Your Turkey Killer

[ArkansasElkHunter]

Hey Gundoc. ###I remember reading about your single shot turkey gun and was talking to a friend today. ###Ive searched for the post and can't find it. ###Tell us what you've done and how it shoots if you don't mind.

[Gun Docc]

Hello ArkansasElkHunter,

here is a little info on my turkey killer

my favorite turkey gun is a custom built Savage model 220 hammerless single barrel with a tang safety . these guns were made from 1938-1965 so they are kinda hard to come by nowadays.

the gun weighs in at 5 3/4 pounds and is a dream to tote around in these mountains.
http://www.imagestation.com/picture/sraid25/p36b117485652ee03541b29f7e8c9269e/fd8b53ea.jpg

over the years with me being a Gunsmith , i have owned all kinds of shotguns that i had turkey hunted with but none even compare for me ....lol (just got rid of a $900 Benelli)

the turkey gun has had just about all that you can imagine done to it to enhance the way it shoots...hehehe

it shoots in excess of 98 percent patterns at 40 yards easily with #4 or #5 shot and no it was not easy to achieve this...lol

the gun has a 3 inch cambered 26 inch custom ventilated rib barrel that has been highly modified to achieve my goals in a turkey gun.

the barrel has had the forcing cone lengthened to 3 1/2 inches ahead of the chamber then the bore size has been backbored out to a larger size of .742 to shorten the wad column and reduce recoil further then it has a custom .650 choke tube made by Hastings installed (by custom i mean i have modified the internal configuration of it to suit my needs). all this gives me around .092 thousandths of constriction for my choke.

Yeah it DOES kick a little with it being so light but i got a very good recoil pad made by terminator and it also has a padded comb on the stock as well ###to tame it a bit....hehehe

anyways you never feel it when ole tom walks out and you pull the trigger and this is my number one goal.....hehehe

one shot is all you need and you make sure of your shot with a single barrel.
if there happens to be more than one turk ? well then that is another hunt.


Later,



(Edited by Gun Docc at 1:01 pm on July 12, 2002)

[Whoadog]

Gundocc,
###Love that picture!

Brian

[ArkansasElkHunter]

Wow. ###Thanks a lot. ###98% huh. ###Thats pretty incredible. ###I've got a SBE and love it, but I have been wanting to trick out a single shot. ###Can any of them be modified to shoot a 3 1/2 mag or is the pressure too high. ###probably don't need the extra but if a little is good a lot must be better, right. ###What about some of the 10 gages. ###What would you recommend looking for. ###

Thanks
Mike

[TScottW99]

NEF/H&R make a single shot 3 1/2" 12 and 10 gauge.. here's their link... sure GunDoc could give you some advice on tricking it out :smile-big-blue:

http://www.hr1871.com

[BirdsnaBadge]

Until now, I hadn't really given thought to a single shot...now GunDocc's got my interest peaked. ###I just might have to look into one. HeHeHe!!!

Eric

[Brian S]

Gun docc You need to post a picture of that 60" barrel 870 you made. I think you mentioned showing it in your booth at ###some hunting show.

[Gun Docc]

Howdy folks,

glad you all like my turkey slayer....hehehe ### ###


i have built several of these over the years for dedicated turkey hunters but building one is a pretty good task within itself just to find one of these guns..lol

the single shot guns are a lot safer to use just in the way they operate.

i really like it for when you make the shot and need to get to the bird quick, because you don't have time to reload and your handling an unloaded gun during the shuffle to the bird.
but most of the time with a single shot you especially make sure of your shot because you know you got only one chance to make the kill and after the shot there is no use to get to them quick because you plastered him good and he's just laying there kinda quivering with his head about blown off....hehehe


ArkansasElkHunter,

as to whether some of the older single barreled guns be modified to handle the 3 1/2 inchers ?
Yes several of them can be done safely but you have to know the particulars to what models work as i have fixed a few but the recoil is very harsh to the ole shoulder...lol
drop me a line sometime and i'll give you some idea's as to what to look for in a good single barrel

here's another pic i snapped the other day
http://www.imagestation.com/picture/sraid25/pdad8db45a6a6c448047caa01ed9df941/fd8b53e8.jpg

Later,


(Edited by Gun Docc at 1:03 pm on July 12, 2002)

[Mo Hunter]

Hey Docc,
### I never noticed it before but your the spittin image of chewbacca from the nose down. LOL ### ### ###Just a word of warning might be a good idea to avoid all flintlock's ...never know what kinda critter will come outta there all kindsa mad when you catch fire to his nestin area. hehehehehe. ###Ok Ok enough already ### LOL
Arkansas,
### Yup Docc's right about those slimed down 3 1/2 " roman candle launchers, they do pack one hell of a punch on both ends, ###My NEF 12 guage 3 1/2" weighs in at a hair under 6 lbs loaded with a scope on top, Thats after I pulled a pound of steel outta the stock. Im here to tell you when you pull the trigger on that thing...you better be hangin on to it. It's a real joy to turk hunt with, hardly know it is there, but I really hate paterning the dang thing cuse it really gives a guy a good beating.

