Converting shotgun from deer to turkey

[DIYhunter]

I'm planning on turkey hunting for the first time this spring. My plan is to convert my 12 ga. Winchester 1300 model from a deer gun to a turkey gun. It came with a threaded barrel (smooth bore) so I've historically used the Sabot choke and sabot slugs for deer. I started to research the different chokes and shells for turkey but since I'm new to the game I could really use some help. Any recommendations for chokes and shells? Any advice is appreciated.

[Culvercreek hunt club]

I like an extended extra full turkey choke. I shoot 3" #5's out of it. I use to love the special turkey loads that were 4x6's. 

 

http://www.ammunitiontogo.com/product_info.php/pName/10rds-12-gauge-federal-mag-shok-3-2oz-5-turkey-load

http://www.basspro.com/Hunters-Specialties-H-S-Strut-UnderTaker-Turkey-Choke-Tubes/product/22025/

[stubborn1VT]

There's tons of different chokes out there.  The tricky part is matching up a choke with your gun.  My 870 likes the Remington brand turkey choke.  I've had decent luck with Undertaker chokes.  My buddy swears by his Jellyhead choke.  Any extra full choke should do, especially if you don't shoot beyond 40 yards.  Half the fun is getting them close!

I use Winchester turkey ammo in #4s,5s & 6s.  

I shot alot of birds with the #4x6 Duplex loads that Culvercreek mentioned.

Good luck!

[Culvercreek hunt club]

Whatever you pick, pattern the combination. 

[Doewhacker]

Winchester XR with 5's or 6's, they should pattern well for you. And what they said on chokes and testing

Edited February 2, 2017 by Doewhacker

[DIYhunter]

Thanks for the advice! Next step is to figure out how to use all the calls without scaring everything into the next county.

[stubborn1VT]

It just takes practice.  I grew up with domestic turkeys, so I had some idea about how they are supposed to sound.  I bought a "starter kit" with a couple diaphragm calls and a CD that had turkey calls on it.  I practice with my diaphragm call while I'm driving.  I've coaxed in many turkeys with a cheapo slate call and the softest feeding clucks.  They make push button yelp calls that will get the job done.

It's important to remember that not all turkeys sound the same.  I'm no champion caller, but I kill birds every year.  It's more about patience than calling IMO.  

One of my friends has killed well over 100 turkeys, and he gave me the best advice.  "You'll go out and make every mistake in the book, and get your butt kicked.  You'll wonder why you're getting up so damn early with nothing to show for it.  Keep getting up and going out.  Some mornings the turkeys will be the ones making mistakes, and then you're all set.  But you have to get up and GO!"

[Pygmy]

Keep things as simple as possible and don't worry about  " fancy, high tech loads and tubes" at this point..

Do you have a standard full choke tube for your gun ?  If so, buy a box of  relatively inexpensive turkey loads, such as Win XX turkey loads or the equivalent in federal....Try # 6 shot first....Shoot them at a turkey head target from a benchrest..Adjust your sights so that the target is centered in the shot pattern...If you can put  8-10 shot in the head and neck, you are good to go.

As far as calling goes,  the basic calls are the hen yelp and the cluck...If you can make a string of 4-6 yelps IN THE PROPER CADENCE, you can call turkeys...Listen to recordings of real wild hen turkeys and try to match the cadence...Cadence is much more important than tone or pitch, which varies from bird to bird..Use what ever kind of call you feel comfortable with..Many hunters  find a box call is the easiest call to become proficient with.

The best advice was given by stubborn VT....Do not give up or become discouraged..Get out there as often as you can...

[DIYhunter]

My gun did not come with any chokes besides the sabot slug one, so I'll need to make a purchase. I took a read back through the owner's manual. I guess I need a specific model of choke for the winchester 1300 called "WinChoke". It looks like I'll be ordering off the internet because the big-box stores around my house don't carry it. There are a couple options for extra full winchokes online.

Thanks everyone for the advice! Much appreciated. Looks like I'll be spending the next couple months practicing calling around the house and a couple days at the range.

[Pygmy]

Send Maytom a PM....His turkey gun is a 1300 and I believe he uses an aftermarket choke..I'm sure he'll be glad to share info..

[reeltime]

some good info already given by fellow members.

 

for turkey loads of today some of the more popular chokes are comp-n-choke, gobblestopper, carlson, primos jelly head, patternmaster as well as a host of others.  as with most guns the ammo choice and choke can make drastic changes to the pattern.

another shell to consider is the federal heavyweight 7,  they are quite impressive in pattern and field performance. when my supply of extended range #6 shells runs out I will likely be switching over to the heavyweight 7's from federal.

