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Why a Turkey barrel?

raven01750

.270 WIN
I have hunted a lot of game. Everything from Deer, pigs, squirrels, duck or about anything else that moved in my area of Harris County Tx when I was young. But I never hunted Turkey.

Now I know from all the information available on hunting turkey that they are indeed wile creatures. Hard to fool and quick to get away. They have great vision and are even harder to hide from. But I have never understood why you would need a shotgun barrel specifically designed to hunt one. I would have thought that a waterfowl long barrel would be sufficient if it was at a distance. Or heck, even a 22LR properly placed would dispatch the bird quickly.

So, for the sake of my education, can someone explain to me why I would want a Turkey Barrel to hunt Turkeys? :?

Paul
 
I wondered the same thing! A friend of mine, when I asked this same question a month ago, said you don't have to use a turkey barrel... so I'm curious what others have to say.
 
LIke you said, any gun will kill it. Standard barrel with the right choke and shot. All the rest is a sales gimick IMO.
 
That's what I'm thinkin'...choke and barrel length !! (...and sights.)
 
turkey chokes are for shooting lead shot. water fowl chokes are for shooting steel shot. you can use either barrel to hunt both (and other game) but the primary difference is in the barrel length. turkey barrels are shorter than waterfowl. if you hunt with a turkey barrel for duck or what ever, and you are with some buddies in a blind, they are going to put you on the end. because you will be louder than them. and their ears will be ringing.
the rest is purely marketing.

just get a good choke for turkey hunting. you want a nice tight group. you are aiming for a small area. it's head. water fowl chokes have a larger spread.

i'm goin turkey hunting tomorrow. first day of the season is today in CT. woo!!
 
You don't have to have a turkey barrel to hunt turkey with, but using a gun that will keep a good tight pattern is a HUGE bonus when you're calling them in.

Good luck hunting them.
 
John A. said:
You don't have to have a turkey barrel to hunt turkey with, but using a gun that will keep a good tight pattern is a HUGE bonus when you're calling them in.

Good luck hunting them.


Absolutely...especially if you want to eat the kill. Them there pellets are tuff on the choppers and don't digest well !! ;)
 
Pfft ... everyone needs more lead in their diet! Any good mid-length (24-26") barrel with changeable chokes will work for you.
 
oli700 said:
LIke you said, any gun will kill it. Standard barrel with the right choke and shot. All the rest is a sales gimick IMO.

Definitely. At least where I am, Deer hunting is getting harder and harder in terms of getting a draw. Turkey is the great untapped frontier so there's a huge promotion of the sport on TV and in Magazines to create a market. When I was a kid we did fine with shiny wingmasters, jeans and pendleton shirts with an orange vest. I doubt Turkeys have gotten any smarter. That being said, a full camo thumb hole grip dedicated turkey gun is a cool freakin' toy I wouldn't turn down! I'm not dogging them! The whole "actively hunting" thing of calling them in... It's awesome. Not to mention as American as apple pie if you care about that aspect. Which I do.
 
blue said:
oli700 said:
LIke you said, any gun will kill it. Standard barrel with the right choke and shot. All the rest is a sales gimick IMO.

When I was a kid we did fine with shiny wingmasters, jeans and pendleton shirts with an orange vest .


I have killed more animals in a flannel shirt and an old pair of wool bdu's.
Camo is for people hunting.
I can see it more for bow and the distance you have to get with bow but knowing how to stalk will get you farther than camo IMO. It is proven most game can’t see that good anyway...turkey is an acceptation as with all birds, they see awesome but it is really motion, sound and smell that tip off most animals. For deer and elk, nothing is more entertaining as a clean truck stuffed with a bunch of camoed up flatlanders….and that’s on their way home.
 
You know what? Your absolutely right. It's kind of one of those things we forget sometimes. When I went through my Hunters Educations Course here in Cali, one thing the instructer said is that the animals we hunt are usually used to seeing hikers etc and their not bothered at all. Until that first shot rings out! :eek: But your right about camo and I'm glad you reminded me.

Paul
 
I love turkey hunting. The biggest reaon I know of for using a short barrel is to make it easier to swing in heavy cover with less visual movement and to make it easier to maneuver when hunting from a pop up blind.

