12 Guage 2 3/4” Turkey Loads

UTGrad

UTGrad

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I picked up a couple boxes of Winchester Super X 2 3/4" #4 and #5 shot this evening. I was looking for something my boys could handle a little better than 3" or 3.5" shells. Anyone hunt with 2 3/4" shells? Max range with a extra full choke?
 
Unless that's the max size your gun can shoot, idk why would anyone shoot the 2 3/4" shells. Find some longbeard 3 or 3.5" and you won't need to look for any other shells again. That is unless you switch to the 20ga tss or 410
 
UTGrad said:
I picked up a couple boxes of Winchester Super X 2 3/4" #4 and #5 shot this evening. I was looking for something my boys could handle a little better than 3" or 3.5" shells. Anyone hunt with 2 3/4" shells? Max range with a extra full choke?
Click to expand...
Until barely over a decade ago, most my turkeys had been killed with 2 3/4" shells.

If you're having those boys go exclusively for head shots, I'd just save those #4 and # 5 Super X's for rabbits & squirrels, then get your boys some reduced load hevi or TSS in some smaller pellet sizes.

An extra full factory choke would likely be deadly beyond 40 yds with even a "light" load of #9 TSS or #7 hevi. I believe 2 of my past 3 longbeards were killed with 1 1/8 oz of #9 TSS.

If you go with the #9 TSS and limit the shots to no farther than 40 yds, you might even be able to go to a factory modified, improved modified, or regular factory full so that a "miss" becomes much less likely.
 
I've also killed several longbeards with "light" #7 1/2 lead loads, all in 2 3/4", but they are rapidly losing their energy beyond 35 yds.

Especially with less experienced game shooters, there can be much merit for using a factory modified choke with lightly loaded small pellets, teaching them more how to hunt than to take long shots, then limiting the shots to say 30-35 yds.

Do some pattern testing.
 
As an aside, until my eyes became so old I needed an optical sight, my dedicated turkey gun was a custom side-by-side 12 ga with 2 3/4" chambers. Bought it @ 1993 to be both my dedicated squirrel and turkey shotgun. Very lightweight, easy to carry. Fixed chokes, one barrel "full", the other "extra full". I'd still be using it if it had been practical to mount a low-magnification "shotgun" scope on it.

But it was easier to just buy one of the specialized "turkey" shotguns, already drilled & tapped for a scope and/or a picatinny rail.

Most of my turkey hunting today is done with a 20 ga dedicated "turkey" gun (with an optical sight).
It's almost like carrying & shooting a .22 rifle, but hits more like an old-school 12 ga turkey gun.
 
UTGrad said:
I picked up a couple boxes of Winchester Super X 2 3/4" #4 and #5 shot this evening. I was looking for something my boys could handle a little better than 3" or 3.5" shells. Anyone hunt with 2 3/4" shells? Max range with a extra full choke?
Click to expand...
With a turkey choke, my son dropped this one at 45 yards
 

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Gobble4me757 said:
Unless that's the max size your gun can shoot, idk why would anyone shoot the 2 3/4" shells. Find some longbeard 3 or 3.5" and you won't need to look for any other shells again. That is unless you switch to the 20ga tss or 410
Click to expand...

Trying to keep the recoil down a bit on the young ones. I shoot 3" myself.
 
When my son was 8 I bought him a Mossberg bantam 500 20 gauge and let him shoot it with 2 3/4" shells. When we went turkey hunting I put a 3" turkey load in it and he never knew the difference when he squeezed the trigger on that gobbler. Just a thought you could do the same with the 12 if you don't have a 20.
 
Makes sense…I started with a 20 ga and 3" shells…kicks the same as a 12 ga 3.5" shell when shooting at a turkey…though when patterning it, now that's a different story entirely 😂
 
When my son was 6 I bought a Mossberg Maverick 20 gauge youth model. It's the best 180 dollars I ever spent! Walmart usually has them for around that price mine had them last Saturday. I put a limbsaver recoil pad on it and he shot the Federal HVW #7 2 3/4 shell hunting but practice was with light loads. He and I both have killed turkeys, deer and dove with that gun and he still uses it at 13. The gun uses the same choke tubes , same barrel, same everything as the Mossberg 500. The 12 with a 2 3/4 would be fine if you pattern and know limits ( look at a limbsaver pad for it possibly). That 20 is just a thought of another affordable option. Great little gun! He shoots TSS #9 out of it now. Good luck!
 
UTGrad said:
I picked up a couple boxes of Winchester Super X 2 3/4" #4 and #5 shot this evening. I was looking for something my boys could handle a little better than 3" or 3.5" shells. Anyone hunt with 2 3/4" shells? Max range with a extra full choke?
Click to expand...
2 3/4 is all I ever used when I started turkey hunting. 1977. There were no specialized turkey shells at that time. They did the job then. Only place we hunted was the South Cherokee and most of the shots were close. Now I'm shooting 3 inch Winchester Longbeards. If you can find them they don't have that much recoil. Now the 3 1/2 kicks like a mule. Pattern them, they might surprise you.
 
You will run out of pattern (density of pellets) before you exceed lethal range of the pellets. If I were going to limit my shot distance to 30 yards and use a 12G, I would shoot #7 lead and a full to extra full choke.
 
Gobble4me757 said:
Unless that's the max size your gun can shoot, idk why would anyone shoot the 2 3/4" shells. Find some longbeard 3 or 3.5" and you won't need to look for any other shells again. That is unless you switch to the 20ga tss or 410
Click to expand...
I only load 2 3/4" 12 ga TSS and I'll put those loads up against 3" or 3 1/2" loads. I've made a believer out of several. 3 1/2" 2.5oz TSS is a waste of money.
 


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