Did some patterning today.

[wvbuckbuster]

Let me ask you guys this. If there is no shot stringing taking place then why are there not the same number of holes in the turkey's head and neck as there is on a target of a turkey's head and neck when patterning your loads? :idunno: Dan.

 

[mnbearbaiter]

Targets arent true to scale exactly and if a pellet just hits loose skin in the field it has little effect on the taking of a bird but on paper you count it as lethal!

 

[armymedic.2]

Tom fever! lol

 

[roundball]

If there is no shot stringing taking place then why are there not the same number of holes in the turkey's head and neck as there is on a target of a turkey's head and neck when patterning your loads? :idunno: Dan.

There is shot stringing taking place, and my game hits are like my target hits.
This is a little 3.5" wide tuna can target at 40 yards.
A Tom's head / neck is not even this wide...at best...at the very best...only as wide as a 6" dollar bill after its folded in half...and slightly more narrow than that if he's looking head on, which mine have been after hearing the click of my set trigger.

Plus, you have to remember, any slight amount of fuzz or fine feathers on a Tom's head or neck will NOT record any pellet hits. Think of what a soaking wet cat looks like compared to the "apparent" size of the cat when it's normally dry.
So when you only end up having only a pitiful few pellets in the recordable area of a Tom's head or neck to begin with, even a couple of pellets not being 'recorded' is pretty significant.

In the 2.5"-3" wide Tom's head / neck skin I have a similar number of pellet holes that I get from a 3" strip of this tuna can...not very many but its not because it's head and neck completely flipped out of the way in a millisecond(s).

At least that's my take on the matter...others mileage may vary.

 

[Skychief]

Bought two bags of Magnum #6 shot today.

What do they say? "Why fix it if it aint broke", I believe. :haha:

Please, none of you wise-crackers call me a chicken! :nono:

Skychief. :thumbsup:

 

[roundball]

Bought two bags of Magnum #6 shot today.

If you mean two 25lb bags, that should definitely hold you for a while...

 

[Skychief]

Yep, RB, 50#. After purchase, my friends have spoken up for 37 1/2# pounds of it! :shocked2:

So, I will find myself left with just 12 1/2#. Magnum shot in the "non-trap/skeet" sizes is hard to find locally and the shop I found with any, had only 2 bags.

Surely half of a bag will introduce Ole Tom to the oven though! :thumbsup:

Skychief.

 

[roundball]

Yep, RB, 50#. After purchase, my friends have spoken up for 37 1/2# pounds of it! :shocked2:

So, I will find myself left with just 12 1/2#. Magnum shot in the "non-trap/skeet" sizes is hard to find locally and the shop I found with any, had only 2 bags.

Surely half of a bag will introduce Ole Tom to the oven though! :thumbsup:

Skychief.

Hard as it apparently is for you to find it locally, darned if I'd let go of it...LOL...there will be other uses for hard #6s after turkey.
Anyway, good luck with the pattern testing...

 

[Rifleman1776]

Bought two bags of Magnum #6 shot today

What is the difference between #6 shot and Magnum #6 shot?

 

[Rifleman1776]

Turkeys are big bird you need shot that will penatrate and break the neck. Go with a larger shot size.

It is my understanding, from various readings over the years, that turkeys, and most birds, have such highly developed nervous systems that the shock of being hit is so disruptive to that system they die from it. Not necessary to break bones, spine, etc.
I really don't know. I have never killed a turkey. But, we have a large local industry of turkey raising around me. I do know that just going into a turkey house and making a loud shout can kill several.
I'll be taking #6 into the woods with my fowler this spring just because I don't know enough to challenge the expert/experience hunters.

 

[wattlebuster]

Rifleman the mag has a little more alloy in it. Reg #6s is softer or so I read somewhere :thumbsup:

 

[mnbearbaiter]

Regular shot is called "Chilled" and is basically pure lead whereas "Magnum" lead is hardened with antimony to make it harder and help it from deforming! "Magnum" shot is generally less dense but not enough to matter! I shoot nickel plated shot, its harder yet and a touch less dense! The harder surface of the pellets seem to keep the pattern naturally a little tighter, and when i buffer these loads i get tighter patterns yet! Just got some #5 1/2 nickel plated shot from Ballistic Products that ill be tinkering with! Good middle ground between #6 and #5, should gain 26 pellets/ounce over #5, with more ft lbs of energy than #6

 

[roundball]

Hard magnum #6s are perfect for turkey...killed them as far away as 40yds with hard magnum lead #6s.
IMO hard magnum #6s are the best balance of pattern density and penetration energy...if they'll punch through a strong steel soup or tuna can...and they do...they'll break a turkey's skull / neck vertebrae...and they do.

Types of lead shot normally available are:

Lead shot = 100% pure soft lead

Chilled lead Shot = 2% Antimony

Magnum lead Shot = 5% Antimony

Each step up in hardness improves patterns and costs a few dollars more per bag but is more than worth it in performance.

 

[123.DieselBenz]

I raised turkeys when I was a teenager ... Usually less than 10 per year ... One year I had a huge Tom that I was very proud of!

The smaller ones that dressed out about 20-25 pounds I'd swing around by holding their legs until they were dizzy, then lay them across a chopping block and hatchet their head off, just like I did the 100 chickens ... But, this huge Tom (dressed out at 36 pounds!) wasn't going for that and fought me quite abit! So in my teen wisdom I hung him over the clothes line where we usually plucked them after a hot water bath ... And got Momma's big carving knife, and I figured I'd just grab his head and pull it down, and slice off his head ... As soon as Tom felt the knife on his neck, he spread his wings, and cuffed me in the face, and lifted my scrawny 85 pounds into the air, a thought my nose was broken! When I got up from where I landed 7-8 feet away, I saw that he had won the fight, so far ... As I was covered in blood, my own!

I let him down from the clothes line, and went inside to get cleaned up, my Mother wanted me let her fix me up, (she was a ER RN nurse) but I was gonna take care of Tom first ... I grabbed my single shot .22 and some 40gr solid longrifles, and a pocketful of cracked corn and walked out looking for Tom, now he was a tad bit "shy" of me ... So ... I tossed out some corn and stepped back ... He came to the corn, and I shot him in the head ... He just gobbled, and went back to eating ... I couldn't believe it! I shot him again, same thing, but I could see I had hit his head, the blood was just trickling down, but he just gobbled! Four times I shot him in the head, the last time the muzzle was less than 1" away, and still he just gobbled, and went back to eating ...

I'm kinda stubborn ... And this was gonna be our Turkey ( sold a bunch of others) for Thanksgiving ... I went inside, my Mother asked if he was dead yet, and was I ready for the water? I said "SOON" ... I got my Fathers 12 gauge Ithica 37, and a shell, walked up to Tom, and from less than 1' away I blew his head off, finally he was dead!

I'm sure it was not the noise that killed my huge Tom turkey!