What gun for turkeys

[Finnwolf]

Hi Guys,
The more I hunt with BP the less I want to use my centerfires. All I hunt these days is deer and turkey. Working on a Haines .54 for quite awhile now and starting to think about a smoothie for turkey.
Thing is, I want to make it harder to get a bird but not impossible. What gun do you guys recommend - 20 ga, 12 ga or 10 ga? I want to hunt like our forefathers did so I'm thinking a choked barrel is out. This has me leaning to 10 ga. for max distance - or am I all wet? Also have a T/C PA hunter flinter in .50 - is ther anyplace I can get a smooth barrel to fit? What's the largest bore I could get?

 

[Ron LaClair]

I've had good success with my 12ga English Fowler but a lot of birds have fallen to a 20ga.

 

[fishindoc]

i'm new to bp also -i'm gonna try for turkey next month and have a jackie brown 20 gauge-wanted to know what type of shot you would recommend and around what powder charge
i have been following be spencers guidelines
joe

 

[Finnwolf]

Thanks Strongbow,
But you've had a lot of success with everything - I'll bet you get a few just throwin rocks! Seriously, what's the effective range an that 12 ga. - 25-30 yds or can you reach out any further? By the way, that is a beautiful fowler - is it a Chambers kit?
Finnwolf

 

[Rebel]

I have taken them with both a .12 and a .20 both cylinder bored. To me the max distance is around 20-25yds no matter the ga with a cyl. bore.

 

[bigbore442001]

I have shot a lot of birds in New England over the years. I love turkey hunting( except getting up so early in the morning)

I tend to err on the side of power. If I were to hunt with a BP shotgun for turkey I would be tempted to get a 10 guage.

 

[trent/OH]

Look into jug choking the barrel, and you may be surprised at what a ML shotgun can do. I have owned a ML smoothbore for a relatively short time (Brown Bess), but intend to find out what potential it has as a shotgun. The 15 pound trigger pull was hampering my experiments until I had the springs worked over.

 

[The Baron]

I've taken Toms with an antique 11ga percussion fowler, a 12ga. Thompson New Englander and a 20ga. flintlock. With a straight cylinder bore, I have found 25 yards is about the max effective range with all of them (based on extensive patterning). I have heard great things about jug-choked guns, but I have no first hand experience.

I feel no handicap whatsoever with my 20ga. and so any smoothie that size or larger should serve very well as a turkey gun. :thumbsup:

 

[Russ T Frizzen]

I long ago got rid of my breechloaders--I found that I just didn't use them anymore. I have a nice twenty bore fowler that can handle turkey appropriate loads with no problem, but my new fowler will be a ten bore, chosen especially with turkey hunting in mind. Both are cylinder bore and I limit range to 25 yards or so. If I only could have one fowler, I believe it would be a 10 bore, but anything from 20 bore on up will get the job done.

 

[Hoyt]

I've killed spring gobblers with 12 and 20ga. muzzle loaders. The 12ga.is a T/C side lock percussion with the screw in chokes and I never could get it to shoot a decent pattern past what the 20ga. cylinder bore flintlock I built will shoot. Both are just under 30yd turkey guns.
I just had to choose what ga. I wanted on a new build I'm starting. One I'm only going to use for turkeys and I went with another 20ga. If I was going to do any wing shooting I'd go with bigger bore.

 

[Iron Jim Rackham]

I'm not a turkey hunter, but have had excellent results shooting chukars and pheasants well beyond 40 yards with a full jug choked flintlock fowler. Seems to me that if I can consistently drop smaller birds on the wing with a fowler, it should be easy to take out a strutting turkey on the ground. I intend no offense to turkey hunters, because I'm sure that it mustn't be easy calling such keen sighted birds in. I only mean to say, that the shooting of the bird rather than the hunting must be easier than wing shooting.

1 1/4 of #6 or #5 ahead of 3 drams of FFG should easily do the job (presuming a full jug choked gun) You'll shoot much tighter patterns if you jettison everything but overshot wads. Place 4 overshot wads on top of 3 drams of powder. Pour 1 1/4 of #6 or #5 shot on this wad column, and top off with 2 overshot wads.

To ease loading punch a small hole in each of your overshot wads at 12 o'clock. When loading, arrange the cards, at 12, 3, 6, & 9 o'clock to prevent aligning the holes on top of each other. This will make loading easier, and seems to slow the wad column on discharge, since they blow off within a few feet rather than travelling through the shot column and thereby disprupting patterns.

For lube I like mink oil. It's very light, and you need lube nothing more than the outside edges of the wad. The whole idea is to keep the wads as light as possible, and mink oil works very well.

 

[hawk]

Doc ,I use # 6 shot in my 12bores for turkey
some will say 5 or 4 will hit harder but you get less shot .
I'm shootin' at 10-25 yards so more shot is in my favor ,and the gun patterns it well.
good luck to ya! :thumbsup:

 

[fishindoc]

thanks Hawk2
i just ordered 6 shot and hope to try patterning this week
joe

 

[Finnwolf]

Not sure who to ask about jug choking but here are my questions...
Does jug choking affect round ball accuracy?
Is jug choking period correct?

What exactly is jug choking?

 

[Iron Jim Rackham]

It won't affect round ball "accuracy". Jug choking involves relieving the bore several inches from the muzzle, creating a jug shape. This allows the shot to expand outwards, and then contract inwards perhaps 4" inches from the muzzle. This has the advantage of delivering much tighter patterns, without constricting the bore at the muzzle and thereby distorting shot cards.

I can be illustrated more easily than it can be described. Do a search on jug choking and I'm sure you'll find a picture.

I'm not aware of any 18th century guns having been jug choked, but it was done in the mid 19th century.

