Are 2 3/4 shells a no-no

[CB on the run]

I shoot a $3 shell and a $10 choke out of a 20ga Remington.  Granted the gun has been worked by a gunsmith but the $65 for porting, trigger & forcing cone work was, IMO, worth it.  I personally have limited time off and drive almost 175 miles round trip to turkey hunt so the extra dollar or two for a premium shell is money well spent for me to be able to shoot 40 yards if need be.
 
CB

[kyhareraiser]

2 3/4 20 ga  #5 or #6 shot out of my old grandpappy's mossberg sold by sears and rare-back (lol) has just a good a group at 40 yards as my 12 dose with 3" shells ..could be the 36 " barrel the 20 ga has instead of the 24 " barrel of my 12 ga

[TrkyHntr]

A friend of mine has a Browning A-5 that only shoots 2 3/4" shells. The gun came with a 22" smooth bore slug barrel. He took the slug barrel to a gunsmith and had it made to accept screw in chokes. With a stock Browning .660 choke and 2 3/4" Win. Extended Range #6's, he can kill any turkey within 50yds. If you do your homework and know your limits, I don't think anyone is limited by shooting 2 3/4" loads.
 
 
 
 
Shane

[ylpnfol]

yes 2.75 will work just fine, put the bead on his noggin, and when u can hear him say/feel " oh S$&T" , squeeze the trigger, mmmm mmmm good

[hawglips]

It's not the length of the shell, it's what's inside. A 2-3/4" 20 ga shell can outperform a 3-1/2" 12 ga shell, depending on what's inside.

[Longbeards]

ORIGINAL: kygobbler

Franco, everybody on here has given you sound advice and it reminds me of a funny story that you might like. My uncle owns a tobacco wharehouse and there is always turkey behind it during the parts of the day. Well my uncle decided that he wanted a turkey for dinner and got out his old 12 ga Remington and shot a hen. He told my brother to go out in the field and pick it up for him. The hen was laying there doing thier usuall flopping after being shot but when my brother grabbed a hold of that hen, she suddenly came back alive and commenced to opening a can of whop a$$. The hen started kicking, throwing upper cuts, and giveing head butts. My brother tackled her to the ground and the hen countered his move and penned him to the ground. While they were fighting it out, all my uncle and I could do for support was laugh our butts off. My uncle hollered at my brother to ring her neck and the only response my brother could give was "I'm trying but she has bitin' me 5 times." After my brother and the hen body slammed each other about 5 more times my brother finally won the battle. That happened about 8 yrs ago and I still remember it like it was yesterday. The point of my story is that no matter if you decide to go with the 2.75", 3", or 3.5" you got to know your limits and don't let the turkey open a can on you.[:D]

kygobbler, now that was funny...[:D]

[Turkeybuster]

hawglips you said a mouth full there!

Jon

[hawglips]

ORIGINAL: Turkeybuster

hawglips you said a mouth full there!

Jon

Jon,

It's hard for folks to comprehend it though. I just bring it up so guys can see that it's what's in the shell, not how big the shell is. Big is just a means to and end, kinda like speed. Not the end in itself.

Let's compare a 3.5" 2-1/4 oz load of lead #5s, vs a 2-3/4" 20 ga load of 18g/cc handloaded shot, and throw in a 3" Federal 1.5 oz 20 gauge load just for kicks since you can buy those.

At 40 yds, here's how they compare by the numbers:

3.5", 12 ga., #5 lead @ 1200fps:
pellet count: 386
penetration depth in ballistics gelatin: 1.89"
energy density: 232.7

2-3/4" 18g/cc #9s, 20 ga, @ 1150 fps:
pellet count: 517
penetration depth in ballistics gelatin: 2.13"
energy density: 257.7

3" Federal Heavyweight #7s, 20 ga:
pellet count: 329
penetration depth in ballistics gelatin: 2.22"
energy density: 264.6

[kygobbler]

Hawglips, first, Im not trying to argue about the data or anything. I would like to see what is the comparision if the shot size is the same for all three. For me, in KY you can only use 4,5, and 6 shot. In my opion, I would think the 3 1/2" will do better if it was all the same, but then again I might be wrong.

[hawglips]

ORIGINAL: kygobbler

Hawglips, first, Im not trying to argue about the data or anything. I would like to see what is the comparision if the shot size is the same for all three. For me, in KY you can only use 4,5, and 6 shot. In my opion, I would think the 3 1/2" will do better if it was all the same, but then again I might be wrong.

You're right. If the shot is the same type and size, a longer, wider shell allows either more shot, or faster speeds of the same quantity of shot, or both.

But since there are more choices of shot types available today, you can shoot a shorter, smaller shell, and have a more effective turkey load than the guy shooting a larger, longer shell, but less dense lead shot.