Who here has made the switch to 20 ga? I played a little with it last year and got serious about it over the winter. Bought an Franchi Affinity 3, Carlson long beard xr .568, Indian creek .555 and a titewad in .570. Added a Burris red dot to it. Was using federal #9 1 1/2oz and Rouge ammo #9 1 7/8 oz both TSS. Here was the best of the lot. It was with the Long beard choke tube and the Rouge ammo.


That is the front and back of the same target. It was 40.2 yards from the muzzle to the target. Was super pleased with this set up and put in a order for enough of that load to be killing turkeys with if for a long time.

Show us your setups for the thunder chickens.

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870 20g 2x7 scope.

Killed several turkey with it. Normally keep shots 30yd or less. Don't use spendy shells but did kill one at 40 with an old remington no.6 heavy shot. Do have a good extended choke.

Very nice! Been using one for many years now. We used to shoot Hevi13 #7’s with good results, then started rolling our own TSS. 1 5/8oz loads in #9 was and still is our best loads so far with a .562 choke. I’m shooting a Remington Youth model with a Burris FFIII on top. I’ve decapitated them at 3yds and have a laser accurate (after the shot) kill at 62yds. That kill was a pure screw up in guesstimating on my part. Open prairies ruin my guessing. My preferred shots are 25-35. Anything closer and I’m liable to miss, lol. I will never purposely tote a 12ga again. Light weight and compact through swamps and climbing mountains out West is the only way to go.
The main advantage of TSS to me is it’s “brush clearing” ability. Not every shot is in the wide open. Many shots are through brush or limbs in a tight window. TSS plows right through it with no issue on lethality.

I got this Stoeger 3020 Turkey model this winter. Made the switch from an 1187 12 gauge to this, mainly because of weight. I cover lots of rough ground chasing gobblers every spring and decided I needed something a little easier to tote. I put a Kingslayer green circle dot reflex sight on it and patterned it with the factory choke. 40 is as far as I have shot it and it did great. I still have yet to shoot it close range (25) to see how tight the wiggle room will be.

We're using 4 of them here. All nearly Identically prepped by Sumtoy Customs. All have old skool Burris 135 Speed Dot tube sights and SumToy .562-5" tubes. I still have a ton of the old Federal Heavy 7 ammo and we use it with great success to any reasonable distance a person should be shooting at a turkey.

135 7's in the 10" at 40 yards:





And dead turkeys:

Use a Rem 870 youth model 20 myself and would never go back to the 12.

I started last year with a Benelli Nova 20 Gauge with a Jebs 560 choke and Apex #8 TSS. I was pleased on the patterning board and I took both my gobblers with it last spring. In early May I was able to make a reasonable deal on a Remington 11-87 compact 20 gauge. I have a Jebs choke for it and a 4X shotgun scope mounted on it. I hope to pattern it next weekend.

I'm sure turkey can be a hard bird to kill but I haven't had a problem doing it with my bird gun. 2 3/4 20 gauge, #4 shot.

The wife uses a 1187 Rem. 3 " 20 GA. youth model , with Winchester # 4s

I ve killed a bunch with my winchester youth model 1300 in 20 ga. Shooting nickel #7’s and factory full choke anything out to about 40 yds is fair game. Switched to 12 ga for a lot of years but i am taking the 20 this year for blind sitting with my 5 year old.

Remington Express 20 ga. w/ a Leupold 1X4 w/ thick crosshairs and a Primos Tightwad choke shooting Browning 3" TSS 7's or Winchester Longbeard 6's.

.62 cal / 20 bore…..75 grains FF …nitro card…1 1/2 Oz of #5 shot …crumbled up wasp nest on top, to keep the shot in place. And the wasp nest will not set the Forrest on fire…flame retardant yah know.

Love the looks of that muzzleloader. What kinds of patterns do you get out of it? Is it possible to shoot some type of the hevi shot or TSS out of those?

Pretty descent pattern out to 30 yards….still need to fiddle with powder and shot charge. It will shoot anything you put down the pipe ( smoothbore) ….buck shot ( 36 cal balls ) ..shot of any size …or a .600 round ball

Cheapest set up of all mentioned. Glad to see someone knows a dead bird is a dead bird.

Cheapest ?? Meh...........

Simplest ?? You betcha !!!

The setup as you see it there is about a $600+ rig with the sight, the tube, the machining............ But I like the light weight and the fact there's about 3 moving parts on the whole gun.

Here’s a few loads out of the 870 Youth 20ga with a Sumtoy choke topped with a FFIII. All shots at a ranged 41yds.
First pic is Apex 3” 1 5/8oz #10

Next is Apex 3” 1 5/8oz #8.5

And just to see how bad they shoot…Federal 3rd degree 3” 1.5oz 5/6/7

My choke has never liked a blended shell. Actually even when I was shooting a 12ga, it never liked a blended shell either.

Those look really good. I have tried some of the blends as well. Like you I have never found what I was looking for with them. Maybe it’s the chokes I have tried. But never seem to be up to the straight loads.

Those 20s must be nice to carry! Impressive results with the pea shooters! What is your maximum range with a dense pattern?

Is that fancy shot seriously more effective than lead? I use copper plated lead in a 12 gauge 3.5” super magnum.

20ga 870 Wingmaster or Ruger Red Label with factory full choke, doesn't matter. Winchester Long beard 5's or Pheasant load 6's again doesn't matter it's only a Turkey. Hasn't failed yet..