7 1/2's for hunting

J

jkhunting

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Just had 200 shells with 1 1/4 oz loads of 7 1/2 shot given to me. They are loaded at 1330 fps. Would they do for hunting rabbits, squirrels, dove, and quail? They are 2 3/4 inch shells, 12 gauge. Have a Mod. choke barrel for them and a full choke barrel too.
Would they work as short range turkey loads if I set my decoy at 20 yards and use a 30 inch full choke barrel?
I have another shotgun with screw-in chokes. Perhaps the Imp. Cyl. choke for rabbits and birds, and mod for squirrels?
 
I use 1 1/8oz #7.5s for doves. I don't think the extra 1/8oz is going to hurt anything. I would think they would work for qual to although I have no experience with hunthing them. I use #6s for rabbits and squirrels. I shot a squirrel once with some 7.5s and it got up and ran away.
 
Just had 200 shells with 1 1/4 oz loads of 7 1/2 shot given to me. They are loaded at 1330 fps. Would they do for hunting rabbits, squirrels, dove, and quail?
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Perfect. I just killed 6 pheasants today with that exact load.
...and a full choke barrel too. Would they work as short range turkey loads if I set my decoy at 20 yards and use a 30 inch full choke barrel?
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Not IMO.
 
Would they work as short range turkey loads if I set my decoy at 20 yards and use a 30 inch full choke barrel?
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#6 would be the very smallest I would consider. I normally use dedicated 3-inch #5 turkey loads, and I've thought about moving to #4.
 
7 1/2s are all i use on everything (pheasnt, chucker, quail, dove ect.) i reload all mine i've found that its easer to use 71'2s then to carry a whole bunch of mixed shot if your hunting more than one type of bird at one. i shoot them at doves (the 1 1/4 load) out of a 30" extra full choke and havn't had too mant problems.(of corse i do bat clean-up so i do let them get out a ways)
 
I agree. 7 1/2 shot will work fine for most of those purposes. They are a little light for Turkey, but should work fine inside 20 yards with a full choke.
 
Most seem to think that they are some too light for turkeys at 20 to 25 yards. I will get a box of 3 inch 6's for turkeys and use the free shells on the other game on the list.

Question: At a range of 30 yards and less, using a full choke 12 ga., and a 28 inch barrel, what would your personal shot size of choice be?

There are turkeys in one of my hunting areas and I would like to take a couple during the Spring season. I do want to make a clean killing shot and not have a wounded bird running around in the brush.

As a second question, what do you consider the maximum range for turkeys using your shot size of choice?
 
At a range of 30 yards and less, using a full choke 12 ga., and a 28 inch barrel, what would your personal shot size of choice be?
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I've been using #5. Specifically, Winchester 3-inch 2-oz Double X Magnum loads. With a very tight turkey choke. Using this setup, I took a nice tom at about 45 yards last spring, which is about the farthest I would take a shot.
 
I think max range to shoot at a turkey is right about 45-50 yards. Beyond 40 yards, I'd want 4 shot. At more typical ranges (20-30), 4, 5, or 6 will all work well with a good x-full choke. The conventional wisdom is you want to get at least 3 pellets to hit the turkeys brain or spinal cord, and you ordinarily need 7-10 hits in the head & neck area to wind up with 3 in the CNS.
 
Friends talked me into getting Winchester " Black Death " Supreme High Velocity Turkey Loads, 3 inch, 1 3/4 oz shells. Got them in 4, 5, and 6's. I have a Winchester 1300, 28 inch barrel, and an Extra Full, .660, choke. It does not say so on the box, but I think they are copper plated shot. It that correct? Is this buffered shot too?
Using this information, what would be a reasonable range to call max?
Come Spring turkeys beware :D .
 
I tried those in #5 when I was patterning my gun. They were just a little bit looser than the Double X loads, but you should try them out of your gun. Each barrel is a little different about what loads it likes.

I'm pretty sure they are copper plated.

For range, you should be Ok out to 40-50 yards max. It will depend on how your choke performs.
 
Thanks guys.
New to turkey hunting.
Need advice on what to look for, as where to set-up.
How far away to set my 2 hen decoys.
Have a box call and a striker plate.
Where to get instructions on how to use mouth calls? Have 3 but do not know how to get them to make sounds.
Stuff that turkeys eat?
Last year before deer season we put out seeds for plants that deer eat.
They were winter peas, turnips, clovers of several kinds, and a bit of winter wheat along the trails used as roads on the property. Will any of that draw turkeys as a food plot? We have had a real bad, hot dry, winter here. Thinking that the Spring rains will make most of it come up, if the small birds have not eaten it all. We can not put corn or other foods out on top of the ground as baits, but we can have food plots here. We made 3 food plots for deer but the dry weather did not allow anything to grow. Hope to have stuff for this year.
Any advice welcome on how to hunt turkeys.
 
Pretty little hens are quite deadly on them and all kids of "Toms" too.
Good shooting.
Looked and there is no season or bag limit on them................... so
THEY MUST BE VARMITS!!!!!!!!!!:D
 
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