NORTH AMERICAN MUZZLELOADER HUNTING
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Muzzleloading Shotguns & Loads That Slam Dunk Big Wild Turkey Gobblers!
The dandy 28-pound Nebraska Merriam-Rio Grande cross gobbler shown in the above photo was taken with a hefty charge from my now favored muzzle-loaded turkey hunting shotgun - the 12-gauge Knight TK2000. The big tom was dumped in its tracks at 53 yards with a 2 1/2-ounce charge of lubaloy plated No. 5 shot, pushed out of the muzzle by a 110-grain charge of FFg Triple Seven. Toward the end of this article, I'll share what makes this front-loaded smoothbore so special...and so deadly on wild turkey gobblers. But, first let's take a look at a few other muzzleloading shotguns that have also filled that "favorite" spot for me in the past.
Traditionally Styled Muzzleloading Shotguns...
I took my first couple of wild turkey gobblers back in the early 1970s, shooting an old Remington 12-gauge Model 870 pump shotgun that I grew up with. And I truly did enjoy those hunts as much as any turkey hunt I've been on since. However, in those days I worked for Dixie Gun Works, out of Union City, TN, and felt compelled to hunt with a gun that loaded from the muzzle. And I did manage to take a few good birds. My first muzzleloader tom was taken with an original circa 1850s English made "William Moore" 11-gauge percussion side-by-side.
The gun featured twin cylinder bore barrels, without any choke whatsoever. To get this shotgun to print a pattern with the density for thumping a gobbler hard required loading with near equal volume amounts of GOEX FFg black powder and shot. And for this gun, that worked out to 100-grains of the coarse grained black powder and 1-3/8 ounces of No. 6 shot. For wads, I'd place a 1/4-inch thick heavy card wad directly over the powder charge, followed by a 1/2-inch thick fiber cushion wad, then a 1/8-inch thick carboard wad. Then the shot charge went in, and it was topped with another 1/8-inch over-shot cardboard wad...to keep the charge from rolling back out.
The patterns thrown were very even, with good center density. Still, the shotgun and load were suitable for turkey at 20 yards maximum. And several toms that got within that range were very nicey put down. The spring of 1985, I switched to one of the Pedersolli side-by-side muzzleloading 12 gauge shotguns that featured screw in chokes. Shooting the same exact loads, I found the barrel with the "Full" choke tube capable of reaching out to 35 yards, while the barrel with the "Modified" tube threaded in was fully capable of putting the biggest gobbler down at 25 or so yards. Above right photo shows the shotgun with my very first Iowa gobbler, taken at 33 yards. (The very same morning, 20 miles south of where this bird was taken, I had also taken a near identical Missouri gobbler with the shotgun.)
The gun featured twin cylinder bore barrels, without any choke whatsoever. To get this shotgun to print a pattern with the density for thumping a gobbler hard required loading with near equal volume amounts of GOEX FFg black powder and shot. And for this gun, that worked out to 100-grains of the coarse grained black powder and 1-3/8 ounces of No. 6 shot. For wads, I'd place a 1/4-inch thick heavy card wad directly over the powder charge, followed by a 1/2-inch thick fiber cushion wad, then a 1/8-inch thick carboard wad. Then the shot charge went in, and it was topped with another 1/8-inch over-shot cardboard wad...to keep the charge from rolling back out.
The patterns thrown were very even, with good center density. Still, the shotgun and load were suitable for turkey at 20 yards maximum. And several toms that got within that range were very nicey put down. The spring of 1985, I switched to one of the Pedersolli side-by-side muzzleloading 12 gauge shotguns that featured screw in chokes. Shooting the same exact loads, I found the barrel with the "Full" choke tube capable of reaching out to 35 yards, while the barrel with the "Modified" tube threaded in was fully capable of putting the biggest gobbler down at 25 or so yards. Above right photo shows the shotgun with my very first Iowa gobbler, taken at 33 yards. (The very same morning, 20 miles south of where this bird was taken, I had also taken a near identical Missouri gobbler with the shotgun.)
Knight Rifles' First In-Line Shotgun...
The photo at left shows William "Tony" Knight with the very first gobbler ever taken with a Knight in-line ignition muzzleloading 12-gauge - the Knight MK-86, which was introduced in 1995. What set this 28-inch barreled shotgun apart from any other muzzle-loaded shotgun was that this one had been designed specifically for hunting wild turkeys. Not only did it come with a large-ring receiver sight, it also featured one of the "Extra-Full" extended .665" screw in chokes.