Chukars can fly 40 miles an hour, and I've had no problem bagging them out beyond 40 yards. I hesitate to tell you that I shot a crow at over 50 yards last spring with 1 1/4 ounces of shot, simply because I wouldn't have believed it had I read it rather than experienced it. I should mention that I did not kill the crow outright, but I did bring him to ground, and finished him with a second shot.

At 40 yards with #6 shot I break clays into multiple chips. I have broken clays into halves and thirds at 50 yards. I'd have to check my records, but having harvested over 80 pheasants in the past year, I don't recall missing more than 4 birds. At a demonstration last summer I broke 25 consecutive clays using my standard load of 3 drams of FFG and 1 1/4 ounces of #6 shot. I was recently turned on to #5 shot, but have yet to have an opportunity to bag any birds with it.
The key with any muzzleloading shotgun is to only use overshot wads, since any wad that outweighs a single pellet will travel through the shot column and disrupt the pattern. I've detailed the procedure elsewhere so I won't bore you with a repitition of it.

To date, I haven't been outshot by any other shotgunner, although admittedly I have only shot with about a dozen other shooters. The breechloading crowd will always beat me on doubles, as I am thus far unable to reload a single barrel fowler quickly enough to shoot doubles. All kidding aside, on single clays or live birds, I think a jug choked gun will perform as well as any shotgun ever made whether it's modern or muzzleloading. I wouldn't buy another smoothbore unless it was jug choked. I should mention however that my interest in a flint fowler depends entirely on it's ability to bag birds or bust clays.

 

[fishindoc]

ironjim
could you tell me your method for loading a shot charge. overpowder cushion shot overshot
i;m still learning
thanks joe
this would be for hunting

 

[Iron Jim Rackham]

If you want to throw a tight pattern, dispense with everything except overshot wads. I shoot a lot of pheasants with a 12 gauge flintlock fowler, and have always obtained best results by loading 3 drams of 2FG powder beneath 4 overshot wads, followed by 1 1/4 ounces of #6 shot and topped off with 2 overshot wads to keep the column securely in place.

If any component is heavier than an individual piece of shot, that component has a tendency to blow through the shot column and disrupt patterns.
Since cushion wads and overpowder wads are both heavier than a #6 pellet, using them creates a donut pattern.

4 overshot wads on top of the powder are sufficient cushion and insulation against the explosive gases. They will also drop off a few feet in front of the muzzle, rather than traveling through the shot column as cushion and overpowder wads often do.

To avoid catching air while loading, poke a hole with an awl through the overshot wads at 12 o'clock. When loading arange the holes at 12, 3, 6 and 9 O'clock. This will avoid traping air and by staggering the holes, avoid letting gases burn through the holes on ignition.

I shoot a jug choked gun, but very frequently bag hard flying birds at 40 yards and beyond.

A secondary advantage of just using overshot wads, is the ability to dispense with all the other wads. It will save you time and money, and more importantly deliver the tightest patterns.

 

[paulvallandigham]

Finnbear: Any smoothbore, 20 gauge or larger( 20, 16, 14, 12, 10) will work well enough for turkeys. If you are shooting an open cylinder bore gun, then your shots will be limited to 30 yards and less. At those distances, a 20 gauge gun is more than sufficient, assuming you use #6 or #5 shot. 2 1/2 drams, to 3 drams, of powder, and 1 to 1 1/4 oz. of shot is sufficient at that range. Follow Iron Jim's advice with the over shot cards, and pattern your gun.

If you do shoot a choked smoothbore, either screw in, or fixed choke, or jug choked, as Iron Jim shoots, then you can extend the killing range of your gun to 40 yards. Understand that it is the number of pellets you can put on the head and neck of the bird with enough collective energy that will kill a turkey for you, not velocity. Using the larger sized shot will give you fewer pellets on target, but the energy of each pellet will be much higher, and can still break the neck at 40 yards. The smaller shot( #8, or #7 1/2) won't do that at the longer ranges, reliably. Test your load's energy at distance by shooting a tin can( not aluminum) at the maximum range you expect to shoot at turkey. And, don't hesitate to put out ranging stakes at your stand so tht you know when you have the turkey in range of your gun. If you are likely to use several sites, put the range stakes out before the season opens.

 

[Maestro]

... 4 overshot wads on top of the powder are sufficient cushion and insulation against the explosive gases. ...
To avoid catching air while loading, poke a hole with an awl through the overshot wads at 12 o'clock. When loading arange the holes at 12, 3, 6 and 9 O'clock. This will avoid traping air and by staggering the holes, avoid letting gases burn through the holes on ignition ... A secondary advantage of just using overshot wads, is the ability to dispense with all the other wads. It will save you time and money, and more importantly deliver the tightest patterns.

:hmm: Very interesting! I'll have to try this - thanks for sharing the info, Jim! :hatsoff:

 

[Finnwolf]

Thanks Paul & Jim, appreciate the advice. Been hunting turkeys for many years with a 12 ga centerfire. Move up to a 10 ga about 8 years back when I began to notice that the harder the birds are hunted and called to, the more likely they are to get real cautious and hang up out there around 30-40 yards. Use to limit my shots to 40 yards max with the 12 ga but found the 10 ga to be reliable to 50+ a little. I know I'll be much more limited with a flinter but I find I prefer BP more and more.

Shooting a traditional gun is important to me so I think I'll start with a cylinder bore, probably a 12, maybe a 10ga and how it goes. I can always have it chocker later if I'm not happy.

Chambers has a nice NE fowler in 10 ga and a nice PA fowler and Caywood has a nice English Fowler in 12 ga. Anybody have any other favorites in 10 or 12 ga?

Also, I'm going to have to use the centerfire 1 more year unless someone knows where I can get a 12 ga flint barrel for a T/C PA Hunter.