Hi!
My Dad got me into more serious hunting and while he hunts big game I would like to focus on....turkeys! It may matter that I love turkey meat and I am pretty good in making meals with it. Anyway! Guns! Dad says 12 gauge but I am more inclined to go with 20. It may not shoot as far but the recoil is smaller and that is a big deal. Also is Weatherby SA-459 a good gun? I like the way it looks and feels (had a chance to try it out). Or would you recommend something else?

Buy the gun that feels best to you, if your just getting into hunting, go to multiple stores and handle as many shotguns as you can. I’m assuming your quite young if recoil is a worry of yours. Until you start talking about goose loads, buckshot and slugs, I don’t notice that much of a recoil difference.

I like my 20 gauges with tss hand loads. They shoot farther than you should ever need to be shooting.

Personally, I prefer recoil operated guns over gas guns. They inherently have less cycling issues.

Stoeger 3020 is a good budget friendly 20 gauge that comes in a turkey model.

Also, get one that’s drilled and tapped so you can add a red dot sight. Very few gun/choke/shell combos shoot point of impact to point of aim. A red dot allows you to choose the best pattern choke/shell combo with your gun while giving you the ability to sight it in.

20 ga is fine for a 20 yd shot --------- if you need a scope for a 20 yd shot, you need to practice a lot more before you go hunting.!!

You obviously don’t have any knowledge to input accurately on this subject.

20 yard shots are where you will be most likely to miss a turkey with a tightly choked gun/shell combo. Regardless of gauge.

I have .410’s that are perfectly capable of killing turkeys consistently at yardages past 40 yards.

Got to call B/S on 40 yds + with 410 . I have hunted Turkey since 1982, but a 410 just will not do the job on a turkey at 40 +.yds. I have used the 410 only for dove quail since 1982 . I own three winchester o/u 410's and i have never missed a turkey with full choke in a winchester pigeon grade 20 ga . at distances from 10 - 30yds.

I've taken many a turkey and it appears some are willing to be more aggressive than I would ever think of being.

I have seen a lot of birds taken with a 20 gauge at 40-45 yards but not seen one taken with a .410 past 30 but not saying that it cannot happen. Just need one BB in the right spot.
For years, I would see anywhere from 30-35 birds called and killed with a variety of shotguns, loads and gauges and a few with archery. Longest shot I ever made was with a Mossberg 500 shooting 3 1/2" magnum #5 shot. The bird was 72 steps in rocky, uneven ground, so I am saying at least 65 yards. After a couple of shots with the Mossberg shooting 3 1/2" mags, I got where someone would have to hold a gun on me in order for me to pull the trigger...Never Again!!!
Adios,
Gary

Gary i hear you on the 3 1/2 mags fired two shots in an 870 pump ,luckly i did it at the range standing up. I said to myself sure glad i tried it there instead of leaned against a tree. left the range went straight to where i bought it and traded it off. still have teeth loose from it. Made me love my .410 even more!!!

#9 TSS Out of a 410 is a game changer.

I know what you mean. We used to convince all the young teenage and high school boys to test drive the Mossberg and the "skud missles". We called it a three stepper because everyone of them took three steps back after firing...
Adios,
Gary

Well, I’ve got to call BS that several of the responses on here are obviously quite willing to impart their ignorance of shotgun potential in response to someone who was intelligently trying to answer what appeared to be a serious question by the OP.

Had those posters (1) simply stuck to trying to answer the question asked by the Original Post, and (2) had they educated themselves on TSS, current Turkey gun configurations, choke/gun/load patterns shot from current production model shotguns with available turkey ammo, or just recognized the fact that they may not be the Texas authority on effective down range pattern density and energy needed to kill a grown turkey gobbler, then their obvious ignorance wouldn’t have been so unpolitely posted in responses that had nothing to do with the man’s original question.


Now to the original question.......

I like my 20 gauges because of their weight versus most 12 gauges. When utilizing TSS, I can extend my range to yardages I won’t mention on here. If I am utilizing the gun for uses other than turkey hunting, I can buy light loads that do not leave me with a headache after a good dose of clays or dove shooting. 20 gauges feel better to me when I handle a typical semi auto. I like 26” barrels on utility guns that are used for multi purpose. If I am buying a turkey specific gun just to set up for that purpose, then the shorter the barrel the better.

There are multiple manufacturers you can purchase TSS from.
Foxtrot Ammo is a good one.
Browning, Federal, Apex, and Nitro are all companies that sell TSS.

Many companies make specific chokes for TSS. I prefer a choke in the .575 to the .587 range because they provide a good medium between ultra tight patterns and good hunting patterns for closer shots. 40 yards is not a problem with these setups.

As already mentioned, 12 or 20, pick the gun that fits your preference to feel and your budget. Either gauge is fine, but a 20 is not nearly as limited as some on here might think.

jstock ------ if you need a scope for a 20 yrd shot with a shotgun you need to practice more-------- for the avg or below avg hunter I would say it is basically impossible to miss a bird standing still at 20 yds. Let me guess, you shoot 4 boxes of shells on a duck hunt trying to get your limit of 6 birds ?? I wont let my son bring more than 10 shells to kill 6 ducks --shooting o/u 20 ga. ------- and no, he is not allowed to shoot them on the water.

