BUDGET Turkey Ammo Battle at 35 yards!!! Best BANG for the MONEY! 

The main thing is to pattern your gun/choke/shell combination so you know what it does. I have found my gun/choke likes lower velocity #6 loads. I test at 40 yds. and try to get them within 35 yds. Long Beard XRs run about 1200 fps. That's about as slow as factory loads get. Don't worry about shot size. Those #6 shot will absolutely penetrate at 40 yds. I knew people who used 7 1/2 shot for turkeys. Use the shot that gives the best pattern in _your_ gun.

I use the brand of that i can find. I make sure i do the pattern before I go turkey hunting. My favorite is the Remington nitro 5 shot. I've recently tried a jeb headhunter choke tube. It does good in my 870 Remington.

Love the video. Have used field loads for years on turkeys. Kills em dead just get them a little closer which is what the hunt should be about anyway calling birds close. Absolutely don't need those tss loads and only a fool would pay for them anyway.

Good test, change up your choke tubes and you’ll get some better patterns too. I bought some of that cheap nitro express 10 round boxes of 3 inch 12 gauge number five shot at Walmart for $5.99 a box a few years ago. Went bought a few more boxes the other day for $8.48. I still get over 32 to 37 pellets on average on the head targets at 40 yards with a pattern master code black turkey choke.

You don’t have to go any further than the Long Beard XR. I have harvested a gobbler at 62 yards with the Carlson Long Beard choke, pushing 3” #5’s. Took one last year at 57 yards, rolled him over into a ditch. Don’t see many other lead turkey loads that come close to the Long Beard’s performance.

lb best out there. nothing else compares. tss way to high for working man with kids

Go to different chokes with that ammo. Start with the cheap ones ($20-25 bucks) and see what you get. That would do more for the average tky hunter than all the TSS testing on Y-T.

Good video. I’ve been shooting the Winchester long beards with a Carlson’s Long Beard choke for about 6 years now and they are deadly out to 50 yards. All depends what your gun/choke combo will pattern. I’m not against TSS, but I can’t really justify it for the price. But it’s whatever works for you, have to have confidence in your equipment.

I've had great luck with the Winchester super x (silver box). Very affordable and effective in 3" 4 or 5 shot when you can find it. Seems to work well with a standard full choke.

The Rem express 5 shot is devastating for turkey very effective. You don't need a million pellets in head neck .

Man I still don't know how to feel about tss. I shoot a model 12 3 inch with 30 inch full choke. It will kill turkeys all day at 40 yards with remington or winchester long beards. Two years ago I bout a box of tss and they work great they will kill at 70 yards for sure but honestly that's not the kind of turkey hunting I like. Don't get me wrong I'm not a hater and if it's legal by all means do what you like but me personally I like 35-40 yard old fashion turkey hunting.

Longbeard XR for me. #5 shot using Mossberg flex 500 turkey gun. It has the factory choke and it I won’t use a different combo. I feel confident it will reach past 55 yards. I’m tagged out this year on public land in south Florida. I tested 10-15 types of #5 ammo and these were by far the best. Good luck out there.

I took my first turkey with an NEF single shot 12GA at 35 yards with Remington Nitro 5 shot. It was down on the spot. Nowadays, because I'm shooting out to 50 yards, I'm on Winchester Long Beard XR's. They just make it happen reliably at that distance and I did compare it to my Nitro shells. The Long Beard is what you need at longer distances for sure, especially when possibly blowing through unseen brush. I'm shooting my Long Beards with a Carlson's Long Beard Choke XR in a Winchester SXP Turkey Hunter in 12GA. YES, the choke makes a noticeable difference in patterning and putting more on the bird and I compared the Carlson's to the OEM XX Turkey Choke that came with the SXP. While the OEM choke will undeniably get the job done, the Carlson's is putting a lot more pellets on the target where you want them and that's at 20, 25 & 45 yards. The results are consistent. Great comparison.

With a decent turkey choke you would have a lot more holes in your turkey. I have a Hastings choke and, I don't know if they make them anymore, but with XR's I would have many more pellets in that turkey.

Great review on affordable ammo. 35 yards all dead Turkey. Like all we had years ago.