I see that you were shooting a sabot choke, if you were pairing that up with sabot ammo I would suggest scrubbing the barrel.

I remove the barrel, I put an old choke in the barrel,  put a fresh garbage bag in a garbage can ant ball up a bunch of newspaper and paper towels in the bottom. I place the muzzle end in the garbage can, I put a bristle style bore brush on an old bore cleaning rod. 

I take a green scotch brite pad and trim it to the length of the bristle brush, then wrap it around the brush and trim it to fit snugly around the brush.  then I saturate the pad with wd 40, attach the cleaning rod to an electric drill,

then I slowly start the drill and insert the brush end into the chamber end and once in the barrel I run the drill at full speed while running it up and down in the barrel.  I also spray more wd40 in the barrel while doing the scrubbing.  about every 5 minutes I check the barrel bore.

what you want is a uniform mirror finish from chamber to muzzle, you will not believe the crud that comes out of the barrel!  make sure to NOT pull the bristle brush out of the chamber end with the drill running ( experience talking and don't ask the results) 

once I am satisfied with the looks of the barrel I take the turkey choke and thread that in the barrel and do a quick scrub with the drill concentrating on the area that the choke meets the barrel ---DO NOT scrub long with the drill as you don't want to change the constriction of the choke, all your doing is dressing the choke seat so it doesn't create drag on the shot wad. 

 

The worst pattern improvement I have seen by doing this routine is around 25% improvement, one gun went up just under 60% on the pattern density.

 

Just be forewarned that if the pattern is too tight you may have to go to some type of sighting system whether its rifle sights, aimpoint or scope. 

if you do have to go to sights I would suggest using regular birdshot shells at 15 yards to get your pattern centered before fine tuning with the turkey loads.

Edited February 4, 2017 by reeltime

[reeltime]

my advice for the calling is that if you get yourself a good box call you have plenty of time to get proficient with it by may.

while the diaphragm calls are widely popular and when properly learned are certainly deadly they are among the hardest to master as are the trumpets and tube calls.

as Pygmy said basic yelps and clucks are all that's really needed,  I have killed more birds with less than 10 series of calls than more calling. believe me you do not have to call like your on stage at a calling contest, while at times you need to be loud and aggressive most times soft and subtle will kill you more birds. 

The most important thing with calling is something that really can not be taught except by experience, that is what to say and even more import WHEN to say it.  adding realism to the calling will often times seal the deal.  from doing a simulated fly down with a wing to subtle leaf scratching with soft clucks and purrs.

One aspect that is by far the most overlooked is Scouting,  not just hiking through looking for tracks and other sign. scouting, where they roost, where they go and where they are at certain times of the day.  one of the most important things while scouting is learning the lay of the land, logging roads, creeks, ponds, extremely thick areas, basically anything that will aid or deter a bird from approaching. I have had them fly across streams, had them crawl through tree tops.....but I have had them hang up just because a log was in front of them.  I guess basically what I am getting at is that its far easier to call a gobbler into an area he is comfortable in, if he is not going to be comfortable in an are it doesn't matter who the caller is.

 

 

[TreeGuy]

No matter what you pick for choke I would recommend you try a few different loads. I have a Remington versamax with the factory full choke. By far the best load is Magnum blend. I pattern to 60 but typically won't shoot a bird at that distance. My 870 with an extended full choke liked them as well, but Remington nitro turkey load patterns just as good and saves me 20$ a box !! I think a good start for you is grab any full choke and a few different loads. If you can pattern well to 40, run with it !
As far as calls go realism is best with a diaphram IMO. Slate is my #2. But any seasoned turkey hunter can tell you, hot Tom's gobble at loud farts and domestic violence.... Just get out there and give it a try !!! (Hunting, not the violence part)

[BigVal]

I have a Carlson on my 1300. Patterns well but I haven't shot any birds with it... I struggle with turkey hunting lol

[turkeyfeathers]

On 2/2/2017 at 10:45 AM, Doewhacker said:

Winchester XR with 5's or 6's, they should pattern well for you. And what they said on chokes and testing

This. ^^^^^

XR's or Heavi mag blends ( but 2.5x the cost of Winchester xr's. 

My winchester 1300 used to be my turkey gun. Killed quite a few birds with it too. XX full tube with standard Winny 5's 

[Buckmaster7600]

My 1300 with a patternmaster shoots about everything very well but it shoots the Winchester XR's extremely well.

As for calling it's trial and error mostly error.

If you already have a scope on it leave it, makes it easy to center your pattern.