That first spring with the MK-86, Tony and I hunted together a lot, collectively taking 5 or 6 gobblers with the shotguns - and we had pretty much settled on the same exact load. We found that with a 110-grain charge of Pyrodex "Select" behind a full 2-ounce charge of No. 5 or No. 6 shot, the MK-86 was fully capable of keeping 98% of that shot charge inside a 30-inch circle at 30 yards. For wads, I used a 1/4" thick felt wad directly over the powder charge, then I slid in one of the Turkey Ranger plastic shot cups from Ballistic Products ... poured in the shot charge ... and topped off the load with a tight fitting thin cardboard over-shot wad. (Note: The wads I used back in those days came from Ballistic Products without any slits to form petals. My best patterns came when using wads with four evenly cut slits, runing back about half the length of the cup.)
The first season I hunted with the MK-86, I relied on No. 6 shot, taking several birds at almost 40 yards. The following spring, I switched to No. 5 shot, and took my first 50-yard gobbler with the shotgun. The shotgun and load have accounted for around 40 spring and fall gobblers for me.
That first spring with the MK-86, Tony and I hunted together a lot, collectively taking 5 or 6 gobblers with the shotguns - and we had pretty much settled on the same exact load. We found that with a 110-grain charge of Pyrodex "Select" behind a full 2-ounce charge of No. 5 or No. 6 shot, the MK-86 was fully capable of keeping 98% of that shot charge inside a 30-inch circle at 30 yards. For wads, I used a 1/4" thick felt wad directly over the powder charge, then I slid in one of the Turkey Ranger plastic shot cups from Ballistic Products ... poured in the shot charge ... and topped off the load with a tight fitting thin cardboard over-shot wad. (Note: The wads I used back in those days came from Ballistic Products without any slits to form petals. My best patterns came when using wads with four evenly cut slits, runing back about half the length of the cup.)
The first season I hunted with the MK-86, I relied on No. 6 shot, taking several birds at almost 40 yards. The following spring, I switched to No. 5 shot, and took my first 50-yard gobbler with the shotgun. The shotgun and load have accounted for around 40 spring and fall gobblers for me.
Going Custom...The Lenartz "Turkey Taker"...
In 2000, my good friend Tim Lenartz, from just outside of Grand Rapids, MI built a very special short and fast-handling muzzle-loaded 12 gauge turkey hunting shotgun for me. At that time, what I really liked about it was the somewhat enclosed No. 209 primer ignition - and its shorter 22-inch barrel. It remains today the best handling muzzle-loaded shotgun I have ever packed after gobblers. And thanks to the .665" "Extra-Full" Hastings choke tube threaded into the end of the barrel, it too can easily throw 98% to 100% patterns at 30 yards.
The shotgun can be seen in the photo at right. When Tim delivered the shotgun to me, it had a nicely finished walnut stock. I'm the one who gave the wood a camouflaged paint job.
Shooting the same exact load, the slightly shorter barrel, at first, tended to open patterns just a bit more than the Knight MK-86, but I remedied that by buffering my shot loads with the granular compound also offered by Ballistic Products. (Go to www.ballisticsproducts.com )
The shotgun can be seen in the photo at right. When Tim delivered the shotgun to me, it had a nicely finished walnut stock. I'm the one who gave the wood a camouflaged paint job.
Shooting the same exact load, the slightly shorter barrel, at first, tended to open patterns just a bit more than the Knight MK-86, but I remedied that by buffering my shot loads with the granular compound also offered by Ballistic Products. (Go to www.ballisticsproducts.com )
Screw In Chokes Are Great...But Get To Be A Pain...
The gobbler in this photo (at left) is the second largest gobbler I've ever taken, a dandy Missouri tom that tipped the scales at just over 28 1/2 pounds. The bird was taken at 43 yards with my Lenartz "Turkey Taker". My biggest wild turkey gobbler was shot one morning while I was hunting with bowhunting writer Bill Winke. Bill wanted to try his hand at taking an Iowa gobbler with one of the Knight MK-86 shotguns, so I offered to tag along and do some calling for him. On the second set up of the morning, hunting near Centerville, IA where the shotgun was made, I called in three nice 22 to 23 pound gobblers, and Bill made a great 25 yard shot on his first muzzleloader turkey.
