Patterning for Turkeys

[Mills Morrison]

Top to bottom: Quality E 10 gauge lifter, DH 10 with pre owned 10 gauge Twist barrels, PH 12 with Triple X full chokes. The 12 seemed to do best.

Thanks to Charlie Cleveland for the target idea.:bigbye:

[Dean Romig]

Hey Mills.... those cans don't have any holes in them. I sure hope that's not the "after" picture :shock:

[Mills Morrison]

You have to look closely.

[Dean Romig]

OK I did.... you gotta tighten up them chokes.... or let them turkeys get closer.

[Mills Morrison]

Model 12 16 gauge.

[Rick Losey]

did any one ever check to see to see if Charlie has stock in Dr Pepper and this is all a clever ploy to boost sales??

[wayne goerres]

If Charlie dos'nt have stock they should hire him to promote there product.

[charlie cleveland]

rick you done fouled my plan....mill s how far away were you shooting them cans..and how many shot was in them... about any gun will put several shot in the can at 40 yards useing no 6 and even more with smaller shot.. i figure if a gun will put 5 shot or more in a can at 70 steps or yards it s good enough for a turkey gun..my best in the can is 7 shot of no 5 lead in it..but have several guns that will average 3 to 5 shot at this distance...it is best to get a gobbler in as close as possible but if he hangs up at 50 yards you need a good close pattering gun..ray m..has the closest shooting gun i know of i ve been trying to beat his score for a long time..a 10 inch circle with 100 to 110 pellets in it at 70 yards..my best is 36 so far with a 10 ga ithaca at that range and a 10 inch circle.. thanks mills for the dr pepper s and rick i aint never gonna get rich with you discovering my plans.. charlie

[Mills Morrison]

With the Parkers, it was a real long ways with no. 5's. With the Mod 12, it was probably 40 yds with no. 6. With the Parkers, the PH 12 was the one putting lead in them.

[charlie cleveland]

that 16 will put a turkey on the ground for sure.. try some no 2 shot in the 10 sand the 12 and see which one patterns the best..most of the time the bigger bore will handle the large shot better...my 3 inch lc smith longrange is a close shooting gun but the 10 parker will out pattern it with large shot...i use to use bb shot but we can no longer use anything any bigger than 2 s... i like no 4 s in the right barrel and no 2 s for the left barrelin the 8 and 10 ga guns and i like 6 s and 4 s in the12ga most of the time... i got to do a little patterning myself in a few days... i hope i got enough old dr pepper cans to go around..rick may have to go buy some and drink them and send mills and me the cans... charlie

[Rick Losey]

.rick may have to go buy some and drink them and send mills and me the cans... charlie

:glug::glug::glug:

[Jim Pasman]

Here are some pictures of the pattern from a 1903 VH 12 (full/full) at 40 yards using RST 2 1/2 #6 - and the result. Our season doesn't open until May3 in NH.

[Dean Romig]

That's a very effective pattern Jim. It looks about like any one of about eight pellets would have put that target turkey on the ground. Larger shot size (fewer pellets) might not have the same effect - but then, any one might be enough.... might be.

[scott kittredge]

Here are some pictures of the pattern from a 1903 VH 12 (full/full) at 40 yards using RST 2 1/2 #6 - and the result. Our season doesn't open until May3 in NH.

WOW, at 40 yds, that's a tight core to your pattern, what weight load and fps are you shooting? scott

[Mills Morrison]

A clean kill is what you are looking for. I hate wounding animals. Like Dean, I don't think that target knew what hit him.

[Jim Pasman]

Thanks, Mills, Scott and Dean. Both the target and the Tom were "dispatched" with 2 1/2", 2 1/4 dram, 24 grams #6. The Tom was only 25 yds away - he dropped like a rock. The gun is "Ruthie" named after the woman who gave it to me in exchange for getting it out of her house. Took her apart, cleaned her up, stapled the split wrist and she's my turkey gun.

[Dean Romig]

What a coincidence.... See page 4 of the Spring Issue of Parker Pages.

[charlie cleveland]

thats a mighty good pattern that gun throws..any turkey at 40 yards would go down for sure..and a fine storey about how you got this turkey gun...charlie

[Jim Pasman]

What a coincidence.... See page 4 of the Spring Issue of Parker Pages.

Pure coincidence - I read it and thought the author tells a much better story than I could. The letter on my gun says it was shipped to William Read & Sons in Boston on Oct 2, 1903. Ruthie thinks it was spoils from a poker game her son played years ago during a "wild period" (I'd say lucky period). Since her son was a local semi-pro golfer, I assume the gun has some local heritage I'll never know.