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[DIYhunter]

My gun only takes up to 3" shells. Based on all the feedback I think that I'm going to start out with the Carlson Winchester long beard choke tube. I'll probably start with a couple boxes of Winchester long beard xr shells in a couple different shot sizes and see what patterns the best and go from there.

I appreciate the insight on the calls. Honestly, I'm thinking I'll start with a slate pot or a box call. This being my first season I'm hesitant to go straight into the diaphragm calls. They look a bit harder to learn. Plus, I have to leave something on the table for 2018 because I'm sure I'll get addicted to chasing turkey. 

[TreeGuy]

My gun only takes up to 3" shells. Based on all the feedback I think that I'm going to start out with the Carlson Winchester long beard choke tube. I'll probably start with a couple boxes of Winchester long beard xr shells in a couple different shot sizes and see what patterns the best and go from there.
I appreciate the insight on the calls. Honestly, I'm thinking I'll start with a slate pot or a box call. This being my first season I'm hesitant to go straight into the diaphragm calls. They look a bit harder to learn. Plus, I have to leave something on the table for 2018 because I'm sure I'll get addicted to chasing turkey. 

Just pattern it ! As far as diaphram goes, be that idiot calling in the truck on your way to work ! You have plenty of time to master it !! Seriously. If you drive to work, use the time to practice. If you ride the subway.... Freedom of speech ? Either way, slate or box or dia or whatever. Still good to get plenty of practice in !

[Buckmaster7600]

My gun only takes up to 3" shells. Based on all the feedback I think that I'm going to start out with the Carlson Winchester long beard choke tube. I'll probably start with a couple boxes of Winchester long beard xr shells in a couple different shot sizes and see what patterns the best and go from there.
I appreciate the insight on the calls. Honestly, I'm thinking I'll start with a slate pot or a box call. This being my first season I'm hesitant to go straight into the diaphragm calls. They look a bit harder to learn. Plus, I have to leave something on the table for 2018 because I'm sure I'll get addicted to chasing turkey. 

What ever you choose, when it comes to calling less is more. The more you call the more chance you have of screwing it up.


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[sailinghudson25]

Start collecting cardboard.   I've had guns pattern good with a plain old full choke too.

A tight pattern is a small one.  People miss birds close up because they don't know where it hits.  Practice with plain target loads at 10 15 and 20 yards.  

Start collecting cardboard.  I draw lines to get square grids, then take 3 or 4 shots , then look at the pattern.

 

Far as hunting goes, use a decoy.   also, tom come near a noise, but the hen is generally expected to seal the deal the last few yards or so.

 

I like the hen box call you put on your gun.  You make the purr call of a happy hen.

 

Also, 100% camo, your face and hands.  A netting hat can be a real good investment, bugs are out.

Focus early in the season.  Toms seems to calm down early in may by me.  That first day or weekend will be your best bet. 

Toms are really repsonsive before opening day.  Get out their with your calls and tempt them in.

[maytom]

I have the very same gun as you. Like most of the others have already stated, you have your homework to do.

Years ago, I spent the money and got a Rhino choke, sized .660, and then went with "Nitro Company" shells. A Tri-plex hevi-shot load of #4-#5-#7. Incredible patterns!!!! But the cost of those shells at the time were $100.00 for a box of 25!!! Decided to switch to a Patternmaster "code black" choke while using the new Winchester XR's in #4's or #5's instead. Again, very impressed with the patterns using this combo as well. Personal choice comes into play here.

Good luck with yours!!!!

[Pygmy]

Hmmmmm...Looks suspiciously like a HARWELL box  lying beside that expired gobbler....<<grin>>.....

[maytom]

On ‎2‎/‎14‎/‎2017 at 6:58 AM, Pygmy said:

Hmmmmm...Looks suspiciously like a HARWELL box  lying beside that expired gobbler....<<grin>>.....

Actually Dan, it's a box call made for me by a friend in Wisconsin. His name is Jerry Zebro and makes some awesome sounding box calls. Name of his business is "Foggy Hollow custom calls". I currently own 4 of his calls now.

[Pygmy]

10 minutes ago, maytom said:

Actually Dan, it's a box call made for me by a friend in Wisconsin. His name is Jerry Zebro and makes some awesome sounding box calls. Name of his business is "Foggy Hollow custom calls". I currently own 4 of his calls now.

Yeah, Paulie..I'm familiar with his name..He's a buddy of Chuck's, isn't he ?

[maytom]

Actually, I introduced him to chuck...lol. Think Jerry took a breather from call making of late, was spending too much time away from the family.