Help me choose a turkey/duck gun

realtree hunter

New member
Ok guys, Im having a hard time deciding on a new scattergun. I am looking to buy a gun to double up turkeys and ducks and so far the only thing that I have decided is that I want a autoloader. My biggest delema is what gauge? Im leaning toward the ten just because of pellet count. Im planning on some extra work on this gun from Rhino such as lengthened cone, trigger job, polishsing the bore, and possibly having the barrel ported. Now looking at Nitro Companies reccomended ammo for individual guns, the big tens put quite a few more pellets in a ten inch circle at 40 yards which to me adds up to more pellets on target farther out. I guess what Im askin is for some real world experience. Is the ten really worth the extra effort to carry and find ammo for? What I really want is a shotgun that can routinely kill turkeys at 60 and 70 yds, then after a quick change of chokes be very effective on ducks.
 
Originally Posted By: Tim NeitzkeNot worth the hassle....

Get a M2 12ga 3" 26" . Get some chokes and diff loads and have at it.

any thoughts on the sbe 2? thats actually one of the 12 guages that Ive been considering.
 
I would stick with a 12 ga 3".

I had a Ithaca Mag 10 I shot geese with back when you could shoot lead at waterfowl. It did do a good job on geese and coyotes but if they were in good shotgun range they were harder to hit with the big heavy gun.

I would not want to have a hunting shotgun ported.
 
Originally Posted By: wvyotehunter68Mossberg 835

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Thats what Im wanting to replace. Ive never been able get a satifactory pattern and Im tired or putting money into it. Besides, Im wantin an autoloader too.
 
Originally Posted By: realtree hunterOriginally Posted By: Tim NeitzkeNot worth the hassle....

Get a M2 12ga 3" 26" . Get some chokes and diff loads and have at it.

any thoughts on the sbe 2? thats actually one of the 12 guages that Ive been considering.

I've got a SBE2, I do like it. After running it for many years,it's never gave me a bit of trouble. I'd just rather have a 3" gun.
 
Originally Posted By: ultramagturkey gun,duck gun....that's two different length barrels.Or alteast to me anyways.

yeah, thats actually another issue, I had kinda settled on a 26 inch barrel with probably a 2 inch extended choke.
 
Originally Posted By: Tim NeitzkeOriginally Posted By: realtree hunterOriginally Posted By: Tim NeitzkeNot worth the hassle....

Get a M2 12ga 3" 26" . Get some chokes and diff loads and have at it.

any thoughts on the sbe 2? thats actually one of the 12 guages that Ive been considering.

I've got a SBE2, I do like it. After running it for many years,it's never gave me a bit of trouble. I'd just rather have a 3" gun.


Just for the sake of asking, why? with the 3 1/2" gun you can still shoot the 3s if you so desire, but have the option of something bigger if you wanna shoot it.
 
weight is really the only downfall Im hearing about any of tens. Ive heard the Browning Gold Lite is the lightest of the bunch (and the only still in production) and the reason I was considering it of the tens, but its still like 9.5 lbs.
 
Originally Posted By: realtree hunterOriginally Posted By: Tim NeitzkeOriginally Posted By: realtree hunterOriginally Posted By: Tim NeitzkeNot worth the hassle....

Get a M2 12ga 3" 26" . Get some chokes and diff loads and have at it.

any thoughts on the sbe 2? thats actually one of the 12 guages that Ive been considering.

I've got a SBE2, I do like it. After running it for many years,it's never gave me a bit of trouble. I'd just rather have a 3" gun.


Just for the sake of asking, why? with the 3 1/2" gun you can still shoot the 3s if you so desire, but have the option of something bigger if you wanna shoot it.

Switch to a 935 turkey with a KICK'S GT .665,I've smashed turkeys out to 60+ with 3.5" #5's....doubles as a kick a$$ coyote gun aswell.
 
I had a bunch of 3.5" steel ,cases of it. That was one reason for getting the 3.5. Was big into goose hunting then.

I could never get a 3.5" turkey load to pattern awell as a 3".

Ran a few boxes of 3.5" Dead yote T shot and it worked well. Now I just 3" copper/lead 4 buck.

After playing the 3.5" game, I see no need for it anymore. There is plenty of 3" stuff that works better.

I'm not saying I don't like the SBE2. It is the best hunting shotgun I've used. If you want one get it...

If I was to start over,I'd get a M2 and with the extra $ over the SBE2, I would stock up on ammo....
 
I run a 28" sxp. Never understood why some one would want a 24" for turkey. I have both both goose ducks and turkey all with the same gun and only run 3" shells. No I cant shoot a turkey at 60yards but never had a reason to. Always been able to get them to 30 or less.....just saying.
 
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Had a Super Nova for awhile, it's got nothing over an 870.
3.5" is not needed to kill turkeys at 50 + yards. My wife runs a scoped 11-87 3" and has atleast 6 kills over 50 ,some are in the 60's.
 
Originally Posted By: HardwickNI run a 28" on both. Never understood why some one would want a 24" for turkey. I have both both goose ducks and turkey all with the same gun and only run 3" shells. No I cant shoot a turkey at 60yards but never had a reason to. Always been able to get them to 30 or less.....just saying.

mine's 22",sometimes it's hard to maneuver a flag pole in some situations....
 
I agree with the barrel length, thats one reason I didnt want to go any shorter than 26". While I admit that I have never killed a bird past 56 yards, and cant really say Ive had many opportunities past that, I would like the ability and confidence to do so given the chance or need.

It seems strange to me to hear that a 3 inch does better than a 3 1/2" gun. Thats the reason I wanted a ten gauge, more pellets.
 
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