Ok, Im still new to Turkey hunting. Come Monday I start my second season. Now my ammo selection went something like this..."Hmmm, that Remington Hevi shot is supposed to patern real tight. OK Ill take a box of 3", 1 5/8" Mags and put in a factory Remington Full choke tube."
Well I did pattern the gun and it shoots pretty tight. At 10 yards there was one huge hole that would have left a turkeys neck nearly ripped off, and out to 30 yards there was still upwards of about 6 pellets in the neck/brain area. But being the eternal tinkerer I am I am thinking of stepping to the next level. Ive dabbled with shotshell reloading, mainly just light loads used to bust so clays at my clubs trap thrower. Nothing fancy. So here I am thinking of Reloading my own Turkey loads. So I need some advice, consoul, opinions....you get the idea.
First Shot:
Ive been using #6s, but thats just what happened to be in my hands at purchase time. Nothing more nothing less. Whats everyone consider a good size for both Hevi Shot and Plated shot? Next is, with my being able to tinker haevily with my own loads is the need to keep going with Hevi shot necessary? I understand it has superior penetration capabilities, but if Im dumping 6+ pellets of plated shot into a Turkeys kill area I cant imagine any big bird walking away (or flyinf, flopping....you get the idea.)
Charge weight to Velocity:
Whats the best way to go, Lighter shot charge weight with higher velocity or heavy payload with slower velocity? Is there any real advantage having 1 7/8 oz over 1 5/8 oz of shot? Or is there a real advantage in a couple extra hundred fps? Whats a good balance?
Hulls:
This one may be easier to answer. Whats the better, more durable hull. Which one has better interior dimensions that lends to high preformance with heavy turkey payloads?
Wads and Powder:
Should I be looking at specific powders? What I mean is those that are designed for magnum loadings. And what about wads? I know about BPI and have ordered from them. They offer the Turkey ranger wad. Is this the best wad, or will I still get great preformance from the more common factory wads from the likes of Remington, Winchester and etc.?
Choke Tubes:
Like I mentioned, I have a factory Remington Full choke. I got it because it was readily able to be used with Heavi Shot with no damage to the choke. Should I look at a tighter choke for plated shot? I know Im still a cherry to turkey hunting, but I am with the crowd of not having a "super mega" tight pattern. The thought being that at too tight a constriction the closer shots could be so much like a slug that a near miss would be...well a miss where as a little bit looser might still result in the minimum pellet dump in the turkeys kill zone. I just have the stock rib and bead, but am thinking of moving up to a fiber optic, no magnet no tape sight set. But thats still in the air right now. Im probably gonna get a resounding "YES" from everyone, but is it worth the money to go to these sights?
I think that about does it. I do have a chrony, so I can get velocity measurements as well as patterning to test uniformity of the whole load. Is there a suggested distance from the muzzle to put the chrony? I dont want to put any holes in it, if ya know what I mean
! I can get my hands on some Lexan, so should I make a cover to put over the eyes for protection? Any tips or tricks? Things to watch out for?
Ill probably have a few more, so thanks in advance.
Brian M.
