Flintlock Turkey gun...

[James Kopp]

Anyone care to recommend their choice for a good turkey gun, flint lock style

 

[kje54]

Anyone care to recommend their choice for a good turkey gun, flint lock style

Any flintlock fowler would work, French, English, American, you choose.

 

[Dave Marsh]

I am partial to a North East fowler in 20 gauge.....

 

[TreeMan]

There are a lot of nice fowlers/shotguns that come up for sale on this site. I bought a new Pedersoli Indian Trade gun and I love it. A few mods to it made it a bit more historically correct. Shoots dang good. I see some custom guns come up on here sometimes cheaper than what I paid for the Pedersoli but not often. Either way you can’t go wrong.

 

[Art Caputo]

I’m quite happy with my 20ga/62cal TVM Fowler by Jack Garner.

 

[Archer 756]

Pedersoli 10 ga S/S

 

[Daryl Crawford]

That Tip Curtis smooth rifle for sale on the forum would probably be an excellent choice. With the right shot column and that rear site, that would be a turkey killer.

 

[megasupermagnum]

Pedersoli 10 ga S/S

I've got a Pedersoli 10 gauge, and even shot a turkey with it. I would not recommend it for turkey hunting, and am not all that impressed by it for anything else either. It is a fairly well put together gun, it is reliable. The problems are fit, and point of aim. The fit is very odd, and they want to you "stack 8's" with the mid and front bead. The problem is even with this hold, the gun hits low. If you look down the rib like any other shotgun, it hits a good 3-4 feet low at 30 yards. Along with the fit, the gun is a cheek slapper. There was a heavier and a lighter weight model of 10 gauge, but both are rather light for 10 gauge. That's not the problem though, the problem is the stock is shaped so it smacks you in the cheek bone. I had to go to a 2 ounce load to get a reasonable range for turkey hunting, but it is brutal. To actually wingshoot, you wouldn't want to go over 1 1/4 oz, and at that point, why did you buy a 10 gauge? I will say this gun shoots very well with buckshot, however, I can't legally use it for deer making it a moot point.

If you want a purely turkey hunting gun, what really matters is how much range you want. The other thing is if you want to be historically correct. In a modern shotgun, I like an 18" or 20" barrel, tight choke, and choose a load to suit. In a muzzleloader, a 20" with a full jug choke would be very practical, and gauge would not be super important. If going historically correct, I would choose a 12 or 10 gauge, barrel length of your choice, and it takes some work to get good patterns from a cylinder bore.

 

[Oldbear63]

Here might be an interesting place to post a question:
Does a longer smooth barrel make a better pattern over a shorter barrel?
Is there an advantage in a long barreled shotgun/musket (44 in?)?

 

[Archer 756]

I noted the loads that one uses makes or brakes your shooting As always loads

 

[Eric Krewson]

I have a 12ga English fowler I made and a Curly Gustomsky trade gun.

I made the fowler as a turkey gun (38" barrel) and had the barrel jug choked, it shot a so so pattern until I put a Skychief load in it, BINGO, turkeys beware.

The 20ga Curley gun shot a pattern a turkey could walk through with only minor irritation at 20 yards, it was that bad. I dusted off a bunch of turkeys with it and never killed the first one, that is why I built the fowler.

I had pretty much consigned the trade gun to the gun safe but got it out the other day to try a Skychief load in it, again, BINGO. I wish I had know about that load back when I had land to hunt that was covered up with turkeys.

Old age, loss of land to hunt and physical issues have stopped my turkey hunting but I remember those days.

My point is; buy what you like and work up a load for it, I highly recommend a Skychief load. Working up a load is everything.

 

[hanshi]

Smoothbores, unlike most rifles, must "fit" the individual for any hope of accuracy. If the gun feels nice against the shoulder then it will likely be a good choice.

 

[jfahlingsr]

Anyone care to recommend their choice for a good turkey gun, flint lock style

I've used a 16 ga flintlock for many years with success and built several 20 ga and one 12 ga for customers. These were 42" bbl guns with no chock, the 12ga was a 36". In my opinion hunting Turkey's with a flintlock takes a fresh outlook on several things compared to modern guns. #1 is limiting the distance you will take a shot. I think a 20 with 1-1/4 oz with a stout load of 2f has an effective range of 20 yds, a 16 with right at 1-3/8 oz has been effective at 22 yds and a 12 just a little more. Now, if you limit to 20 yds it makes sense to use much smaller shot than the modern gunners use as the smaller shot has enough retained energy to penetrate the skull or break the neck and you have to fill that pattern with shot. I had a bag of #7 which is hard to find but high quality 7-1/2 works out to 22yds or a little more. I think keeping you vent clear, flint sharp and setting up for 20 yds is a lot more satisfying than shooting a 10 ga 3&1/2" with #4's at 60+ yes.

 

[Yewbender]

No turkey yet but my TVM .62 Fowler by M. Avance is ready for action and will be using the Skychief load!

 

[Peregrine]

I have a Jackie Brown .62 (cylinder bore) that I am getting good patterns with #5s at 20 yards. The plan is to use that for turkeys. My problem is that the 'aged' barrel finish shines like the chrome bumper on a 57 Chevy.

 

[Daryl Crawford]

I have a Jackie Brown .62 (cylinder bore) that I am getting good patterns with #5s at 20 yards. The plan is to use that for turkeys. My problem is that the 'aged' barrel finish shines like the chrome bumper on a 57 Chevy.

That last line cracked me up!

 

[ADK Bigfoot]

I have owned three lefty flintlock fowlers, two from TVM and one a smooth rifle from Jackie Brown. It all comes down to fit. One I could not cheek the stock and hope to hit anything (TVM) Great shooter, dependable, and solid. The other (TVM) hit right to point of aim but shot weak patterns. Again, it shot well and shot round ball to point of aim with authority. My limit with shot is 21 yards, and I did manage to shoot three longbeards over a few years. Now sporting a new 20 ga French Fowler with a 38" jug-choked barrel that I hope shoots well. Time will tell.

Had a nice long beard through my yard this afternoon, checking out the bird feeders in a few inches of new snow. If he makes it to May, we will have a go at him.

ADK Bigfoot

 

[Yewbender]

Mine is still little shinny but not like it use to be. Shoot it alot, get all that good fouling residue all over it and ease up on the oil and it will age faster. Thats what i do. Now if you don’t want to do that then maybe apply a paste wax and leave it, should dull the barrel so its not as shinny.

 

[megasupermagnum]

Here might be an interesting place to post a question:
Does a longer smooth barrel make a better pattern over a shorter barrel?
Is there an advantage in a long barreled shotgun/musket (44 in?)?

No. An 18" barrel patterns the same as a 44", except you would be 26" farther away from your target. I don't own any really short muzzleloaders or SBS's, but the 14" modern shotguns appear to pattern exactly the same as any other more "normal" 28" or so barrel if the chokes are the same.

 

[Daryl Crawford]

As I understand it, the longer barrel helps in getting a complete burn of large charges of course grained powder. A short barrel may not see complete burn of all powder by the time the projectile leaves the barrel.