Turkey Choke Tubes

[j-heart]

I purchased a Remington 870 Super Mag Turkey Shotgun at Bass Pro Shop a couple of weeks ago. I've taken it out for some patterning and at 40 yards that pattern is large. I'm new to this so bear with me, but are there higher quality turkey hunting choke tubes than the one that came with the gun that will give me a tighter pattern, or are they all the turkey hunting choke tubes basicly the same?

[Art Eatman]

No biggie, but I think maybe "tighter" is the better description than "higher quality". :)

From reading in the gunrags, the Turkey Choke holds a good bit tighter pattern than Full Choke. The Bass Pro Shop should have information on 1) the diameter of the tube, and 2) the proper size of the pattern at 20 or 30 yards.

It's possible that somewhere along the way somebody put the wrong choke tube in your gun. In today's world it's possible your tube might be mislabeled and not be Turkey Choke--which is why knowing the diameter is important.

Maybe somebody here can give you the specifics.

Best luck,

Art

[labgrade]

First, as Art mentioned, check to see what choke you have & what you're supposed to have. I got a Turkey Express Rem 870 a while back & it comes (& came) with an Extra Full Turkey choke.
Unscrew your choke & it'll say what it is on the side.

Too, depends a lot on the load you shoot. Some loads shoot tighter than others, & it matters from one shotgun to another.

Once you're good to go on the right choke, by a few 10-packs of heavy loads (shot amount = 1-1/2 oz on up) in #4, 5 & 6 shot size & start patterning on paper. Only way to be sure ....

I prefer Fed's Premium 2oz #4 - for my set-up. Yours will likely be different.

& too, some get just too serious about turkeys. Many, many folk get their bird every year with 2-3/4" chambered shotguns & whateverold thing's on the shelf ....

[Bill Junior]

I use a Patternmaster choke, but most of my friends use Kick's chokes and swear by them.

How many different loads have you tried? I went thru about 7 different one's before i found the one that worked the best.

Bill

[labgrade]

I tired about 6-7 as well - patterned 'em all at a measured 40 yards on a life-sized turkey target & called good what put the most where it was supposed to go. Averaged ~27 hits in the head/neck - rolls 'em DRT so far.

[Mannlicher]

I am a big fan of Hastings chokes. I use the .65 turkey choke on my Browning A-5 mag. The pattern is good out to 45 yards, using my preferred Federal Premium Turkey Loads, the 2 0z #4, 3 inch mag ones.

[Guyon]

My limited experience says that you can improve on the choke that comes with the gun. I replaced mine with a Star Dot ported choke and got much better patterns. Every shotgun is a little different though, so you'll have to try different loads with different chokes to ultimately find the best for your gun.

This was my first full season of turkey hunting, and I got two birds. Both dropped like bricks at the first shot. The Star Dot is a pretty good choke, and there are plenty of others out there that are as good or better.