It was the second to the last day of the Iowa spring season, so we set out to see if we could get my tag filled. About 11 o'clock a gobbler responded to the calling I did as we eased through some prime turkey woods. The gobble sounded like someone shaking a five pound rock inside a steel 55-gallon drum. We quickly set up along a fence cut, and a few minutes later a great fanned tail could be seen over the curvature of the hill. The tom strutted to about 50 yards from where we sat...then turned and headed back in the direction from which the bird had just come. I called with a little more excitement in the yelps...and the tom came back to the same spot - spit and drummed a dozen times, then headed back down the fenceline in the other direction again.
I threw a series of excited cuts and yelps at the gobbler, and we could see he was coming back for the third time. I leaned toward Bill and said, "I'm taking the shot this time!"
When the big bird reached his turn around spot, I putted loudly on the call a few times, and his head came up. That spring, I had a 1x turkey hunting scope on the shotgun. Instead of centering the head in the circular reticle, I held it about 3 inches over the top of the head and eased back on the trigger. At the roar of the MK-86, that big tom went down as if it had been shot with a center-fire rifle. We determiend the distance to be right at 55 yards! Still my longest with a muzzleloading shotgun. And that gobbler weighed in at 28 3/4 pounds.
The screw in "Extra Full" choke tubes that have made the MK-86 and the "Turkey Taker" shotguns so effective on turkey are also what makes these guns a real pain in the butt to load at times. The choke tubes have to be left threaded into the barrel when pouring in the powder charge...or powder will get into the threads and makes it next to impossible to screw the tube back in. Then, after the powder is poured in, the tightly constricted choke tube has to come out in order to slide the wads in, pour in the shot, and top the charge with an over-shot wad. Then the tube is threaded back in. The good thing is, the guns are so effective, I've never had to reload in order to put in a finishing shot on a gobbler.
It was the second to the last day of the Iowa spring season, so we set out to see if we could get my tag filled. About 11 o'clock a gobbler responded to the calling I did as we eased through some prime turkey woods. The gobble sounded like someone shaking a five pound rock inside a steel 55-gallon drum. We quickly set up along a fence cut, and a few minutes later a great fanned tail could be seen over the curvature of the hill. The tom strutted to about 50 yards from where we sat...then turned and headed back in the direction from which the bird had just come. I called with a little more excitement in the yelps...and the tom came back to the same spot - spit and drummed a dozen times, then headed back down the fenceline in the other direction again.
I threw a series of excited cuts and yelps at the gobbler, and we could see he was coming back for the third time. I leaned toward Bill and said, "I'm taking the shot this time!"
When the big bird reached his turn around spot, I putted loudly on the call a few times, and his head came up. That spring, I had a 1x turkey hunting scope on the shotgun. Instead of centering the head in the circular reticle, I held it about 3 inches over the top of the head and eased back on the trigger. At the roar of the MK-86, that big tom went down as if it had been shot with a center-fire rifle. We determiend the distance to be right at 55 yards! Still my longest with a muzzleloading shotgun. And that gobbler weighed in at 28 3/4 pounds.
The screw in "Extra Full" choke tubes that have made the MK-86 and the "Turkey Taker" shotguns so effective on turkey are also what makes these guns a real pain in the butt to load at times. The choke tubes have to be left threaded into the barrel when pouring in the powder charge...or powder will get into the threads and makes it next to impossible to screw the tube back in. Then, after the powder is poured in, the tightly constricted choke tube has to come out in order to slide the wads in, pour in the shot, and top the charge with an over-shot wad. Then the tube is threaded back in. The good thing is, the guns are so effective, I've never had to reload in order to put in a finishing shot on a gobbler.
Knight TK2000 - Extra Full Choke Performance Without A Choke Constriction
Knight Rifles actually reverted to a very old system from the 1880s & 1890s when designing the new TK2000 muzzle-loaded turkey hunting shotgun. That system is referred to as a "Jug Choke".