The first turkey I shot was with a 28" barrel + 1.5" choke tube out of a small pop up blind. It can be done but it took a bit of maneuvering to get it done. I'm looking into getting a shorter barrel for next year just for ease of use. The shorter barrel will also be usefull hubnitiong grouse/rabbits in thick cover. I like my equipment to be multitasking. LOL
 
I have turkey hunted now for 24 years. My first "turkey gun" was a Mossberg 500 Deer/ Turkey that I still have. The barrel is 20" long. I added a Hastings .640 choke tube to get it to pattern how I wanted it. It is light and very handy. I then went to another 500 with a 24" barrel and the Hastings .640 choke tube. Huge difference. Much tighter pattern and much less felt recoil. I now hunt with an 835 with a 24" barrel with the factory Ulti-full choke. The 24" is plenty short enough for most situations. Most years in Indiana the ground cover is just beginning to establish itself, so the idea of tight cover is a moot point. I have hunted with an 835 with a 28" waterfowl barrel in wide open big woods. There is a slight weight difference but it is a good trade off for a few yards of extended range and slightly better accuracy.
I think you have to look at your particular situation and decide for yourself. If you know you will be hunting thicker area, like the South in the spring, and early fall, a shorter barrel makes sense. Northern springs and late fall hunts with less cover mean longer shots and a longer barrel will be a help there.
I personally like the 24" barrel. However, a waterfowl gun that will pattern good will do just fine in the turkey woods in most situations. Pattern your gun and shoot whatever performs best out of your gun.
 
Interesting topic.

I was just reading an article about barrel length yesterday. I've been thinking about getting a 20" turkey barrel to replace my 28". I like the idea of a shorter barrel for the obvious reasons so I did some research. I don't know if it's true or not but I've read that there really isn't a benefit in a barrel longer than 20 inches on a shotgun. The theory was that the barrels job is to allow the projectile to reach terminal velocity and stabilize the round in a rifled barrel which is reached at 18 1/2-20"s. Anything longer wouldn't have any benefit and could potentially cause drag by friction and slow the round down which would effect range and accuracy.

Again, this is just what I've been reading. I would like to get a chrono to test this theory myself but that's not happening any time soon. I'm still willing to do a trade off for the benefits of the shorter barrel with choke options. I think it's the ideal all around option if you don't have the ability to have multiple guns. Just swap out the choke and ammo.
 
Although drag is possible in barrels much longer than necessary to reach full powder burn, it usually takes a grossly oversized barrel for that to happen.

I wouldn't rule it out without testing, but from my experience with other calibers, probably isn't going to happen with a shotgun and will likely increase in velocity for most commercial/available lengths.

Just my gut feeling.
 
It's common knowledge on a true rifle with a fmj but you have to consider that shotguns use wads and cups. In no way am I saying that this is or isn't the case but it certainly makes sense. It will certainly create more drag than a straight fmj in a rifle. That theory would be more geared towards shot and sabot rounds of course. I'm curious to see what the numbers would be on all of the above.

Someone test this!
 
I intend to get a 24" barrel in the near future. My daughters 24" barrel is sweet, I'm really lookin forward to it!
 
Yeah, I'll be honest. I took the field gun out hog and deer hunting the past two trips and it was a pain walking through the brush. It gets fairly heavy here in Florida and I was getting it snagged on all kinds of stuff.
 
Chris111 said:
Again, this is just what I've been reading. I would like to get a chrono to test this theory myself but that's not happening any time soon. I'm still willing to do a trade off for the benefits of the shorter barrel with choke options. I think it's the ideal all around option if you don't have the ability to have multiple guns. Just swap out the choke and ammo.

Places where long barrels matter are usually places where you're looking for an "assist" from the long barrel. Generally making your physical motions smaller, and therefore smoother and more easily controlled. Add to that the weight, which can further smooth out your swing, and you can understand why for long shots on fast moving non-crossing targets a long barrel is perfect. Think about shooting round after round of trap. A barrel out to 34 inches means you will be working "less hard" on the swing, but you have a weight issue. So most folks I know tend to run 32.

I wouldn't want to run 20 for any hunting application. But 24 to 26 is pretty much perfect for an upland/brush gun for me.
 
Chris111 said:
It's common knowledge on a true rifle with a fmj

Specifically, what barrel lengths and what caliber are you referring to that slows in velocity?

I cannot think of a single rifle caliber that has trouble getting out of a rifle length (longer) barrel. That is why I asked for some sort of reference to what you're talking about.

The only thing I can think of off the top of my head that this has been shown to be an issue, is for pistol calibers through very long barrels (rifle conversions) due to the fact that pistol rounds, obviously being designed for optimum performance through ~5 inch barrels, and not 20 inch barrels and use fast burning powders to achieve that. And even then, most of them still gain velocity as with the 9mm and uzi reference.
 
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