Turkey Load Testing FEB 2015

With the one day of spring like weather we have had in North AL this month and deer season over, my turkey hunting juices are flowing pretty hard right now. I have not patterned my gun in a few years, so I decided to grab some targets and two loads to see how things stand.

Gun: Remington 870 Super Magnum
Choke: Remington super full, Carlson Long Beard XR http://tinyurl.com/6rhu2vy
Rounds: Remington Nitro Turkey 3" #5 1 7/8 oz, and Winchester Long Beard XR 3.5" #5, 2 oz
Targets: BWC PreGame Turkey 12x18
Setup: 35 and 45 yards, sitting, standard Remington bead sights

http://i375.photobucket.com/albums/o...pskibwad0q.jpg

I shot the nitro turkey loads with the Remington super full, and the XRs with the Carlson choke. I did not switch the loads and chokes as I was pretty tired of shooting the 3.5s after two rounds.

The results at 35 yards (Nitro on the right, XR on the left):

http://i375.photobucket.com/albums/o...psgrkrvwm0.jpg

The results at 45 yards (Nitro on the right, XR on the left):

http://i375.photobucket.com/albums/o...pspn59omdm.jpg

I think there was a bit of bleed over from the nitro to the XR target on the 45 yard shot, but the results are pretty obvious, none the less. I do want to shoot these again at 25 yards to see if the patterns are too tight on the XR combo, but after this I am pretty comfortable with the round and choke combo.

Wow I'm amazed at the performance of the Winchester shells. I have been shooting the nitro shells for a couple years now and have been extremely pleased with them. The only test I did was from 40 yds with the nitros and they put 32 pellets in the turkey head on the target.

Based on what I saw, I would be comfortable with the Nitro's at 35-40 yards, if I needed it. I like the comfort level of having a more forgiving, wider spread for the closer in shots. The XR's blew me away, though. I am still a bit concerned that the pattern will be too tight for a closer in shot, and am working on installing a HiViz Four-In-One sight modification to my 870 now. That will give me the ability to dial my shot group in, and give me a much higher comfort level for the closer shots.

I am not, however, looking forward to 3.5" practice shooting. That sonovagun kicks like a damned mule.

If you haven't tried them yet, try the heavy shot #7's. I shoot that paired with the indian creek black diamond choke tube. I absolutely love my pattern and I have killed 3 turkeys that I shouldn't have at 55 yards.

I use the XR 3 in # 5 in my Browning Gold with Black Diamond Strike choke and the results are devastating out to 50-55 yards. You could still kill a bird at 60 but the pattern gets to the point that you may only wound one at that distance. The pattern is still excellent at 20 yards but you will literally decapitate the bird.