Is Pedersoli 10 ga. cyl and imp cyl good for turkey hunting? All modern guns seem to be full or extra full. If so at what distance and what recommended loads. All guns a little different but looking for starting point. If not good for turkeys with the present chokes, would installing choke tubes be a good idea and if so by whom?
It's a fair set of questions.
Answering in reverse, you might be able to install choke tubes, but they tend to be a pain to work with for some folks with ML shotguns. I've known people who shortened fixed choke shotgun barrels, to where the walls were thick enough for the installation of choke tubes, but again, if you're just getting into ML shotguns, best leave that for later, if at all.
10 gauge will give you plenty of turkey slaying pellets, and in fact, one might say the fellers who shoot turkeys with 20 gauge no-choked barrels [cylinder bore] are the ones that should worry..., not you if you're toting a 10 gauge. YES, you will likely need to explore a lot of loads. "Packets" of shot wrapped in a thick wall of paper that just fits within your bore, may give you a good pattern. Adding melted beeswax to that same packet, allowing it to harden, and creating a "wax load", may be what you find you need to do. OR maybe you find 2½ ounces of #5 shot, launched with 80 grains of 2Fg, with a ½", lubed fiber wad between the powder and shot, is just the thing.
You're not going to necessarily equal the range of the modern, expensive, 12 gauge, 3½ inch, ultra-magnum, turkey annihilator, shotgun shell...., but as was pointed out above, a lot of turkeys get slain every year by guns that don't use that load, and a bunch of those are shot with cylinder bore muzzle loaders. IN FACT..., the guy who was the first documented person to take a turkey with cylinder bore flintlock in the 20th century in my state of Maryland, is a friend of mine.
LD
