. But really want something that throws a good pattern, even if 16 or 20 ga. Am quite happy with the Pedersoli 10 ga. double, but this "flint bug" doesn't seem to be the 24 hr. variety. :shocking: Am hoping that a smoothbore turkey gun will cure it :haha:

 

[Bob J]

I went with .20ga. because I thought it would have been what the majority of turkey hunters would have been using. One that I would need to work with and tweak the best load I could get and then try for the 30yds. zone.

Hoyt- What kind did you end up with? Did you obtain decent 30 yard patterns?

 

[Hoyt]

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.

 

[Runner]

For those that think screw in chokes are crazy, I wish the gun did not have them, but it came that way. It also has a 50 caliber barrel that goes with it. For hunting, it is the perfect one gun system. It is not PC, but it gets the job done.
The point was this, the full choke does not give the best long range patterns when using cardboard wad loads. It works well in modern loads with the shot cups. Lots of folks give up before they find the best load for their gun because they don't have a choke. They put up with so so patterns at longer ranges. This is my third black powder shotgun. Even my Navy 20 double would do good tight patterns at 30 yards. Of course, I spent a lot of time getting pounded by it to get it to shoot that well. Most of them will shoot a lot better than what is reported here on a regular basis, if you spend the time to work up the correct loads. It was not fun to pull the trigger on that Navy with heavy loads. The way it was stocked, it would swell the whole side of your face up after a few shots. I stuck with it until I found the right combo. It is not funny at all to shoot a heavy load out of the one I have now. At least it recoils straight back into your shoulder. I shot it a few shots a day for several weeks until I found the right load. The load work paid off this spring when a bird stopped to look at a little over 40 yards just a second too long!
When working on heavy recoiling shotgun loads, take some talcum powder with you to the range. Keep the cheekpiece powdered and you will take less of a beating.

 

[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