Gobbler Nation

I have a turkey hunting buddy who has real serious neck / vertebrae issues. Multiple surgeries, etc. The doctors tell him now that he should put up the guns that the risk is too great. But he is a diehard and turkeys and shooting are just part of who he is. So he has decided to explore the world of small gauges, light loads and recoil reduction. I am not sure it’s a wise decision on his part looking at risking being paralyzed or something to continue to shoot but I understand where he is coming from too. But he is a big boy and his rationale is you don’t shoot too much at turkeys. Couple times a year. I value and love my turkey hunting brother and have some serious reservations here but...... he’s my bud. What ya gonna do. All that being said for background....

I am a 20 ga and BP guy for turkeys anymore. Happy happy But I read a lot here and know there is a lot of experience here as well. So for an effective 35-40 yard TSS #9 load, what load and gauge would provide the best pattern for him with a MINIMUM OF RECOIL. Stress MINIMUM. Any input, load suggestions, etc would be most welcome. Any pms with secret loading stuff would be kept in highest confidentiality! THANKS TO ALL IN ADVANCE

410

Get a semi auto 410......

Remington 1100

Buy some TSS from Hal and get a recipe.

Get a Sumtoy choke for it if it don't shoot good from the factory.

several will tell you that a 9.5 tss in a decent OZ load will easily kill out to 50 yards. With negligible recoil. Get a semiautomatic Tristar 410 or a O/U 410 in Yildiz

One of my best turkey hunting buddies had his 2nd back surgery 2 years ago. Doc told him no shooting shotguns for a year. He loaded up some 410 TSS and took them to the doc to shoot. Doc shot them and told him he'd be fine. He killed a MS limit and we both killed one in TN that year.

The Browning BPS .410 would be another choice because of it's heavy weight at 7 lbs. Gil

As everyone else has said your hunting buddy should try a .410 with TSS.
For added recoil protection he could add a limbsaver to the gun.
Can't blame him for wanting to hunt hope he does well.

GLS wrote: ↑August 3rd, 2018, 9:14 am The Browning BPS .410 would be another choice because of it's heavy weight at 7 lbs. Gil

That’s what I was thinking. The 1100 would be a good choice as well.

Most shoot a 13/16 oz TSS load or near that. But Hal also has a 5/8 oz load that would be even lighter in the recoil department and should still provide an effective pattern to 35-40 yards.

If he is going to make the full transition to .410 turkey loads (which is exactly what I would do if I was in his situation) I suspect he will eventually want to get set up to load them. But if you want to try out a few loads to gauge recoil, etc. before buying everything for loading, I’d be more than happy to help with that. I still owe you a favor for fixing up my broken box call years ago.

Thanks for the offer! May take you up on that. I had forgotten about that little call. Hope you still have it and it’s serving you well sycamore if I remember right.

I guess I need to be looking out for a 410 auto.....

You could make a zero or even negative recoil .410. The question is whether you want to take it to the woods. How much do crossbows kick?

Has anyone mentioned .410?

No.. You’re the first!

Hognutz wrote: ↑August 5th, 2018, 7:19 pm No.. You’re the first!

Well....after the good suggestions, I was really leaning more toward a .410..

Shooter's hotrod load was easily handled by my daughter who doesn't like recoil at all but I did back the powder off to 26 grains and she smashed one at 40+ using a semi.

chipper wrote: ↑August 7th, 2018, 6:18 pm Shooter's hotrod load was easily handled by my daughter who doesn't like recoil at all but I did back the powder off to 26 grains and she smashed one at 40+ using a semi.

I only backed it down to 28gm. When my daughter shot her gobbler with the Encore I asked her soon after what she thought of the recoil. She thought for a second or 2 and said she didn’t feel a thing