[Gun Docc]

Mo Hunter,

thats my turkey headnet and i always got it on too....hehehehe

that NEF single barrel you are talking about is the one i worked on huh ?
how does it shoot when you're bruisin that shoulder with them roman candles ?....lol
reckon it will kill a turk if-n you hang onto it right


Later,

[Mo Hunter]

Docc,
###I was kinda hopin you would teach that old Missouri mule some manners while you had her !!! ###LOL, she don't mind puttin out a real good pattern, but then again it needs to, I guess you could say I probally do as much floppin around after the shot as the poor old turks do ###LOL. ###Had it and the frontstuffer out this weekend, and found I was gettin just as good a pattern with the 3" as the 3 1/2" and not having to take near the beating for it . Looks like turk season is going to hit just right this year so I plan on doing a majority of huntin with the TK2000 , I read someplace where "Smoked Turkey" is suposed to be real tasty !!! :eat-burger:

(Edited by Mo Hunter at 2:20 pm on April 7, 2002)

[goathill]

Gundoc,
### ### ### I have a single shot NEF 10 ga.with a 24 in barrel.
I want to do all I can to get the best pattern out of it.
I was going to lengthen/polish the forcing cone and burnish
the barrel. ###What do you think about shorting the barrel a
few inches and threading for after market choke tubes?
What about back boring. ###I would apprechiate any advice you
can give before I decied to send the barrel off. ###It came ready
for a scope but I haven't put one on yet. this gun will be for
turkey hunting only. Thanks for any help you can give.

[Gun Docc]

Welcome to the forums goathill ,

as to making your 10 gauge a better turkey gun ?

the 10 gauge NEF guns make a fine turkey gun that really gets the job done when a little barrel work is involved

to start with it is best to lengthen the forcing cone a bit to help reduce deformation of the shot charge and also to reduce felt recoil from the heavy loads encountered witht the mighty 10 gauge

as to barrel length ?
i would not recommend any shorter than you mentioned your barrel being
the 24 incher is about as short as i would go with a 10 gauge as most all the 10 gauge loads utilize slow burning magnum powders which benefit from a longer barrel

backboring and choke tubes ?
the bore size on the 10 gauge can be utilized as a tuning aid but not necessary if the right choke length and size is used. with the big bore guns you need a longer choke tube to get the best patterns from them which really helps to tighten up the patterns more so than the constriction of the choke itself
with a standard bore size of .775 find yourself a choke tube that measures around .690 to .705 and the longer the better

hope this helped a bit

Later,

[Wild Turk]

I like the comment above about Chewbacca. ###I think Gun Docc looks more like the Duck Commander. ###Maybe he is the Turkey Commander or Gun Commander. ###Just a thought.

Gunn Docc, everyone here seems to value your opinion (and JHPers are not easy to impress), so maybe you can share some of your vast knowledge with me....

Two questions:

-Will Hevi-shot pattern as well as they say? ###(I have a remington and a briley .665 if it matters).

- Are Remington shotguns (870 in particular) really getting worse with time, as some of the posts suggest.

Thanks for you input.

Wild Turk

[Gun Docc]

Wild Turk ,

turkey commander or gun commander huh ?........hehehehe
don't believe everything you hear from ole Mo Hunter as he likes to shoot the breeze once in a while.......lol

as to the questions you asked ?

question 1
-Will Hevi-shot pattern as well as they say? ###(I have a remington and a briley .665 if it matters).

the hevi-shot does pattern pretty good in some guns but there is still a lot of testing going on with it as many say it damages chokes and barrel bores but i have yet to see any resulted damage due to its use. at first the norm was for it to be used with chokes only designated for steel shot loads but now that it has been around a bit longer they have found that it patterns better with the tighter constricted turkey chokes(mainly due to a shotcup change in the loads is the reasoning of less barrel or choke damages).
you might want to give briley a call and see what they have to say with the hevi-shot being used in their type of chokes and depending on what they recommend, the only way to know for sure if it will perform for you and your setup is to try a few loads on the pattern board if your back pocket can stand the prices....lol

question 2
- Are Remington shotguns (870 in particular) really getting worse with time, as some of the posts suggest.

as bad as i hate to say it YES

the newer models of the 870 guns are showing up with more and more plastic parts on them that eventually WILL fail . some of the newer ones have a plastic trigger group which houses the components and this is just asking for trouble down the road as the plastic becomes brittle or reacts to some solvents that are used for cleaning.
so if your in the market for an 870 make sure it still has the metal trigger group as you will have a good one then

Later,



(Edited by Gun Docc at 1:29 pm on July 12, 2002)