Choke for Hevi shot

[dgc4]

I have an old Mossberg 835, and an extra full choke for it.
The choke is probably about 8 years old, and I am not sure what kind it is. It says lead only on the side of it, but the choke was bought before hevi shot was introduced. Any clues as if hevi shot can be used with the choke.

[wildlifecontrolspecialist]

I wouldnt shoot it with hevi-shot. There for you shouldnt. That choke you are using is prolly not rated for hevi-shot. You had best go buy one that is before you kill on both ends. Just my 2 cents, and these words could be a life saver...

[Multidigits]

You could shoot hevi-shot thru that choke but it may be too tight to pattern good. If you have a full set of accru-choke tubes, you'll probably pattern best with the Full steel choke. Hevi-shot shoots best out of .675 chokes. You can buy a aftermarket choke from H.S. Strut for about $25 or so sized for Hevi-shot

[joekat46]

Here I go again - I promised myself to never get into another "hevi" discussion but what the heck.

The biggest gripe I've had since Remington started pushing their hevi is that all they want to promote is how far it extends your range. In my opinion they have caused many more wounded big birds, from out of range shooting, than hevis extra downrange energy ever killed. Mossberg must think that's ok since their printed ad for the new 935 turkey gun again touts its L O N G range killing power. [V]. Both companies need to rethink their promotions. One major gun magazine even posted pictures of some clowns[:o)] 70 yard hevi pattern.

I've patterned, through my 870 3", Remington hevi and the original Environmetal hevi. Using 4 different chokes, a Kicks Hi-Flyer modified, a Kicks Hi-Flyer IC, a Remington Full steel, and a Remington extra full turkey I found no load that did worth a hoot passed 45 yards. The best of the four was the Kicks Hi-Flyer modified with Envirnmetal's #4 hevi. I would not hesitate to shoot a turkey with that combo.

I've turkey hunted since the 1970s and have never seen much good come from trying to stretch the range when hunting the big birds. If you are looking down the barrel and think, "I wonder if he's too far" - he is.

There are enough guys swearing by the Nitro hevi and Rhino choke to make me believe that is the way to go if you are going to use hevi. Just for myself I KNOW my Gobblin Thunder and Winchester HV is the way to go. I don't need the extra range. I'm not going to try a 70 yard shot. I'm not going to dump $150 plus into Nitro heavy and Rhino chokes either.

Good luck. Pattern, pattern, and then pattern some more. The big birds deserve it.

[Multidigits]

I've never seen any ads promoting 70 yard shots at turkeys. The ad you refer to was a competition that was won by Rem. and Hevi-shot. No, they didn't use any of the chokes you mention. That's why they sell one of their own. The Remington choke is fairly cheap as chokes go, a lot less that $150.

Actually, there's no debate to it. Killing distance is a measure of foot pounds of energy per pellet. I believe most experts say you need something like 2.8 fpe at a certain distance to break the neck of a turkey. Hevi-shot delivers this at longer ranges than does lead of the same size. To equal lead proformance, a hunter can go smaller in pellet size and still have the 2.8 fpe out to his comfort zone(what ever that is). Now, we all will say "I'd never shoot at a turkey that far away". Yet we all know that it happens ever year. I don't do it, and you don't do it, but somebody does.

BTW--I tested some #5 Hevi-shot on long range snow geese this year and they work great. Too expensive to shoot 6 at a time, but they do kill good. Use them if you want, if you don't use something else.

[HappyHunter]

I recently bought a remington hevy shot extra full tube. I think I paid $25 or $30 for it a Galyans. I'm shooting an 870 with Remington 3 inch #5 heavy shot. It shoots a very uniform pattern (no holes in it). At forty yards on a paper turkey target it puts any where from 20 to 28 pellets in the head and neck. At 50 yards it puts 12 to 16 pellets in the head and neck. I also shot 3 inch Federal copper plated lead (1 7/8 ounces of shot). This load did not perform as well, the pattern was not very uniform.

The tube that I bought is also usable with steel or lead, pretty affordable with good results I thought. Nothing I have shot has performed as well as my old .665 tube that was given to me and I had for years until I lost it[:(]. I never new who the manufacturer was, the name was worn off.

