Hevi13 #7's, Hevi13 #6's, Magnum Blend, Longbeard XR, Turkey Thugs, Win Supreme, Win Supreme HV, Win SuperX, Nitros, White Lightning, etc.
A few of these loads seem to pattern good through almost any Turkey Choke made.
Are we witnessing the Rise of the Super Shells? Perhaps we are living in the Good Ol' Days?
Winchester Longbeards are the only shell that this applies to with respect to all the testing I have done at 40yds. They seem to be much better than the average no matter what you run them through for the most part. I can from time to time find a turkey choke that will shoot all of the Hevi 13 shells fairly well (6's, 7's, Mag Blends) but that takes allot of research and different chokes to get there. Win LB's changed the game but I would imagine the other shell companies will follow. Wish my dad would have lived to see what the majority of these turkey shells will do. Allot less turkeys are lost these days if the hunter does his job and takes the ethical shot.
I think so,with the .710 factory full choke in my 835 I would not think twice about shooting a bird out to 40yds with any of the factory shells out there,HTL or lead.
The same goes for my 1100 Magnum with a 30" full barrel
I agree to a certain degree, however, I think there are still differences between shells and chokes/combinations. Not nearly like several years ago though.
My 870 with a .665 Rem Super Full Turkey choke and Longbeard 5's is only putting up about 120 (at 50°, which is the warmest day I've had to shoot so far). It's more than adequate to get the job done, but I know the shell is capable of more with a better choke. I would say the choke is still pretty important when trying to maximize your pattern.
No choke still matters. If we are spending more money on ammo it doesn't make sense to be happy with a pattern you could have gotten 10.years ago.
Chokes definitely matter. This is out of the same gun, swabbed between each shot. Using 3" LB 5's at 40 with invector plus.
Choke. 10" @ 40
Kick's .680. 118
Truglo SSX .643. 163, 158
Indian Creek .665. 203, 194, 188
Now I'd hunt with any of them, but it makes a difference. The LB shells certainly help though. For instance with this same gun with Fed. Turkey Thug 5's. Kick's was in the mid 80's and the IC in the low 130's.