Anybody shot a turkey with a lever rifle?

K

kcub

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I'm thinking a 357 lever rifle would be good with any non-hollow point ammo. Body shot would be ok. Just hit hard, poke a hole, and not destroy much meat.

Maybe light cowboy 30-30 with solid hard lead 165 grain at 1600 fps, or would that be too much for a body shot?
 
I shot a turkey with a 170gr Power Point. It took a handful of feathers and drove them through 1 breast and out of the other one. Meat damage was like being shot with an arrow, very little resistance allowed almost no bullet expansion. That was with open sights at about 75 yards.
 
I doubt if you'd have to really worry much about expansion with any .357 round. Ain't enough mass in a turkey. Meat damage would be more dependent on shot placement.
 
I know 243 on up you don't want to body shoot a turkey. You will destroy half the breast minimum. It's head or neck only if that's what you have. 222 core lokt is ok for body shot.
 
"...I know 243 on up you don't want to body shoot a turkey..." Um, you're .357 is bigger than .243. I can guarantee that a 90 grain FMJ will go right through a turkey with minimal meat damage though. Doubt any .357 will do that.
"...Ain't enough mass in a turkey..." It'll outweigh a ground hog. And a ground hog is big enough for one of the old Silvertip rifle bullet(was a 220 grain .30 cal.) to expand dramatically.
It legal to use a rifle in Texas? Just curious. Isn't here.
 
357 is not going 3000 fps like a 243, it's not in the same class.

I've never seen a turkey shot with a 357 but I have seen what was left of a turkey shot with a 243.

In Texas eastern turkey must be taken with shotgun, Rio Grande turkey may be taken with any firearm.
 
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South Texas rifles are legal, I've used a 22 mag more than anything. The other week my cousins son shot a gobbler with his AR-15 using a 55 gr fmj. It destroyed the poor bird, velocity I think is the big factor here.
kcub, those cowboy 30-30 loads should do great for turkey.
 
Never on a turkey, but more than once on other game birds (where and when legal).

.30-30 to the neck was plenty.

.30-30 to the body is a cloud of feathers and coyote food. (I've never done it, but I've seen it done too many times.)


Add velocity, and it just gets uglier. Stick with head/neck shots.
 
A 250gr. RNFP through the boiler room at @ 850 f/s works well. Minimal meat loss, no traveling birds. Someone told me that... ;)
 
I shot a Ptarmigan with a 44 mag cast SWC, and it just poked a hole through him. Made for some great BBQ. Stick with a non-expanding cast bullet and you'll be fine.
 
"...Ain't enough mass in a turkey..." It'll outweigh a ground hog. And a ground hog is big enough for one of the old Silvertip rifle bullet(was a 220 grain .30 cal.) to expand dramatically.
Click to expand...

The old 220 gr "Silvertips" were well renown for dramatic expansion. And since a .30 cal high powered rifle round is much different than a .357 handgun cartridge, I don't see the comparison as being valid. Shooting a turkey would be similar to shooting a single one gallon jug of water. I wouldn't expect much expansion or velocity drop. Again shoot a turkey thru the middle of both breasts and expect a lot of damage, even if you're one to "eat right up to the hole". This regardless of caliber or expansion. Shoot 'em in the head/neck or on the top of the back and expect to have a decent meal. It ain't rocket science.
 
I thought the original "Silver Tip" was sold as a controlled expansion bullet. There is no way one is going to blow up on a turkey, unless it's coming out of a 300 Ultra Mag.
 
I've seen turkey blown up with 243 and 100 grain bullet to the point that most of the breast meat was ruined. I've also seen turkey body shot with a 222 and meat loss was minimal
 
groundhogs

Don't know about turkey, but I shot a bunch of groundhogs back in the day with a Marlin carbine and a 6" revolver, usually using .38 spl or . 158gr lead SWC.

Typically you got a very convincing but mild, .35 caliber hole, all the way through, and a dead pig. I'd think the results on a turkey would be about the same.
 
I've never had to hunt a turkey, being frozen, they aren't much of a challenge.


I did meet a couple guys at a local range once that head shoot them with .22 Hornet Handi Rifles. They said shotguns and turkeys wasn't a challenge anymore, but trying to get a headshot on a bobbing head really took some effort.
 
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