Turkey Hunting

O

osbornk

New member
My friend has hunted turkeys for decades and loves it. He has given me an interest in trying it. If I decide to give it a try, I will have to acquire another shotgun as my 3 (12,16 and 20) have a modified choke or less with newest one being 53 years old and the two others are 69 years old. He tells me I need one with a turkey choke (Extra Full Choke). He is 75 and has two professionally tweaked Remington 1100 12 gauges with scopes. He uses #6 shot.

Since I am 69, don't know if I will like turkey hunting and I don't know how many years I may be able to hunt, I don't plan on buying an expensive gun. Since turkey chokes are readily available, I am considering either a Mossberg 500 or the mechanically very similar Maverick 88. I think I would prefer the $110 more expensive Mossberg 500 to match the wood stocks of my other 7 long guns. The Mossberg 500, turkey choke, sales tax and background check would cost me just under $350.

Any other suggestions?

Thanks
 
I can't say anything for the Mossberg 500 killing turkeys because last season when I went out I thought the bird was going to walk closer but then ran the opposite way.

But I have shot ducks, geese, crow, quail, and pheasants with it and it does the job and does it well.

This is either a 30 or 35 yard pattern. I can't remember.
 
I have a Maverick 88. Got it in September. While I haven't taken any turkey with it yet, I'm sure it would do the job. If you don't mind the slight extra cost, the 500 is nicer with the wood stock. Also note the different safety locations between the 2. The m500 has a tang safety and the m88 has a cross bolt safety. at the front of the trigger guard.

I like the 500, but opted for the 88 because of price and synthetic stock. I'm not beating on this gun, but wanted the "beater" gun qualities.
 
I have a Maverick 88. Got it in September. While I haven't taken any turkey with it yet, I'm sure it would do the job. If you don't mind the slight extra cost, the 500 is nicer with the wood stock. Also note the different safety locations between the 2. The m500 has a tang safety and the m88 has a cross bolt safety. at the front of the trigger guard.

I like the 500, but opted for the 88 because of price and synthetic stock. I'm not beating on this gun, but wanted the "beater" gun qualities.
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I went to Walmart (only place in the entire county that sells new guns) yesterday to get a 12 gauge Maverick 88 that the website said they had in stock. When I got there, it was a 20 gauge but was sitting near 2 very good looking Mossbergs. The Maverick was $188 and the Mossbergs were $254 and $298. They looked almost identical but the $298 one said 500 on the tag and the other one just said 1Mossberg. When you look at the Maverick and Mossberg sitting side by side together, the wood and finish on the Mossberg looks better. However, it is clear that the Maverick would handle rough usage better without showing as much.
 
What kind of gun do you have ? And extra barrel or having choke tubes added may be all you need, unless of course you want the excuse to get another gun.
 
What kind of gun do you have ? And extra barrel or having choke tubes added may be all you need, unless of course you want the excuse to get another gun.
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My "good" shotgun is an old J. C. Higgins Model 20 that was made in late 1947 or early 1948. I traded for it last summer and have about $30 in it. The barrel says it is a modified choke (clearly not a full choke per my dime).

I also have 2 single shot shotguns that I inherited. One is a Harrington Richardson Model M48 20 gauge that was made in 1948. The other is a Savage Model 220A 16 gauge made in 1950. No idea what choke they have.

They are all in pretty good condition considering their age and they all shoot reliably. However, I would like to get me a "good" shotgun. These old shotguns look their age but my other dozen firearms look new even though one dates back to the mid 60s and another dates back to the mid 70s. .
 
"...don't know if I will like turkey hunting..." You like the idea of sitting quietly under a tree with a shotgun across your lap?
"...very similar Maverick 88..." More than similar to a 500. They're identical. Difference is the stock and finish.
A J.C. Higgins M20 is a High Standard M200. You might be able to find a barrel. Gunparts has 12 ga., H&R M48, FC, barrels. I believe they require fitting by a smithy though.
Suspect it'd be less fuss to just buy the Mossberg.
 
"...don't know if I will like turkey hunting..." You like the idea of sitting quietly under a tree with a shotgun across your lap?
"...very similar Maverick 88..." More than similar to a 500. They're identical. Difference is the stock and finish.
A J.C. Higgins M20 is a High Standard M200. You might be able to find a barrel. Gunparts has 12 ga., H&R M48, FC, barrels. I believe they require fitting by a smithy though.
Suspect it'd be less fuss to just buy the Mossberg
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The only mechanical difference I can see between the Maverick 88 and the Mossberg 500 is the type and location of the safety. There are fans and detractors of both safetys.

