# If you were going to buy a shotgun....



## brushbuster (Nov 9, 2009)

What would it be. I am planning on putting one on lawaway this winter and hope to have it out by spring.
I want a combo gun that is ideal for Turkeys, Coyotes and deer. 
Would you get a auto loader, pump or single shot? What scope setup would you invest in. 3inch or 3/1/12? Thumb hole stock or plain janer.
I dont hunt upland birds or waterfowl so i dont care about that issue.


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## Mags (Apr 10, 2002)

Remington 11-87 in an autoloader or a 870 which is a pump, and they have different varieties of each. Your preference. Both are excellent guns, reasonably priced, that you can buy extra barrels for whatever game you're going after. A cantilever rifled scope barrel for deer would make a top-notch combo. There are much more expensive guns and cheaper ones as well, but both of these have been proven performers for years, especially the 870. Both come in 3 in. chambers which would do very nicely for the purposes you stated.


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## sourdough44 (Mar 2, 2008)

I'd get a 3" chamber & 26" barrel, after that it get's a little cloudy. On a budget I could do a pump, for a little more flair I'd go semi-auto. If it's mostly turkeys & coyotes with the smoothbore barrel I may drift down to a 24" or so.


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## ajmorell (Apr 27, 2007)

1 question regarding coyote hunting. Are you sitting and calling or hunting them with dogs?

If the later that might change my opinion. I'm not going to lie, I laughed at the 1187 and 870 recommendation. The 870 was a good gun 10 years ago but Remington can't keep it together anymore. Their QC is a joke at best.

Assuming you are still-hunting coyotes I would go with a 24" barrel and a rifled cantilever barrel. The 24" barrel is nice for turkey hunting and barrel length has a very very negligible effect on velocity and practically no effect on pattern. Most people like 26, 28 or 30" barrels because they swing nice, but if you aren't wing-shooting that is not an issue.

My recommendation for a pump would be a Browning BPS or an older, used 870 Wingmaster. For an auto, it depends how much you want to spend. You can easily drop 2k+ on an autoloader with a rifled/smoothbore combo.


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## Swamp Monster (Jan 11, 2002)

Since you already have an Encore, I'd buy a rifled slug barrel 12 or 20, either one, and a quality scope. Then I'd buy a 12 gauge turkey barrel for it as well and put a red dot sight of some type on it. Then you would have a dedicated slug gun....far better than any combo package out there and you have a dedicated turkey slayer and your muzzleloader. You're ready for all big game in Michigan, coyotes and other varmints and Turkeys...all in a gun with a good trigger your comfortable with. If you eventually want a pump gun for small game or maybe bird hunting, reliable pump shotguns are available dirt cheap both new and used. 

The Encore outfitted correctly is a no compromise gun. A combo shotgun used for a little of everything can be a hassle and is certainly a compromise. 

Shop around for Encore barrels....I've seen Turkey barrels available at good prices from time to time used. not so many slug barrels on the used market but I see them from time to time.


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## NoWake (Feb 7, 2006)

I'm a little different, I wanted seperate guns for Turkey/coyote and Deer. 

Here's my Turkey/Coyote gun: (not yet, but coming soon)










and here's my slug gun choice.


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## old graybeard (Jan 19, 2006)

I can tell you one thing for certain and that is that an Encore with a 3" rifled 12ga barrel will get the job done for you shooting slugs for deer


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## littlebuck (Jan 9, 2009)

I went through a similar decision about 6 years ago, went with the 870 combo, and regretted it soon after. it's hard to get one action to work well for all hunting situations. I hated switching barrels and then re-zeroing all the time, I actually just quit using the slug barrel and hunted with my muzzleloader all deer season because it always moved my zero after a barrel swap. I ended up buying a beretta 391 a couple years later, and just added an ultra slug hunter this past year. I must agree that a dedicated deer gun is REALLY nice, have it in for some trigger work right now actually. 

if you only shoot relatively close range for deer (say within 75 to 100 yards) I'd seriously look into a higher end semi-auto with a shorter 26" barrel and slap a rifled choke tube in it for deer season, extra full for turkey and coyote. I have a rifled tube for my 391 and it shoots 4" groups at 125 yards with slugs, and is a turkey killing machine.

for a long range deer combo...in my experience that is a two gun scenario, pick up a cheep ultra slug hunter, and a used 1187/391/any recoil operated benelli and be done with it, if you take your time looking it'll cost about the same too.

edit:

I see you have an encore, maybe a deer barrel for that then a semi for coyote/turkey?


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## uptracker (Jul 27, 2004)

11-87

I have two that have never failed. My SP slug gun doubles as a coyote/turkey gun when I switch the barrel to a 26" VR. I've never had my zero off like someone else stated. The slug barrel has a cantilever mount.


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## jwleeper (Sep 1, 2010)

Find a good used Rem 1100 Mag vent rib with choke tubes and buy a rifled cantilever scope mount barrel. You will have what you want at a fair price and it will not loose its point of impact each time you change barrels. One of Remingtons all time greats.