A great detailed discussion. If you are incapable of calling a Gobbler to within 40 yards, I certainly understand the dilemma.

A red dot isnt a scope. My 20ga pattern at 20 yes with hanload tss is about as big as a quarter so yea...you can miss kn a running Turkey. I can and also have killed birds a hell of a lot further than one should with this 20 ga and tss loads. Have also seen birds taken with a 410 with hand loaded tss at 45+. For the comments about if you cant get hired within 40 and all this...apparently you havent Turkey hunted very long or ventured outside of Texas. There are birds that hang up and they wont come any closer. Its nice to be able to reach out and touch them. I will also challenged any of yall that are shooting this big bad 12 ga to a challenge. Let's compare your 3.5in pattern shooting lead shot Turkey load to my 20 ga pattern at 40. Let's see who has the densest pattern. Then let's get some ballistic gel and set it up at 60 yds and see which gets the most penetration and most pellets in gel.

Some of the comments yall make are ridiculous because you are utterly and completely uneducated. Like I said whenever yall want to take me up on this challenge let's set up a time and place and bring your $100 for each challenge. Then after that get back on here and post and tell everyone you were utterly and completely wrong about your original assessment because you were clueless.

No one ever said anything about a scope.

You obviously don’t have any idea what you are talking about, and seem to be on a mission to announce your ignorance openly on an Internet forum. Hopefully you focus on teaching your mentioned son better so that when he becomes old enough to post we don’t have to endure this type ignorance as you have tried to pass along through your posts. I’ll add this, it s not in just this post that I’ve seen you so openly display your thought processes as facts and try to attack someone else who has a different opinion supported with facts.

I’m glad you are at least teaching your son good financial practices. I’m sure you are a fun guy to hunt with ....

As far as your “guessing” how many shots it takes me to shoot at whatever to kill my limit, I haven’t made any suggestions on here to my personal level of effectiveness at wingshooting.

I guess you also think that any shotgun you buy that you just slap a turkey choke in it and some number 6’s and it shoots true to the bead at 20 yards?

Let me answer my own question before you impart more infinite wisdom on someone trying to educate themselves with facts and doing internet research.

The answer is no, most turkey guns regardless of gauge need to be patterned with the load and choke you plan on hunting with before you hunt with them because they do not always pattern true to aim.


As far as Hudbone goes, you don’t know me either. I’m not coming on here to discuss my calling skills or accomplishments about turkey hunting. I came on here and answered a man’s question about what Turkey gun to buy and what gauge. If all you have ever hunted is Texas half tame Rios, then I can see why you may make the statement you do. However, the Original Poster never asked or added any details that he was only shooting turkeys over feeders out of a blind. Why waste shells? I’m quite certain I could kill one of those with a .223 while I’m deer hunting, but again.... I issued facts to the poster to help him make a decision. Those facts came from a lot of experience with the topic he asked about.

Some people hit ever branch of the ignorant tree falling out.

The great Rio hunters have spoken.... Y’all ain’t much of Eastern guys are yall


Y’all are getting seriously heated over gauges and corn buzzards


I’ve killed greaters over 40 with a 410 and tungsten, TSS is pretty impressive when patterned. Biggest issues is $$$$$ and availability. I doubt the op reloads


To OP I pretty much hunt exclusively with 24” featherweight Citori 20ga. When I say exclusively, turkeys, dove, quail, coons, squirrels, pheasants, geese, ducks, chuckers and rattle bugs. Don’t over think it pick one and master it. I have four12Ga’s that are pretty much safe queens and three 20 gauges that get used all the time.

There are advantages to a 12ga, such as more shot in the air and generally more shell options/availability then the others, but 99% of the time if you can find 12 you can find 20ga.

20ga tend to be lighter guns though

Title of Thread - "12 gauge or 20 gauge". "Had those posters (1) simply stuck to trying to answer the question asked by the Original Post"

Would you tell us more about the 410's please?

Like most modern projectiles it’s the bullet(s) not head stamp. TSS is pretty interesting stuff. I have a couple friends that duck and turkey hunt with 410’s and 28 ga’s with them.

It’s pretty impressive but at a price.

Not that bad if you reload yourself and it's quite fun to do so.

I used to call in birds for paid hunters who would fly in to Corpus. Ran into Rob Keck while I was wearing an NWTF sponsor hat at the CC airport. I never had a hunter pull out a 410 and wondering how I would have responded if one had done so.

The same way you should respond if they pulled out a 12 ga shooting ol winchester turkey loads. Patterns being put up by the 410 is just as good, if not better, than what a lot of people used to consider awesome patterns for a 12ga. The times do change and so does capability.

Guess so. Just not the way I learned. My double barrel never failed me. Never.