The old J. C. Higgins is a $100-$150 shotgun regardless of how good it is. Replacing the barrel will cost more than it is worth. I could sell it as it for about 1/3 of the cost of a base 500. I'll probably end up buying a 500 whether I decide to turkey hunt or not just because I want it. I will also probably keep the old J. C. Higgins Model 20 because it was made the same year I was born (1947) and the first firearm I ever had was a J. C. Higgins 22 rifle I got for Christmas when I was 13 or 14 ($10.88).
 
You might be surprised at how well a modified choke does. But if looking for an excuse for a new gun one of the modern pumps with interchangeable tubes are hard to beat.

This is my new turkey gun. I often put in 9-10 miles in the mountains in a days hunting and this 6 lb 20 will go next spring. With the better 3" loads and turkey tubes it is a 50 yard gun.

 
jmr40- Nice gun. I blame you for what I did today. I bought a new 12 gauge Mossberg 500 combo. It has a slug barrel I may never use and it has three choke tubes. If I decide to turkey hunt, I will buy the turkey tube.

My days of walking 9 miles in a day are over and have been since I crushed 5 lumber vertebta in 1968 and the doctors said they didn't understand why I could still walk.

My brother says all I need to do is sit on my porch and wait on both turkeys and deer. He is right. He shot 2 deer from his porch over the years. You might say where I live is overpopulated with wild things. If only we could get rid of the coyotes that occasionally get one of my goats.
 
I did forget to mention my mav88 is a 20 gauge, and I also got it at Walmart. It has the vent ribbed barrel with dual beads and a modified choke tube. I'm sold on the Mossberg's value. I may one day step up to the m500 for its more classy aesthetics and if I do, it'll be the combo....perhaps with the cantilevered scope mount on the rifled barrel.
 
I did forget to mention my mav88 is a 20 gauge, and I also got it at Walmart. It has the vent ribbed barrel with dual beads and a modified choke tube. I'm sold on the Mossberg's value. I may one day step up to the m500 for its more classy aesthetics and if I do, it'll be the combo....perhaps with the cantilevered scope mount on the rifled barrel.
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I didn't realize it until I got home but mine has the rifled slug barrel but with rifle sights rather than a scope mount. Living in steep mountains with a lot of trees and a lot of undergrowth, the rifle sights will work better for me than a scope since the sight distances are short. I almost didn't spend the extra $44 for the combo but now I'm glad I did. http://www.mossberg.com/product/500-combo-fielddeer-54264/
 
Rifled slug barrels aren't worth two cents regarding turkey hunting; seems you need to learn a little about turkey hunting
 
2 cents

Well, that all depends on your slug barrel set up. My 870 has had a smoothbore 20" slug barrel with rifle sights on it for about 20 yrs, and has killed a slew of gobblers. But........
It also is factory threaded for choke tubes and wears a Rem super full extended turkey tube. I was way ahead of the trend to short barreled turkey guns.

Yes, an IC or cylinder fixed choke barrel will not be much use on a gobbler hunt, but not all slug barrels are so handicapped!!!

While I'm at it, the rifle sights are a great asset, as you are shooting super dense patterns, at a comparatively small target, the gobblers head and neck. The sights allow for sliding the pattern around to get the pattern landing where the sights are pointed. Today's tubes and loads almost require some type of sight system beyond a simple bead.

I suspect that as someone else advised, a modified fixed choke gun, with the best modern turkey load (like the lead Win XR) will likely shoot the equal of a std fixed full choke load from say 20 yrs ago. Only testing would tell, but the Win XR patterns from my guns border on unbelievable.
 
Rifled slug barrels aren't worth two cents regarding turkey hunting; seems you need to learn a little about turkey hunting
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Slugs have nothing to do with turkey hunting. The rifled slug barrel with rifle sights was just a nice surprise bonus with the gun.
 
I killed a lot of turkeys with a Mossberg 500 and a full choke...... and some with a modified choke. I've even missed a turkey at 5 feet with an "XTra-Full Turkey choke.....

The thing is to shoot them in the head/neck, as their feathers soak up shot like they were kevlar ......

I hear a lot about "50 yard turkey guns" ...... that smacks of "500 yard deer rifles" to me ..... how about working on outsmarting Tom (and Jennie and Jake in the fall) and getting him to come where you want him to be when you drop the hammer on him? You might be able to spend enough money to have a slightly better arrow, but is not working on being a more capable Indian a better and more rewarding investment? YMMV......
 
Rifled slug barrels aren't worth two cents regarding turkey hunting; seems you need to learn a little about turkey hunting
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:confused: Who's turkey hunting with rifled slugs? Seems you need to read more.
 
Just to be clear, neither I nor the op is turkey hunting with rifled slugs or cantilevered scopes. We were simply discussing the Mossberg 500 combos....:rolleyes:
 
OP - you said your friend has TWO slicked up 1100s. Can't you borrow one with him to see if you even like turkey hunting before buying a new gun?
 
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