Comparing turkey shellls.

Pretty good video. It's nice to see all those different rounds put to the test side by side.

What type of rear sight did he have on that barrel? It looked like a loop of wire that he put on the barrel as an afterthought. Never seen anything like that on my Remington 870 Wingmaster 12 Gauge Shotgun of 1965 vintage. I didn't have a vent rib on mine but a neighbor friend of mine had the newer Remington 870 with a vented rib on it and better sights. We used our shotguns for squirrel hunting in the woods behind his parents' house when we were both still in High School.

They make some red dots for shotguns these days. And I saw a Picatinny rail attachment for a Remington Model 870 shotgun. I would think that if I were wanting to shoot more accurately I'd get a red dot of some kind on a shotgun. Something with like an EOTech HWS where you have a good field of view.

If those shotgun shells were not so darned expensive I would have asked him to shoot three rounds for each type of shell to get a better result. But at $8/shell for some of those shells, I would not have the nerve to ask him to do that. I'm glad he did the experiment and shared the results with youtube.

I sold my Remington Model 870 when I got married and have not had my own shotgun since. But I borrowed my neighbor's Remington Model 870 Wingmaster with a vented rib and that Shotgun shot like a dream. I went dove hunting and killed 6 doves with half a box of 12 gauge shells that I purchased to hunt with. The F&W area required hunters to only use steel shot or something besides lead. I can't remember which shells I bought and used right now as the remainder of the shotgun shells are back at my house in my closest and I'm not there right now.

My set up.

Remington 870 Magnum. Dipped in Predator Camo, ShurShot thumbhole stock., .665 Extended choke by Rhino, Simmons 2X ProDiamond scope on a B Square Cantilever rib mount. (I don’t think the mount or scope is made anymore) I shoot both 3” Nitro 4X5X7s and 3” Magnum Blends. The Nitros reach out a little farther.

The gun is a 60 yard gun but the furthest I’ve shot one is 52 yards.

My setup is a Mossberg 500A with a .660(I think) Rhino extended choke. With the Longbeard XR shells I can have a good pattern out to 50 or so yards. I don't think I have ever had to shoot one over 30 yards though.

Your to late. Here is the 100 yard yote shell. Video shot into jello.
apex-ammunition.myshopify.com/collections/pk-series-predator-hogs-deer

When it comes to spending money, I've been called "tighter than a bull's a$$ in fly season". I hate the thought of spending crazy money on turkey loads. I know it's a mental thing. When you work it out, you don't really spend much a year for high-dollar ammo. Most guys spend way more on gas, food, decoys, blinds and whatever else.

I was killing turkeys real well with some old Winchester #5 ammo and a standard flush full choke. Knocked them dead at 40 yds. They ran out after 10 years and I bought more of the "same" shells, but something was different. I killed a couple and it seemed they didn't get as many hits in the head/neck. I tried Federal and actually had one get away that I felt should have been an easy kill. Then I started patterning and was disappointed in what I saw even at 30 yds. I tried a flush turkey choke from Carlsons. Then I tried an extended turkey choke. Wasn't impressed with the Winchesters or the Federal with either tube.

In a moment of weakness I headed to the store to get some Longbeard XR but saw Remington Nitro for 8.50 for a box of 10. Got those instead thinking they would disappoint as well, but for whatever reason they did not. I got a real good tight killing pattern out to 40 yds with the extended choke. Good enough for me! I'll be stocking up on those Nitros.

[/quote]I would never have turkey hunted if I hadn`t patterned that shotgun/choke combination. You very nearly need a rifle-like pattern or you risk only wounding a turkey instead of putting it down hard. Glad you found a good load for your shotgun.[/quote]

I started turkey hunting about 20 years ago. Grabbed 2 boxes of shells, put up a target at about 30 yds and took a shot. I was happy with the result, so that was the extent of my patterning back then. I assumed the same brand/type of shells would be consistent, but something had to change in those 10 years.

As for needing a shotgun to "pattern" like a rifle, that's a little extreme. We're talking shotguns here. A 2 oz load of number 6 shot in a pattern about the size of a basketball will put a turkey down hard.

About 8 years ago I started buying 1 box of different shells a year to pattern.   That allowed me to spread out the cost.  When I found the Longbeard XR I quit testing.  The Nitros seem to pattern pretty well out of a lot of guns as I see a lot of people using them.  They were the 3rd best out of my gun.