Here's a look at how it works. As the shot charge is pushed down the bore by the burning powder charge, the pellets tend to press outward, against the inside barrel wall. The actual bore size of a true 12-gauge is .729". When using a standard constricted choke, like the screw in chokes of the MK-86 and Lenartz made shotgun, when the shot string hits that .665" constriction, those pellets are directed inward - to put most toward the center of the pattern. With a "Jug Choke", instead of relying on a constriction, the bore actually enlarges in diameter. The "Screw On Choke" of the TK2000 actually goes from the .729" bore to around .755"...then back to .729" As the shot enters, it continues to push outward against the inside of the "Jug Choke"...and as it returns to .729", those pellets are redirected back toward the center...producing the same effect as a constricted choke. The pattern shown in the photo above right was shot at 35 yards, shooting a 2 1/2 ounce charge of lubaloy No. 5 shot, pushed down the TK2000 bore by 110-grains of Black Mag XP. That would be one very dead gobbler!
What makes a choke system of this kind so much nicer is that it does not have to be removed when loading. After snapping a primer or two, the powder charge is dumped in...the wad is pushed right through the enlarged section of the "Jug Choke", the shot poured in, and the entire load topped with one of the foam-type over-shot wads recommended by Knight Rifles.
Here's a look at how it works. As the shot charge is pushed down the bore by the burning powder charge, the pellets tend to press outward, against the inside barrel wall. The actual bore size of a true 12-gauge is .729". When using a standard constricted choke, like the screw in chokes of the MK-86 and Lenartz made shotgun, when the shot string hits that .665" constriction, those pellets are directed inward - to put most toward the center of the pattern. With a "Jug Choke", instead of relying on a constriction, the bore actually enlarges in diameter. The "Screw On Choke" of the TK2000 actually goes from the .729" bore to around .755"...then back to .729" As the shot enters, it continues to push outward against the inside of the "Jug Choke"...and as it returns to .729", those pellets are redirected back toward the center...producing the same effect as a constricted choke. The pattern shown in the photo above right was shot at 35 yards, shooting a 2 1/2 ounce charge of lubaloy No. 5 shot, pushed down the TK2000 bore by 110-grains of Black Mag XP. That would be one very dead gobbler!
What makes a choke system of this kind so much nicer is that it does not have to be removed when loading. After snapping a primer or two, the powder charge is dumped in...the wad is pushed right through the enlarged section of the "Jug Choke", the shot poured in, and the entire load topped with one of the foam-type over-shot wads recommended by Knight Rifles.
When The Success Of A Hunt Relies On One Shot...Make It Count
The Montana mountain gobbler shown in the photo at left was the reward for a long, hard week of hunting while taping a segment of Taxidermy Trails (on the Pursuit Channel) with host Dan Bantley. During the course of that week, we had a lot of close encounters...but it took finding just the right gobbler to harvest a bird on camera. Even so, it also took a 48 yard shot.
This bird had left several hens to check out the calling, and just as it turned to head back, I aligned the great fiber-optic rifle-type sights of the TK2000 on the bird's head and came back on the trigger. That charge of No. 5 shot was right on target.
As the spring seasons get just a bit closer, I'll get out and do some experimenting with loads for the TK2000 using Blackhorn 209. One of the problems I've encountered in the past has been the lack of a snug fit between the smooth walls of the bore with the wads. Blackhorn 209 performs best when under a bit of compression. I have a few ideas on how to accomplish that and still get the great patterns this shotgun produces. Watch for details in mid March. - Toby Bridges, NORTH AMERICAN MUZZLELOADER HUNTING
FOR MORE ON THE KNIGHT RIFLES TK2000 - VISIT THEIR WEBSITE AT...
www.knightrifles.com
Published 2-6-12
This bird had left several hens to check out the calling, and just as it turned to head back, I aligned the great fiber-optic rifle-type sights of the TK2000 on the bird's head and came back on the trigger. That charge of No. 5 shot was right on target.
As the spring seasons get just a bit closer, I'll get out and do some experimenting with loads for the TK2000 using Blackhorn 209. One of the problems I've encountered in the past has been the lack of a snug fit between the smooth walls of the bore with the wads. Blackhorn 209 performs best when under a bit of compression. I have a few ideas on how to accomplish that and still get the great patterns this shotgun produces. Watch for details in mid March. - Toby Bridges, NORTH AMERICAN MUZZLELOADER HUNTING
FOR MORE ON THE KNIGHT RIFLES TK2000 - VISIT THEIR WEBSITE AT...
www.knightrifles.com
Published 2-6-12
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