Federal turkey loads

Federal ammo has a little bit of everything in stock from time to time several options in stock today if you need any.

They told me to use federal #2 shot in my modified 870, bansners from pa did the work

#2 seems a little large , pattern it what ever you use I have #4 high brass Federal game loads , 1 ounce and 1 1/2 ounce #4 and #5 both Remington and Winchester

my target was 1 1/2 inch wide painters tape on cardboard 5-6 inches shot from several distances the 1 1/2 ounce in rem or from my sons 870 was only abusive to my shoulder no more pellets hit that piece of tape at 40 yards than the federals 1 ounce at 30 yard either would have also worked.

more shot does not = more shot in the very center of your pattern.

that was a factory fixed full

I bough a turkey choke to try I will see how that patterns.

I am going to pattern it again , if the 1 ounce of #4 federal I use on pheasant holds the same pattern it is about half the price and half the impact on my shoulder

20 try the winchester #5 out of it, my bansner loves them, plus I have a 20 to 25 year old madd tube that just rocks to with them

I still have a few 3” number 6 with 2oz of lead shot. About 30 years old now. Shoot them in my 1100 mag with30” full choke.

Use Federal 3 1/2" 4 shot. Killed lots of birds.

If you find me a box of 3in copper plated BBs I will send you 2 boxes of my fav turkey takers

2s like said kind of big unless you can get a pattern out of them, I go with 5s copper plated lead just more BBs then 4s and hit harder then 6s. Heck that new TSS stuff is 8-9-10 shot size.

#2 is duck and geese loads, lol. You don’t body shoot turkeys, you aim where the pretty meets the ugly. I use #9’s. You want the densest pattern you can get at 40 yards or so with no holes in the pattern. Too tight and you can miss up close, too open and you’ll hit him everywhere except where you need to. Get a choke that puts as many pellets as possible in a 10” circle with spares incase he moves at the shot.

with turkey you don't penetrant the mass of feathers just the neck you want every chance you can to hit spine or carotid arteries.

I have been thinking of patterning some #6 , the #4 1 oz I shoot at pheasants will almost pernitrate them end for end at 20 yards shot one last fall I mostly hit tail , 1 pellet went through the thigh , up through the gut , the lung and I pulled it from the rib cage above the lung on a neck shot an inch and a half of penetration should be enough which is why you keep seeing more shells with 5,6,7 or 8,9 shot .

one of my trap kids was patterning some of that 5,6,7 shot stuff 2 years ago at the trap range , it was impressive that at almost 50 yards there wasn't a hole in that pattern big enough to sneak and egg through. the next morning he ended up calling in a coyote and shot it dead at 40 yards then in the afternoon a tom and shot it dead at 40 yards.

4,5,6 what ever patterns good. 5 hard to but as a all around. BUT saw a hunting show where a guy was using #9 steel . YES 9 and the shot pattern was unreal. 40 yards cut the head off the paper target . 3 in shells
It was Harold knight of knight and Hale game calls. He knows alittle about killing turkeys !!!!

My best load is a federal 3.5 inch 2 1/4 oz number six. It's a federal premium shell. I'm out right now but been getting good performance from the same load in winchester. I've got five of those left then I will start on some Italian B&P in the same load but they are nickel plated shot. They pattern almost as good as the winchester. Yes, I know that is an overkill load and they hurt to shoot but they kill so good. I have killed a bunch with 2 3/4 loads too. I took a hunter from KY on opening day (saturday) he killed a bird that weighed 23lbs 12oz. I've got 3 roosted tonight for a young hunter from Indiana tomorrow.

Good on ya man!! Post pics of the kids and their turkeys!!

I'll have to get Scuba to post them for me. I'm going over to see him Wed. I think. The one that killed on saturday was an older feller. The "kid " from Indiana is in his twenties I think, a kid to me. I went to scout this afternoon and found him set up on my land in a blind. I had a talk with him he seemed alright so I put him on the atv on showed him around. His wife and kid are visiting in the smokies he said he has about two hours in the morning. I guess I could have got mad and walked him off my land but we need young hunters who know how to act. I told him to come to the house in the morning. He don't know that I've got some roosted right behind the house. I hope I can get him to put one down tomorrow.

That was nice of you to work with the guy and help him out.

There is a shell TSS loaded with #9 but it is not steel shot

Them things are like $14 a shot to rich for my blood.

Them things are like $14 a shot to rich for my blood.[/quote]
They weren't too bad before the crazy started. I found them on sale last year for $18 per box and bought 30 boxes, wish I would've bought a 100. You can also get the hevi/mag blends for around $20 per box with rebates about this time of year. I probably have a dozen boxes left of those and have my eyes on a stash that should be coming up for sale here soon. Expensive but do yourself a favor and just pattern one, you'll never go back to lead.

I went with the Federal 3rd Degree ammo about $6 a pop it’s a mix of 5,6,7 size shot some heavy shot 40%, lead shot 40% and flight stopper shot 20%I tried them when they first came out years ago the birds did not even flop.

We used those in 12ga down in Mexico...they were quite impressive. It was the last mornings hunt and we were heading back to the city that afternoon. My only shot was a body shot at 30 yards, I blew a fist sized hole through the very top of the breast. About the only thing salvageable as far as parts for taxidermy was the head and wings. Luckily my first bird was a clean head shot and looks great on my wall.

Was anybody seen any barrel damage from any of the newer loads?

Been shooting TSS for the last five years in my turkey gun, no damage I can see yet. TSS is loaded in a way that it doesn’t actually come in contact with the barrel for the most part. Then again, this is just my turkey gun so it’s now like it gets thousands of rounds through it every year.

Goulds or Jungle? I was just talking to a buddy about the world slam. Grand slam is complete, no need to stop now right?

How many have you shot with #2s? None in Iowa I bet.

I can load a 1 5/8 oz tss 20ga shell for less than that. 12ga 2.5 oz load for about $10.

I have never shot the 3rd degree ammo, but my tss load out of the 20 ga can get real close to 400 in the 10 with the right choke. I can also open it up a bit and get in the 280's with a bit more wiggle room.

WV, it was the Gould’s to complete the Royal Slam. I have no desire to head to the jungle to shoot a “turkey” that doesn’t gobble and looks like a peacock. I want the gobbling and strutting!!

I don't hunt turkey, it was modified for predator hunting, they said turkey too, the federal loads are hotter, only drawback is I can't use buckshot anymore
They said it would hold 90% of pellets at forty yards, In the discribed size circle

I figured you knew better than to use them for turkeys here. Nothing bigger than 4's or smaller than 8's is legal. Of course it doesn't matter what you shoot at coyotes with legally.

i like winchester or federal copper plated 3" #6 for turkeys if my gun could handle 3.5" id probably shot them putting lead on the turkeys head is a must

We use the same load in 20ga and they’re coming in at a little less than $5 I believe. And like you, I have a choke for wiggle room, plus I’m not throwing a baseball at 20yds or less.

What size choke do you use? Getting into the tss game this year. Not in time for turkey this year but I'll be ready next season.

I got it modified for shooting fox, then the mange killed them all.
I used to carry my 870 in my hands, and 788 .223 on my shoulder when stalking fox

I got really tight patterns with an indian creak .555", the carlson (.575" I think) gave a more open pattern but would still kill well past 40 yards.

I keep the tight choke in the gun. I have a lead load that will put up great patterns at 30-35 yards and is more open at the closer ranges. I found that hevi 13 will do the same. If I am hunting the fields I use the tss load, if I am in the woods and I know the shots will be close I use the lead or hevi loads.

All that work and I am using one of my 410s this year. I think I just like shooting guns and finding the best load for each.