Looking at getting a new turkey shotgun, 12 g pump. Lineup includes Mossberg, Winchester, Remington, Weatherby, & Browning. Don't know much about CZ and Stoger. Many are made elsewhere and just marked by the above manufactures. Leaning toward the Mossberg 500 Tactical, Browning Cynergy O/U has caught my attention though. Which guns should I avoid?

Don`t know about " avoid ", but if I were looking for a new dedicated turkey gun, the two I`d look at would be a Mossberg 835 Ulti-Mag plus red dot and the new Remington V3 Turkey Pro. The Remington based on my experience with my V3. Excellent, dependable gas system and action. It`s of course an auto. As far as pumps, probably more turkeys taken with a Mossberg 835 or a Remington 870 ( all variants ) than the rest combined

By the way, I don't have to have 3.5 in chamber

https://www.fieldandstream.com/10-all-t ... urkey-guns

https://www.fieldandstream.com/photos/g ... ns-turkeys

https://guncarrier.com/5-best-turkey-gu ... right-now/

https://www.outdoorhub.com/stories/2016 ... -shotguns/

https://www.cabelas.com/category/Turkey ... 171580.uts

Couldn`t agree more. If it was required to use 3.5" shells for turkeys, well, I`m not sure what I`d do. My turkey gun is an 870 Super Mag Special Purpose, 23" barrel. It`ll shoot 3.5`s, but it`s built like a tank, over 8lbs, and kicks like a mistreated mule. Put a Limbsaver on it and only shoot 3" shells, so it`s OK. There`s not a turkey on the planet that a 3" Hevi-13 or Winchester Longbeard XLR won`t kill.

Appreciate the input but are there any to strike from the list? Any personal bad experience? Some have criticized the winchester as being a piece of crap manufactured in eastern europe or Turkey, blah blah blah...

Me personally i'd pass on any tactical design , the Stoeger and the O/U . Mossbergs I do know have been very popular for turkey but I just don't prefer the tactical design . Just the straight stock .

If I wanted a 12ga I would go with an 835 camo.
My best advise is to go with a 20ga and use #9 or #7 TSS shot.
20 gauges are lighter, don't kick much, and are deadly on turkeys.
Below is a 40 yard pattern from my Mossberg SA-20.
I will never use a 12ga on turkeys again. Don't need it.

You'll probably want to avoid what doesn't fit you, what has a safety you don't like, and what has a poor trigger. You also might want to consider what you think is good turkey gun is, in the first place, and whether you plan on using it for anything else. If you don't care for recoil, consider a gas gun with a good recoil pad. If you want to use a Red Dot or other optics, then you'll want something drilled and tapped for a base.

You can buy a Mossberg 835 Turkey gun for a reasonable price. It will shoot 3.5" shells but you do not have to use 3.5's. It has an overbored barrel that helps reduce recoil.

As far as Turkey guns go the Mossberg 835 is a time proven Turkey killer. I have both an 835 and 935, the 835 is just pure function. The 935 is a super fast shotgun. The Mossberg are actually over bored and very effecient at killing turkeys.

Bonanza,

I have an old Savage O/U Turkey and Fox gun, 20 gauge under with 22 Mag over, I have killed a lot of Turkeys & a few Fox with it. It was given to me on my 9th birthday, I still own the gun and when I turkey hunt, I still use it even today. If you can find one used they are great Turkey guns, chambered 3".

Some of the Texas boys have started to use the new Savage/Stevens 555, 28 gauge for Turkey they are doing quite well with it.

Pine Creek/Dave
L.C. Smith Man

Can't go wrong with either the Mossberg or Remington pump guns, both will do the job, as will any 12GA gun your comfortable with. I'm very satisfied with my Mossberg 535, I never use 3 1/2" shells myself.

Many hunters today are using a 20GA and some even the .410 with TSS shells, maybe try www.oldgobbler.com.

Why? Why not just shoot what you have? The gun doesn’t kill the turkey, the pellets do, and most guns can produce, with an appropriate choke, a dense enough pattern to kill a turkey. It doesn’t take magical, expensive ammo with supper hard pellets.

Pattern your gun, with some plain old lead loads of an appropriate size. If it has a good, dense pattern it’ll get it done.

I’ll be out there with a 20g O/U shooting 3/4oz #7’s at about 1100-1200fps. Why? That’s what I load for hunting. They’ll do their job, if I do mine.

Excellent results today with Boss Tom 1-3/4 oz. loads and a Remington V3 Turkey Pro.

I went through this same decision a few years ago. I was seriously tempted by the Mossberg 835 Turkey. The overbore barrel gives great patterns.
https://www.mossberg.com/product/835-ul ... hts-62233/

I ended up going with the 500 version because, like the OP, I had no intention of using 3.5" shells and the 500 is shorter (20" barrel vs 24" on the 835), lighter and I already had a wide selection of Model 500 chokes.

The 500 ticks all the boxes; it's light, compact, camo, has fiber optic sights. It may not be quite as powerful as the 835, but it's plenty powerful enough.

https://www.mossberg.com/product/500-turkey-52280/

I’m in my 5th season with my benelli m2 20ga. Shooting my tss handloads this has been a phenomenal combination for me. If I was in the market for a 12ga I would probably go with an 870 Remington. I have one, camo 3.5” chamber that I kill a few birds with in days gone by.

In turkey hunting the gun is nowhere near as important as in wing shooting. You are shooting at a small stationary target at moderate ranges. I myself would rather have a cheap gun and top quality ammunition than the best gun and cheap shells

Personally, I can see this perspective. We're not talking Argentina dove shoot volume of rounds here!

Very hard to beat a Rem 870.
And in my opinion, you don’t need a 3” and certainly not a 3.5” to have a very effective turkey gun.
A good load of #5 or #6 in a 2.75” shell has killed thousands of turkeys.