# effective range



## rifleman2 (Feb 3, 2008)

i have heavy loads in 4 shot 2 3/4" shell is all my gun will take. could i reach 35 or 40 yards on these birds or would i need to be closer? with a full choke.


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## Chuck Smith (Feb 22, 2005)

My best advice is pattern your gun. You can go buy or sometimes in the booklet they give you a turkey target. If not go to the link provided.

http://www.sportsmanshomepage.com/Forum ... hp?t=17200

Put that on a piece of card board and take a crack at it with your gun at the yardage you are wondering about. You want at least 10 pellet count in the head.

In this forum I have a detailed account on how I pattern my gun. It takes time and ammo. But I will start at 30 yards take 2-3 shots then move back at 5 yard intervals until I don't get the 10 pellet count. That is how I know my effective range with a gun, choke and ammo combo.

Good luck.


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## Bernie P. (Sep 25, 2008)

I used 4 shot 2 3/4" 1 1/4oz loads with full choke for years.Worked great out to 30 yds.I've never had to shoot them any farther than that but I'm sure it would have killed them out to 35 maybe 40.This was with Mbergs 500-28" vent rib barrel.


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## Sasha and Abby (May 11, 2004)

Each gun/load is different. If you will limit your shots to 40 yards, a load of 6's will give you better pattern density. Aftermarket chokes are WELL WORTH the money. Different manufactures and different payloads will produce different patterns. I have rolled them at 60 yards when they would not come closer but I KNOW where my pattern will be at that distance. Like others, I would rather get them much closer. Like Chuck said, there is no substitute for the patterning board.


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## allen.riggs (Jun 2, 2012)

I use Hevi-13 #6 and shoot anSX3 with a heviShot turkey choke. I did pattern the heck out of my gun at many distances. I'm sure that at 60 yards I could drop a Tom, however, I would probably hesitate to shoot that far. At 60 yards, I had lots of hits in the head and neck area, as I shortened the distance, the hits multiplied. I shot a Jake this year and he hit the dirt and barely moved. I like #6 because there are significantly more pellets than #4. Just my opinion. Happy hunting!


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