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20ga turkey gun and TSS

Chief44

Chief44

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Made a trip to Whitaker's today and picked up one of their exclusive 20 ga Remington 870 compacts with 21" barrel. It Comes drilled and tapped with rail and weaver micro dot and Carlson's TSS .555 tube. Timber Camo. This is my first 20ga turkey gun. Haven't had time to pattern yet. Any of y'all have any experience with this gun/tube combo with #9 TSS. As far as patterns.
 
Good setup, but I'd opt for a more forgiving choke to hunt with, thus less constriction. I shoot that exact setup, but with a Carlson 0.575 choke. It will easily kill turkeys further than I should shoot them, with 1 5/8 ounce of TSS #9 shot (588 pellets).
 
From what I've read, I was wondering if I needed a more open choke. All I need is a good hunting pattern to 40 yards and I'll be happy. Don't want it to tight up close. I'm tired of packing around a heavy gun that rattles my teeth every time I pull the trigger.
 
Andy S.":1vpek2cd said:
Good setup, but I'd opt for a more forgiving choke to hunt with, thus less constriction. I shoot that exact setup, but with a Carlson 0.575 choke. It will easily kill turkeys further than I should shoot them, with 1 5/8 ounce of TSS #9 shot (588 pellets).
Click to expand...

^^^^^^^This

I hunt with the same setup and Carlson's 575 as well. As Andy said, it will kill a turkey farther than we should shoot at one. You will enjoy and beats packing around a heavy 12 that kicks like a mule.
 
I agree with the others , I have 3 different 20 gauge turkey guns and the Carlsons 575 is in all of them and I couldn't ask for a better hunting pattern.
 
Thanks for all the input. I'll probably go ahead and pick up a .575 and try them both to see which one my gun likes best. Been toting a 12 in the turkey woods for over 30 years and have great confidence in my current set up. It's kinda hard for me to change something that's been working so good for so long. But I've bitten the bullet and if it's as good as what I've been hearing I may not look back.
 
You have made a good move chief! I went to a 20 gauge several seasons ago and will never carry a 12 gauge again in the turkey woods! I had an 835 that was a turkey killer but man it was heavy and would kick like a mule! The 20 gauge is so much lighter and you will definitely have a 40 yard gun with a lot less recoil! When you get a chance to pattern your gun you will be impressed with what it will do. Good luck!
 
My advice is to not waste shells on the .555 choke, regardless of the choke manufacturer. I'd put the .575 in it, check POA=POI with lead #9s to make sure it is close, and switch to a TSS #9 to check overall pattern on paper and final POA=POI. I have adjustable sights on my gun as POA did not equal POI with just the bead and hand loaded TSS shells.

Also, grab you some of this paper at Home Depot so you will have a big enough backdrop to see exactly what the entire pattern is doing, as well as POI. You want to shoot at something 35" X 35" so you can see just about every pellet.

https://www.homedepot.com/p/Trimaco-Eas ... /202040749

Good luck, let us know how things go.
 
Thanks. I usually keep a big roll of the widest freezer paper I can find to do my patterning with but that builders paper is about 6" wider so I'll try that when this roll is empty. I've had a number of different 12 ga turkey guns over the years and found out early on that it's not unusual to have POA/POI issues. My first turkey gun back in the 80's was an old mossberg pump that I already had and could not afford anything else. After figuring out the POI was off, I took it to a local gunsmith who actually bent the barrel a little at a time till it was shooting to POA. I've since had guns with different adjustable type sights and red dots. My setup for the last several years has been a browning BPS with an EOTech which I love. The older my eyes get the more I appreciate the holographic type sights. I just wish more people would take the time to pattern their gun/choke/load before heading to the woods. It happens to all of us but I hate hearing the stories of a bird being crippled and not found. A lot of that could be avoided by a little time at the range and limiting shots to ethical distances.
 
Chief44":2ckujoyh said:
All I need is a good hunting pattern to 40 yards and I'll be happy.
Don't want it to tight up close.
Click to expand...
If you don't plan to shoot past 40 yds, provided you're using TSS #9,
you may find what would normally be labeled just factory "full" could give you a nice big pattern
with adequate density to slightly beyond 40 yds.

Believe we're thinking similarly in that there may be more risk of missing a bird up close,
when there's too much intention to be able to take one at longer ranges.
 
TheLBLman":35tiste2 said:
If you don't plan to shoot past 40 yds, provided you're using TSS #9,
you may find what would normally be labeled just factory "full" could give you a nice big pattern
with adequate density to slightly beyond 40 yds.
Click to expand...
Guarantee you it will. Sage advice above.

There is NO need to over-constrict a choke with #9 TSS unless you plan to shoot 60+ yards, or you like counting holes in paper and posting them online for others to see. Anything around .575 constriction is plenty good for a Remington 870 20G. A factory flush full Rem choke is .590 constriction, and will kill to 45 yards all day long, and likely 50. Seriously.
 
How about federal vs apex in the #9. Any experience with the 870 on how one load patterns over the other. 1 1/2 oz at 1100 FPS with the federal vs the apex 1 5/8 oz at 1175 FPS. Not sure how many more pellets we are talking with the apex and at distances no further than 40 yards I'm not sure it would really matter. Just wondering if the federal flight control wad patterns are any tighter at say 20-25 yards vs the apex with the same choke. I know it's a completely different animal, but there is a huge difference with 12ga buck shot loads when comparing with and without the flight control wad.
 
^^^ No experience with those two shells as I load my own, but you are talking about 588 pellets ( 1 5/8 ounce) versus 543 pellets (1 1/2 ounce), so 45 pellet difference. I'd say my hand loads are more in line with Apex than the Federal shells, thus my guidance would be more in line for Apex shells than Federal.

1100 fps is PLENTY when you are talking TSS. It will penetrate further than you and I should be shooting. My hand loads shoot 1090 fps or thereabouts.
 

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