[dgc4]

I have heard people mention that hevi shot patterns better (for them) out of non-full chokes. Can someone explain this to me. I am trying to picture this and it just is not making much sense.

[Multidigits]

Same principal as steel shot. Neither deform as it passes thru the constriction of the choke because they are too hard to deform like lead.

[hardwoods hunter]

I shot a 25lbs longbeard last year using an 870 with an H.S. Strut hevi-shot choke tube. I was using 3inch #4 hevi-shot. The distance was approx. 20 yards. Poor old tom never knew what hit him.

A bad day hunting is better than a good day at work.

[joekat46]

Just to clarify - buy a box of 25 Nitro's premium hevi (buy less than 25 and you're not patterning) and a Rhino choke, pay the shipping and tax and you'll be spending at least $150.

A major gun publication DID show the author's 70 yard Hevi pattern. What an extreme disservice to the big birds.

The Remington ad I'm talking about said (not verbatum)- that turkey that was out of range last year won't be this year, you're shooting hevi shot. In other words - if you weren't good enough to call him close last year don't worry, we've got you covered. Use a rifle.

I did use the #4 Environmetal hevi and Kicks IC for ducks last season. Worked great. I'm not anti hevi. I am just very disgusted the way Remington promotes it. How many guys do you know that really take the time to pattern their turkey loads?

[Multidigits]

I don't. I do make sure my guns shoot straight, but don't get hung up on pellet count. I know from past results what the gun will do if I do my part. I have no doubt that you COULD kill a turkey at 70 yards with Rem. #5 Hevi-shot. I've seen them on big birds at that distance and maybe further and know they work as advertised. I also think people shooting at turkeys at 50 yards plus are few and far between. Some might, but most won't.

[Hammer]

joe, why does it take 25 shells to pattern a turkey load?? I'd have to go to the hospital I think if I shot 25 3.5 inch turkey loads in a patterning session, lol!

My experience with hevi-shot is also with waterfowl, and in my opinion, it's just like shooting lead again. It knocks the doo out of big geese and kills them stone cold dead.

[P. Beyer]

<blockquote id="quote"><font size="1" face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica" id="quote">quote:<hr height="1" noshade id="quote"><i>Originally posted by joekat46</i>
<br /> How many guys do you know that really take the time to pattern their turkey loads?
<hr height="1" noshade id="quote"></blockquote id="quote"></font id="quote">

I've not seen this Remington ad mentioned, However I know in the last 2 weeks I've put almost 40 shells through my 870, and with pellet counts up to 18 at 45 yards, that is as far as I'd even <i>consider</i> shooting. Too much can happen at longer distances in my opinion. As for Heavy shot, I ain't shot it and when I saw the price I decided I wouldn't either. As I posted, 45-50 yards is my absolute <b>MAXIMUM</b>, so why pay <b>2 1/2X </b>the price to "shoot" 70 yards as mentioned earlier?

"It makes no difference whether I got anything; it has to do with how the day was spent"

Fred Bear

[Remington12]

A friend of mine a couple of pre-seasons ago wanted to figure out his majic gun/choke combo and bought a box of about everything and then either bought or borrowed as mant chokes as he could. He not only shot for distance but also for penetration. He would fill pop cans with water and shoot to see if he would have penetration through both sides of the can. He could pattern good numbers at 50 - 55 yards, but penetration was an issue around 45 yards. This was before Hevi came out, but my question is concerning penetration. What would be a good test?

[The Beagler]

Danny,
I think you will be fine shooting hevi-shot out of your choke. I shot it out of my Rem. Super Full Turkey choke (.665). If you go to Rem.'s website (or at least it did 2 years ago) it will tell you the optimum choke restriction for shooting h-shot. I'll go ahead and tell you it will say shoot a .675 restriction choke. My choke is tighter than what they call for, but I haven't had any problems with pattern blow out.

Now for the question of long distance killing of turkeys. I killed two turkeys last year with h-shot. It was total devastation. The second one was at 30 yards and he hit the dirt. Now the first I'll admit -- I screwed up. It's as simple as that. I was as nervous as a long tailed cat in a room full of rocking chairs. I miss judged my distance and shot at approximately 55 yards. The turkey end up riding home in my vest.

