Many types of guns are used for hunting, but a successful turkey hunt is dependent upon the hunter using the best gun for the specific type of hunt. Turkey guns are often described as shotguns that turkey hunters shoot like rifles. A turkey gun typically features a short barrel, tight choke, sling swivels, an ability to handle heavy loads and a camouflage or plain finish. Let’s take a closer look at seven of the best guns for turkey hunting that you can find at your local gun shops in Olathe, KS:
- Remington Model 870: The Remington Model 870 Express Turkey Camo was introduced in 1950 and was soon mass-produced due to its popularity among the turkey hunting community (and other hunters, too). This gun is both slick and reliable, and is available in 3- and 3 1/2-inch 12-gauge versions—perfect for turkey hunting.
- Remington Model 1100/11-87: The 1100 is a soft-shooting, semi-automatic shotgun perfect for heavy recoiling turkey loads. The 11-87, introduced later in 1987, features a pressure-compression valve and was threaded for choke tubes to increase effectiveness during turkey hunts.
- Winchester Model 12: Introduced in 1912, the Winchester Model 12 was used back when only a small number of turkey flocks roamed the United States. It was a 30-inch full-choke Model 12 carried by many Southern hunters. This model was inspired by the Browning Model 97, but really only shared a sliding fore-end. The Model 12 was hammerless, sleek and smooth. Today, old full-chokes can still take down wild turkeys.
- Winchester 1300/SXP: A great field gun and wonderful turkey hunting gun, the Winchester 1300 began as an inexpensive, mass-produced pump action gun. This dedicated turkey gun comes with a short barrel, iron sights and a camo laminated stock. It was brought back as the SXP imported from Turkey after the New Haven Winchester plant closed. The new design eliminated some of the gun’s weaknesses and comes in more than one dedicated turkey gun model.
- Browning Auto-5: This gun was produced from 1902 to 1998 and was the first semi-automatic shotgun made to work on the Browning long-recoil design—the barrel and bolt followed each other about three inches back into the receiver when fired. The Browning Auto-5 was made in Standard, Light, and three-inch Magnum models in 12-gauge and 20-gauge options, and also in a scaled down Sweet 16 model.
- Mossberg 835: The 12-gauge 835 was born after a collaboration between Mossberg and Federal. The goal was to create an alternative to the 10-gauge, intended to be a waterfowl gun, but it was quickly found to work very well for turkey hunting.
- Benelli Super Black Eagle II: The thing hunters like about this gun is its bad-weather reliability. The SBE is lightweight and can pack a punch, which is liked by turkey hunters.
Many of these turkey hunting guns are sitting on shelves in gun shops across Olathe, KS. Visit Harrison Street Pawn today to check out our selection of quality firearms!