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## steveh27 (Oct 23, 2000)

I have a 3" mag Rem 1100 bought decades ago. It came with a 30" barrel full choke. I still use that for turkey & have taken 45 gobblers with it. I have the rifled cantilever scope mount barrel w a Leopold vxII 3-9x scope on it which is awesome & have taken 3 bucks with it, out as far as 134 yds. I also have the 26" barrel with changeable rem chokes & use this for pheasant. I will never use another shotgun for turkey, deer or phesant.


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## Boardman Brookies (Dec 20, 2007)

Here is another vote for the Remington 1100.


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## brushbuster (Nov 9, 2009)

Thank you all for your replies. I have an old winchester 1300 that i bought 20 years ago and it has done well throughout the years, except it came with a smoothbore deer barrell. I put a turkey choke on it several years ago and it serves primarily as my turkey gun and i do haul that long thing out in the wee hours of the morning for coyotes. But it has a bead sight on it and it sucks for aiming in the lowlight conditions. I have thought about buying two barrels for my Encore but i wasnt sure if there was an ultimate gun out there that could reach out with the newer ammo up to 60-70 yards for turkeys and coyote especially coyote. I am getting more into night hunting these critters and have contemplated a 22 mag for night hunting but thought it to be silly to have a gun dedicated just for night hunting when i could get a higher end shot gun. I plan on giving my old winchester to my wife as she is now getting into turkey hunting and i could have an ultimate gun for my purposes. I dont hunt alot with a slug gun but i will probably end up hunting more in the slp and ohio.
Im still contemplating.


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## steveh27 (Oct 23, 2000)

Don't even think of shooting turkeys at 60-70 yds. Get them in to at least 40 yds. I've been thinking of putting those glo gobble dots on for turkey sights. But, I put a camo sock on the gun during turkey season & have yet to get the correct glo sights for it.


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## DEDGOOSE (Jan 19, 2007)

brushbuster said:


> Thank you all for your replies. I have an old winchester 1300 that i bought 20 years ago and it has done well throughout the years, except it came with a smoothbore deer barrell. I put a turkey choke on it several years ago and it serves primarily as my turkey gun and i do haul that long thing out in the wee hours of the morning for coyotes. But it has a bead sight on it and it sucks for aiming in the lowlight conditions. I have thought about buying two barrels for my Encore but i wasnt sure if there was an ultimate gun out there that could reach out with the newer ammo up to 60-70 yards for turkeys and coyote especially coyote. I am getting more into night hunting these critters and have contemplated a 22 mag for night hunting but thought it to be silly to have a gun dedicated just for night hunting when i could get a higher end shot gun. I plan on giving my old winchester to my wife as she is now getting into turkey hunting and i could have an ultimate gun for my purposes. I dont hunt alot with a slug gun but i will probably end up hunting more in the slp and ohio.
> Im still contemplating.


One gun that has not been mentioned is the 835.. Yes it is ugly, yes it kicks.. But as far as patterning goes, the 835 hands down is the most consistent performer with turkey loads.. Reason being the backbored barrel.. The 835 would also allow for better undisturbed flow such as bb, buckshot and T Dedyote for your predator expeditions. 

As for barrel length for patterning nothing shorter than a 24.. Yes shorter barrels can be turned into effective turkey weapons, but 26 inch barrels and longer provide more consistent patterns as well as are easier to find an effective combo.. 

Even with the new heavier than lead ammo a 60 yard shot on turkeys is doable with a large amount of pattern testing and the purchase of numerous different types of ammo and chokes.. 

If and when you do decide on a gun, hit me up via PM and I will do my best to help you choose shotshells and a choke for your new gun for turkey..


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## sixft4par (Apr 1, 2008)

The issue with going the encore route is the cost IMO. You buy two barrels and the forends and its going to be a pretty penny. I would look into something on the used rack. There are many great deals out there. For turkey and coyote something with a short barrel....camo....and semi auto would be great. If you can find an older 870 that would work great also.


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## sasquatchpa (Jan 20, 2005)

For 10 yrs. my only gun was a Mossy 500. Get the ribbed barrel with multi-choke and a rifled barrel. You can kill most any critter in Michigan.


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## downrange (Dec 25, 2010)

brushbuster said:


> What would it be. I am planning on putting one on lawaway this winter and hope to have it out by spring.
> I want a combo gun that is ideal for Turkeys, Coyotes and deer.
> Would you get a auto loader, pump or single shot? What scope setup would you invest in. 3inch or 3/1/12? Thumb hole stock or plain janer.
> I dont hunt upland birds or waterfowl so i dont care about that issue.


i own a lot of shotguns. i use 1 gun for deer/turkey/'yotes. BPS 10 gauge 24" with a red dot.


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## D.C.U.P. (May 24, 2002)

PM sent


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## inland44 (Dec 1, 2008)

Up until the other day I was pretty much set on getting a Remington 11-87 Sportsman in 20ga as a multi season turkey/slug and upland/dove gun. When to one of the local Gander Mt stores to brows, they had 8 or 10 versions in the racks 20ga/12ga, youth, slug, and field models. The parkerized finish on the recievers ranged from so so to down right CRAP, one was so bad it looked as if it was just gone over lightly with flat black spray paint. All of the recoil pads fit poorly and with only a little effort could be pulled off. Needless to say not impressed considering the 599-799 price tag.


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