I have two as this is a transition year from an old faithful to a new rig.
The new rig is my NEF Pardner 12 gauge, 28" barrel, fixed mod choke, truglo front bead, 3" #4 Remington Premier Hevishot for along fields and open areas and 2 3/4" #6 Winchester high brass upland game loads when hunting in the timber. I'd say it's good to 40 yards max with the tight patterning hevishot and still have a usable pattern at 15 to 20 yards also. With the #6's in the timber and fixed mod choke any close turkey is in serious trouble!
Backup shotgun (turkey gun from years past and now used for coyote and waterfowl only) is my Remington 870 super mag, 26" barrel, "ventilator" choke, 3.5" #4 winchester high velocity supremes. Good for 50+ yards on paper, but I can't judge distance (50 vs 59 yards, etc) out that far so I error on the side of caution. It's amazing how tight it will pattern! I got tired of lugging the thing around. And it hated rain, it would start rusting before I got back to the truck most days, even with a fresh coat of oil the morning before... :? And with is choked so tight I had no usible pattern under 20 yards, just a small ball of lead....
So I'm trying something new. A 6lb (soaking wet, probably more like 5.5lb) 12 gauge that's a breeze to carry and have shouldered for long periods of time without cramping. Went through a rainy deer season with no rust. The #4 hevishot out the mod choke patterns like an extra full so I still have a good 40 yards of range. And with the #6 lead pheasant load I have a usable pattern for in the timber.
later,
scruffy
