Best Turkey Load for Savage Renegauge

Have you ever asked yourself these questions? 1. What shotgun shell should I use for my shotgun? Should I buy #4’s or #5’s or even #6’s? What brand should I buy? So many things to consider and how do I know if I am making the right choice. Well, in early spring of 2024 Inside Outdoors TV set out to answer these exact questions with our Savage Renegauge 12-gauge shotguns equipped with Savage Turkey barrel and TruLok .66 turkey choke and find the best turkey load for the 2024 turkey season. 

Testing Process

For the testing process to find the best turkey load, we set up one target for each shotgun shell at 25 yards. The shooting position would be seated with shooting sticks for support to simulate being in the field. The target used was a turkey head target with an image of the entire head and neck area of the bird. To generate as much consistency as possible, one shooter was used to perform all the shooting. The aiming point on the target was determined to be the bird’s eye in an attempt to create repeatability. 

The process by which we would be scoring the targets was the number of pellets to strike the vital areas of the head and neck. We deemed the vital areas to be the brain and/or the spine which were illustrated on the target. We did not as a general rule count just soft tissue hits. 

Shot Shells Tested

• Hornady 3-inch #5 shot 
• Remington High Velocity 3-inch #5 shot
• Winchester Longbeard XR 3-inch # 5 shot
• Winchester Double X 3-inch #5 shot
• Winchester Longbeard XR 3-inch #6 shot
• Winchester Super X 3-inch #4 shot

Test Results 

1. Hornady delivered 14 kill shots and produced a pattern that was high on the bird. Many of the pellets went over the top of the bird. 
2. Remington High Velocity #5 delivered 20+ kill shots and had a more evenly spread out pattern with equal amount above and below the aiming point but recoil was extreme for not much more payoff. 
3. Winchester Longbeard #5 delivered 20+ kill shots and held a much tighter pattern than the other #5 shot shells. 
4. Winchester Double X #5 delivered 20+ kill shots and performed similar to the Remington in regards to pattern also with excessive recoil.
5. Winchester Longbeard #6 delivered approximately 40 kill shots and held a tight pattern putting almost all the pellets in the head of the bird. 
6. Winchester Super X #4 14 kill shots but with a noticeably larger pellet potentially making it more lethal per pellet. The pattern was equal to several of the #5’s. 

The clear winner in this test to find the best turkey load for our setup was the Winchester Longbeard XR #6 load which delivered the most kill shots and the best overall pattern density. To follow up on this we set out a few weeks later during the opening week of the 2024 turkey season armed with 12-gauge Savage Renegauge and Winchester Longbeard XR # 6’s to see how they performed in the field. 

Field Results

Four turkeys were killed during the opening week of turkey season all using the setup from the test. Matt Walker and I hunted the Kansas opener hunting Eastern turkey on the Kansas/Missouri border. While Ashley Poole and Calahan Henry both killed birds in Oklahoma. The turkeys were all killed at varying distances from 20 to 50 yards with the results all being the same. All the birds were fatally struck in the head with multiple pellets and the pattern held true regardless of the distance. Each hunter reported the birds dropped immediately and the kills were fast and efficient.

Conclusion

The results of the test were not only conclusive but proved to be beneficial to adding confidence to our hunt in knowing that are gun and ammo were working together to produce the best result we could achieve. The test removed any doubt of whether or not we could make the shot and we were able to relax and enjoy the hunt knowing our equipment would perform. I would recommend that everyone perform similar testing and ensure what the best turkey load is for their setup.