This year I actually patterned my gun at 50 yards and I was putting around 17-19 pellets in the head and neck. Most target manufacturers say you must have at least 5-7 pellets in the head and neck kill zone. So, I had more than enough pellets to get the job done. This year I will think twice before taking a 55 yard shot, but if he is at 50 I will not hesitate to take it. Now, I'm not saying this because I think Rem. H-shot makes every gun's killing range farther. I'm saying this as a man that has patterned his gun at 50 yards and knows it has enough down range energy to put an ethical kill on a bird.

One more thing -- a lot of guns do not pattern hevi-shot worth a crap. So, I would definitely advocate doing a thorough patterning test before hitting the woods, but any ethical hunter would do that anyway. As to the price, I'm willing to pay it for the performance I'm getting, but then again if another load patterned better than h-shot and wasn't outrageously expensive, I would buy it. This year I lucked out because my buddy tried h-shot (and it didn't pattern good in his gun, a Browning)and didn't like it so he sold me the rest of his box. For those guys that really want to try it and don't want to pay the price, go in halfs with a buddy who also would like to see how it performs.

[Multidigits]

P. Beyer--You shot 4 boxes of shells to check your patterns? Man, you could have bought one box of Hevi-shot, kill two turkeys a year, and have enough shells for 5 years of hunting. I doesn't make much sense to me to scrimp on premium ammo.

[P. Beyer]

<blockquote id="quote"><font size="1" face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica" id="quote">quote:<hr height="1" noshade id="quote"><i>Originally posted by Multidigits</i>
<br />P. Beyer--You shot 4 boxes of shells to check your patterns? Man, you could have bought one box of Hevi-shot, kill two turkeys a year, and have enough shells for 5 years of hunting. I doesn't make much sense to me to scrimp on premium ammo.
<hr height="1" noshade id="quote"></blockquote id="quote"></font id="quote">

Multi, Not just to pattern, it's a new gun and I wanted to be totally familiar & comfortable with it, but I did shoot each shot at a Turkey target & then count the pellets, soooo one could say I patterned wit 40 shells[:)]

"It makes no difference whether I got anything; it has to do with how the day was spent"

Fred Bear

[Multidigits]

I bet your shoulder hurts???

[P. Beyer]

<blockquote id="quote"><font size="1" face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica" id="quote">quote:<hr height="1" noshade id="quote"><i>Originally posted by Multidigits</i>
<br />I bet your shoulder hurts???
<hr height="1" noshade id="quote"></blockquote id="quote"></font id="quote">

[;)]LOL, yeah it was sore for a bit. I broke down and bought the Remington R3 recoil pad, it helped. I just don't wanna freeze up or worse, FLINCH when that moment of truth 7 years in the making finally arises & I hammer that first Gobbler!

"It makes no difference whether I got anything; it has to do with how the day was spent"

Fred Bear

[dgc4]

Paul
I was wondering how you knew my name...
Next time I am home (which will be in May for good) we will have to do some fishin.

[mossyhorns]

I got tired of being hammered by an 870 so I changed to an 11-87 SPS-T this year. It comes with the R-3 pad attached. I also got tired of missing because I would peek over the barrel before I shot so I mounted a scope. I used light loads to set the scope and the gun will not cycle them -- it doesn't come with the extra adapter ring for light loads like the other 11-87 super mags. Once the scope was set, I tried combinations of shells and chokes. I had always used Win Supreme HV in #4 or #5 shot, 3.5 inch. I can shoot these all day long in this rig without a hint of pain. (with the scope, the rig is a mite heavy, too) My best patterns were with 3.5 hevi shot out of Rem's ventilator tube. I used the ventilator because it was the closest thing I had to the recommended .675 tube and Rem has test data for it on their site. At 50 yds the thing is devestating. Tried a Patternmaster goose tube and it would be good for maybe 40 yds, but not nearly as good as the ventilator. Wanted to pick up a Briley hevi-shot tube at Bass Pro in Nashville but they were sold out along with the Rem HS tube. I would like to see if the .675 choke makes any difference over the .665.

Shot a bird in AL at 55 yds using #4 hevi in 3.5. Shot broke wing and leg bones at that distance. Looked like a 20 yd hit with lead. I'm sold!

[The Beagler]

Danny
Sounds great. If you get in before turkey season closes maybe we can go pow-bang a gobbler.

Paul