doublegunshop.com - home Forums General Discussion DoubleGun BBS @ doublegunshop.com Turkey Load for a New NID

You can use just about any 2 3/4" load that you want. Since you are most likely taking the shot at 45 yds and under use #6 shot and really fill in the pattern. Use #5 or 4 only in the second barrel (if you must) if you screw up on the first shot. Turkey hunting is a "head" game and #6 usually patterns much denser. I have patterned 8 or 9 SxSs from 12 gauge to 28 gauge and eveyone of them gives denser patterns with 6s.

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I used 1.5 oz turkey loads in #5 to bag a bird this week. I belive if you can get a bird in 25 yards or less a light load will do it with a head shot. A head shot is more important than the load.

Head and neck are the vital spots for shotgunning. I like to aim midway down the neck as sometimes the head will bob at the wrong time. I used to cringe everytime I thought about patterning loads for turkey hunting. At one time I had a 3.5" 10 gauge NID that would cross my eyes at the pattern board. 2 1/8 oz. Nickle-plated BBs for long range (dense enough for head and neck at 40 yds, a bona fide 96%) and the right barrel held 2.5 ozs. of magnum lead #3s with the shot collar trimmed off the BP wad to spread it out of the full choke. It yielded 55% and was my closer than 40 yds. load. (I haven't seen Lawrence #3s available in 25 years) Overkill for sure, but turkey hunters... I now shoot a 20 and a 12 for turkeys. One thing that has really made patterning less painful is the Evoshield shooting shirt--no bruises or soreness after patterning. I don't wear it hunting as I don't hear the shot much less feel it when shooting at a gobbler. I won't dove hunt without it, however.

Try out several different loads and shot sizes with that gun and let the pattern board tell you which load to go with for head shots. In my experience nothing can be assumed about the effectiveness of a load, especially when you have to make one shot count.

The very core of the pattern, possibly only 12" diameter is the working part of a head shot load. Many loads that look good at 30 yards have large gaps at 35. Also, with the heavier lead loads (1 1/2 oz.+) most of the bottom layers are deformed and add nothing downrange. This is why carefully constructed handloads of 1 1/8 oz of nickle plated 6s can produce 90% patterns at 40 yards through standard fixed (full)chokes. The inner cores of these patterns at shorter ranges look like a salt shaker.

I know some traditionalists will scoff and I don't recommend shooting hard (tungten)shot through just any old double, but I find Hevi-13 (# 6 size pellets) turkey loads are among the best, especially at ranges beyond 35 yards. You may get good results with that load through the modified choke. I've used the 3" (1 5/8 oz) in one of my heavy barreled doubles, it outshoots anything else for high-energy, focused patterns out to 45 yards.

Incredible to me, a lot of turkey hunters never pattern their guns. If you don't, with the exception of very short ranges you can never be confident of how close he needs to get before it's a sure thing.

I was a Hevi-Shot fan loaded by Nitro Ammo Co. until I tried Tungsten Super Shot. Lead has a density factor of 11. Hevi-Shot 13. TSS is 18-19. For example, there are 585 lead 9s in an oz. TSS 9s has 342 in an oz. TSS with 18 density factor is not presently available in commercial loads. There is a group of turkey hunters scattered over the US who are hand loading TSS with remarkable results. I hand load and shoot 1 5/8 ozs. of TSS 9s in a 20 gauge pump. It is flat out deadly. There are reports of stone cold kills at ranges I wouldn't consider.
I would not hesitate to shoot it out of my 686 but for the fact that it patterns so tightly that sights should be used--too much leeway with beads. The shot sells for $36-40/lb. Very expensive but in turkey hunting, shell cost is the cheapest part of the hunt. A mylar wrap inserted in the wad prevents wad break through by the hard shot which would scratch and mar the barrels otherwise. I wouldn't shoot it out of an NID.

I load 1 1/8oz of copper plated #5s, W-W target wads, AA hulls and 28gr. Longshot for use in my L.C.Smiths. Patterns out of the modified chokes is ok out to about 30 yds. Out of the 3" Ideal grade Longrange Model (32" full/full) it patterns turkey-style out to 40-45yds. If I'm feeling "manly" I'll lug that 9+lb. beast into the woods. On a whimpy day I'll grab a featherweight and work harder at getting them in closer.

Some of the places I've been, the turkeys were so thick you could use a slingshot.