Hevi-Shot & Remington choke tube combo?

[easydave]

Is Hevi-shot worth the extra expense?
How are the Remington Hevi-Shot choke tubes?
I have an 870 Express witha 3.5 inch chamber.
What size shell do you like?
Thanks.

[shallowrio]

It dosn't make enough differance to justify the cost through my 12gu, but makes my wife and daughters 20gu's perform well out to 35 yards. Thats realy pushin it from a 20gu with any other load. Heavey Shot seams to pattern better through a full than it dose through an extra full choke.


I've paterned every load readily available and wish I could run em through more differant choke tubes.
Kinetic Energy = 1/2 x weight x velocity squared
You don't have to be a scientist to understand a heavier object traveling at about the same speed will hit harder. This should be taken into consideration while looking for nock down power in a load. At the same time one must realize that we are talking about a group of objects (shot) traveling at a givin speed. We are not going to use the intire group to do our work. We will hope to use as much as posible or nessesary without blowing the Turkey to pieces. Therefore I prefer a 1 5/8 oz load over a 1 3/4 oz load of #4 shot. This load will travel faster having used less power from the charge to get moving. It is also known that the least amount of surfaces touching one another during constrtion in the choke and while in flightwill hold together better. This is achieved by using a larger diameter shot and special buffers. This also should be considered reguardless of the type of shot or manufacturer.
The choke tube is the next thing to consider. This begins with the understanding of the extra length of a Turkey choke tube. The usual design of a Turkey tube is based on a gradual constriction section followed by a long parallel section. The theory is that the shot column is compressed and rearranged in the constriction portion, while the longer parallel portion permits the shot column to readjust and realign. This is what produces a tighter and more consistent pattern. Turkey tubes are normally extended to accommodate the long parallel portion of the choke and are thick-walled to contain the pressure outside the barrel.
I have read several articles on this subject, but all are by the same author, giving little varied opinion.

At $8.00 per box of copper plated, buffered Turkey loads vs $20.00 a box of hevishot, is it worth it in a 12gu? 20gu??
And then put it on paper.

FYI; Small publishing companies are a good source for wide rolls of paper. They call them roll ends and scrap them out.

[corncob]

Without question or hesitation, and after a lot of testing, I prefer Hevi-shot. I use #6 shot, 3" and 1 5/8 oz. I probably would use 3.5" shells except that my Benelli M1 S90 does not take them. I probably would use 1 3/4 oz loads except that I have 20 shells of the smaller load.

I used to use Win Supreme 3", 1 3/4 oz of #6. They worked quite well, but Hevi is more lethal. The downside to Hevi is that you can ruin a lot of breast meat.

Last year, a friend of mine got his first Tom at the ripe old age of 86. Needless to say, his eyesight is not that great. He wanted to pluck that bird, so we had at it. It was pretty ugly and showed the deep penetration you get with Hevi shot . I don't recall seeing anything like that with the Winchesters. However, that tom did not have his head up and extended when Dick let'er rip.

For darn sure, bigger loads (2 oz and greater) of shot are not necessarily better, and in my experience they are not.

Some folks like Hevi shot because it gives them 10 -15 yards and maybe more of killing range. IMO, the point of turkey hunting is to call them in. Taking a 50 yard shot would not be particularly satisfying to me.

Best regards from the cob pile.

[Bayouman]

In the 3.5 12 mag i found the Win HV 2 oz. no 5 or 6 shot with a good choke like the Kicks GT is good out to 50 yds. Any further I aint interested in shootin. Most all my turkeys are called well within 40 yds. I aint got a scope but a Tru Glo F.O. (Tru-Point) on my Browning 3.5 12 Gold Stalker. Even at 50 the dot covers way too much for placing consistent patterns in head/neck.....past 50 its pretty much a crap shoot. ;D

Hevi-shot may be fine especially if scoped and style of huntin calls for longer range shootin.

[Kudzu]

I have a 870 turkey gun. tried several differant tubes and a dozen or so shell combinations. Could not find any tube that the hevi-shot patterned in . the setup that worked best for me was the truglo 665 and the win supreme 31/2 # 5. wasn't the all round tightest pattern but shot the fartherest without any holes in pattern.