Turkey's I'm ready

[Robby]

Well, I'm not sure. Like deer, I never kept track. I get my share.
Robby

 

[Brokennock]

Well, I'm not sure. Like deer, I never kept track. I get my share.
Robby

Yup,,, about what I figured.

Sometimes the replies directed to folks like yourself,,,, like new comers giving @dave_person gun building advise, make me slowly shake my head and wonder.

 

[Ponderosaman]

I’d love to take a whole month off sometime and spend the whole season in the field. Just requested a day off for a long weekend in April to hunt with my pop in NM. Shooting turkey targets with my Pedersoli this weekend. I’ll post the targets.

Life got in the way of me doing this on this weekend. Tuesday for sure, I’ll post pics in the evening.

 

[Ponderosaman]

Finely broke away and shot a few turkey targets with my Pedersoli SXS 12 gauge. As is often the case, more questions from my experiments than answers. I didn’t have much time so I shot fairly quickly off hand. Modified barrel is definitely good at twenty yards. Shot low on first modified shot. Bird still very dead. All these were shot at twenty yards. You can see the hole from the wad on my first shot at the very bottom of the target. Also big hole in the pattern. No wads after that first shot, just a nitro card. All info is written on targets.

.

 

[Brokennock]

Finely broke away and shot a few turkey targets with my Pedersoli SXS 12 gauge. As is often the case, more questions from my experiments than answers. I didn’t have much time so I shot fairly quickly off hand. Modified barrel is definitely good at twenty yards. Shot low on first modified shot. Bird still very dead. All these were shot at twenty yards. You can see the hole from the wad on my first shot at the very bottom of the target. Also big hole in the pattern. No wads after that first shot, just a nitro card. All info is written on targets.View attachment 126913View attachment 126914View attachment 126915View attachment 126916.

I hate to say it, but, I will be honest with you. I would not trust those patterns yet.
I would however like to see the rest of the pattern spread. I am wondering if the 1st few pics just don't have the densest part of the pattern in the picture and on the head of the turkey.

I would want to see the circled part of the pattern both more consistent in each shot and over the head of the bird.

 

[Ponderosaman]

I hate to say it, but, I will be honest with you. I would not trust those patterns yet.
I would however like to see the rest of the pattern spread. I am wondering if the 1st few pics just don't have the densest part of the pattern in the picture and on the head of the turkey.
View attachment 126946
I would want to see the circled part of the pattern both more consistent in each shot and over the head of the bird.

I agree. I feel pretty good about the ones with the modified. I had a little less than an hour to do this and while I didn’t rush, I would usually take my sweet time and shoot from sitting position. I am much more accurate sitting and taking my time with breathing etc. It speaks well to my patterns that in spite of my inaccuracy those birds are dead. If I can find some time the weekend of the nineteenth, I would like to try the Skychief load in my cylinder barrel which clearly needs some help to reach out to a reasonable yardage and spend some quality time shooting targets. 20 yards seems kind of a minimum to me. I know others have brought birds in very close, but I have never brought one in closer than 20 yards, so far.

 

[martin9]

What was your powder charge in those loads? That looks awful thin. I would go to a BIG sheet of paper and find the center of my pattern and work from there. That thin out of a 12 I'd back off the powder also.

 

[Ponderosaman]

What was your powder charge in those loads? That looks awful thin. I would go to a BIG sheet of paper and find the center of my pattern and work from there. That thin out of a 12 I'd back off the powder also.

75 grains. Tonto National Forest here in AZ requires reusable target frames, so I built one with 2x2s and 2x1s. I was shooting low because my pattern was high when patterning for clay shooting. I changed the wad because that first shot was blown, but was unwilling to change my POA because I didn’t want to have too many variables with such little time. So back to my frame, the bottom strut took quite a bit of damage and I am concerned that the shot was unable to penetrate the 1” solid pine strut, so I don’t think I will make my powder load weaker. I do appreciate the feedback from you and @Brokennock because this is new to me. Being onsite at work takes so much time and between the new dog and my family, it’s tough to spend the time I really need to find what this weapon is really capable of so the analysis of the process is valuable. Just finding a good place to shoot without going to a range, which I hate, and following the rules is tough enough. Until recently, I haven’t had a decent 4 wheel drive vehicle. I share my truck with my son (step son), so planning ahead is requisite. The weekend of the 19th, it’s on. Will shoot blank paper, take my time in sitting position and shoot as many targets as I need. Fully agree, lots of work needed, but even this little bit of work allows me to shoot the left barrel at 20 yards. Until yesterday, bringing the Pedersoli to my hunt would have been about romance rather than utility.

 

[martin9]

Yeah, I wouldn't go less than 75 grains. Maybe bump up the shot load. In all my pattern testing which has been done with 28 gauge, 24, 20 and 10 gauge....never had a muzzleloader 12 or 16. I have found "less powder, more lead" works best for me every time.