turkey reloads

[charlie cleveland]

whats some of you fellas favorite turkey reloads in your guns... charlie

[Dean Romig]

Are you asking about 8 gauge loads Charlie?

[charlie cleveland]

no ..im askink what is the reload you fellows prefer for any ga gun you turkey hunt with... charlie

[John Farrell]

On my last turkey trip there were 4 of us. 3 of them did not bring any shells. One no shell owner had a 20 gauge. I had nine 12 gauge shells from around 1985-1995 turkey hunting. So, having three 12 gauge guns, we each had 3 shells. The 20 gauge owner had to share the use of his Dad's 12 gauge. We all killed birds but it took seven shells to accomplish it. I came home with the leftover two.

My reloads this year will be determined by whether I can find some 3" hulls for my Rem 1100 turkey gun. I may reload some 2 3/4" hulls with 1 1/4 ounces of #6 in front of 700X. Only time will tell.

[charlie cleveland]

good storey john...thats always been a nitemare of mine either forgetting the shells or the gun on a hunting trip...once several years agomy friends throed there guns in the back of my 68 camero i told them they better keep them guns with them but no they said.fellow riding with me suppose to know where to meet them to go hunting...we had to go pickup hunting permits...we got seperated from them my side kick sure did not know where to go to meet them..make a long storey short them fellows had no guns to hunt withand we found our hunting buddies at 2.00 that eveningthey were very mad at us but it was not my fault i told them never again would i ever haul another mans gun around unless he was with... charlie

[John Farrell]

Oh, wait. I didn't tell the best part of that turkey hunting story. Early in the morning, as I was getting ready to set up in a spot I had picked out the evening before, somehow I got a shell backwards in the receiver of my 1100 gun and could not get that damn shell out of the receiver. So, being a clever fellow, I screwed off the end cap and removed the forend. The guy and his kid were with me. The guy with no shells asked, "Hey, what was that just flew out of your gun?". Yep, the end cap and magazine spring flew out and were somewhere in the cedar breaks we were standing in. Spent the next 2 days hunting with a one shot shotgun!!!

Two weeks later, continuing to be a clever guy, when I got a replacement end cap and msgsxinr spring, I tied an orange string to each of them and stuffed them down into the barrel magazine waiting for the next time in the future 30 years that will happen again so I will find them.

[charlie cleveland]

john that is a great ending to a good storey...my what predictamints we get into a hunting...

[Mills Morrison]

I went out and patterned two Parkers for turkey hunting today. A 12 PH and a 10 Grade 2 hammergun. Boy, did the 10 do much better.

[Dean Romig]

I have always used "off the shelf" 12 ga. game loads with #6 shot in my 1898 DH. This year I will use #6 shot in 10 ga. "Scott Kittredge" reloads in my Grade 3 Lifter.

[Daryl Middlebrook]

Here in upstate New York we are not restricted to guage size. My 40" P grade 8 guage works well.------Two ounces of #4 shot.-----The gun has lots of choke. However I limit myself to around 50 yards.

[charlie cleveland]

that 8 ga should reach out and getem at 50 yards...with just 2 ounce of shot it should be very pleasant to shoot...i wish my old 8 ga had a lot of choke but the tighest choke in the 8 s i have isabout modiefied in a old f a loomis i got from destrey... the 10 ga loads of scotts will do a very good job on themturkeys ive tried this load on paper and it will be what i hunt with some in the ten... mills on the average a good ten patterns better than a 12 but there are some of them 12 s that just seem to shoot impossible good patterns... ive yet to beat rays 12 ga with even my 8 ga at 70 steps his gun will put 90 to 110 pallets in a 9 inch circle at 70 steps my best so far with the 8 ga was 36 and the 10 ga as come in at 36....rays load and gun is best i know of or heard of...turkey s nite mare is what rays got....i guess im a dreamer i like to think i can take my old shotguns and kill them turkeys as far as i want to but i know this is not possible but i still like to dream.... charlie

[Mills Morrison]

A good 12 gauge double with really tight full chokes is on my wishlist, but has a few big items ahead of it.

[Jerry Harlow]

Charlie,

This will really tell you how well your pattern is doing. No hits in the vitals may leave a bad feeling in your stomach when that chance comes. You and I think alike. BIGGER IS BETTER. BIGGER BORE. BIGGER PAYLOAD. BIGGER SHOT. This means BIGGER CHANCE of turkey on the table!

Hope you can print them. :dh:

[charlie cleveland]

i looked at the post. its a very good turkey head i will have to get my wife to run them off for me... charlie

[John Dallas]

Has anyone besides me tinkered around with GREX(powdered polyethylene) as a group tightener? It was a big deal about 15 years ago. I found about a 25% improvement in pattern density with it

[charlie cleveland]

i ve never heard of this stuff but if it tightens the pattern by 25 percent i would like to have some of it..i have found a good reloading source so maybe they will have some....thanks for the info.... charlie

[Dean Romig]

Charlie, it is a lead shot buffering agent that is designed to cushion the shot helping to prevent shot deformation and reduce the number of resultant "flyers".

[John Dallas]

The stuff works for me, but I am a loss to describe why. I can't imagine why the soft, fine plastic would do much good to buffer lead. In my mind, I think it acts as a lubricant as the shot goes through the choke, and results in fewer deformed pellets.

[scott kittredge]

i ve never heard of this stuff but if it tightens the pattern by 25 percent i would like to have some of it..i have found a good reloading source so maybe they will have some....thanks for the info.... charlie

i do have some but never tested it, most tight patterns are tight enough already. but i will do some test loads with it and get back to you all, scott

[Daryl Corona]

Buffering shot charges increases pressures. Be careful.

[Pete Lester]

If you are shooting a Short Ten, many of the Sherman Bell loads used a buffer. Look for the number of grains followed by "PSB" in the wad nomenclature. It stands for polystyrene buffer.

http://parkerguns.org/forums/showthread.php?t=6282&highlight=spreadsheet

[John Dallas]

Charlie - If you can't find any GREX, let me know. I think I've got some I can spare. Won't be back home for about two weeks, so it may be a while

[Paul Harm]

I believe the buffer keeps the shot in place so there's less deformation. That means less fliers and better patterns. John, your story has a moral - use a SxS, not a auto loader. Your Parker will work just fine for any hunting.