My 3 Must-Have Turkey Chokes For Spring 2022

It’s that time of year with turkey season less than 2 months away for most of across the country!

I’ve been trying my best to not think about turkey season so I can stay on track with my work and personal responsibilities.

Fortunately, my favorite part about my job is I get to buy guns and gear and test it out while I’m on the clock. I’ve noticed with a lot of our turkey hunting blogs, we mention turkey chokes, but we don’t do a great job at going into more detail on what makes a turkey choke worth your time and money.

I’ve got to shoot with about 20 turkey chokes in the past 3 years and there are 3 that really stood out to me. 

Winchester Long Beard XR 12 Ga Shells
3" shell (left) 3.5" shell (right)

What are the 5 Types of Choke Tubes?

There are currently 5 accepted styles of shotgun chokes, including the Cylinder, Improved Cylinder, Modified, Full, and Extra-Full (Turkey).

Each type of choke has different purposes, such as self-defense, turkey hunting, waterfowl hunting, and deer hunting. Most shotguns you buy will come with at least a couple of commercial chokes designed to work only for your shotgun thread size.

Cylinder, Modified, Full, and Extra Full Chokes
Cylinder, Modified, Full, and Extra Full Chokes

To be clear for any of our new hunters and shooters, the choke only affects the pattern of the spread (shot string). I used to think the tighter the choke, the less powerful the shotgun would be. However, even if the pellets are tighter leaving the barrel, doesn’t mean they’re not moving as fast as a wide-open cylinder choke. 

If you’re interested in learning more about turkey hunting or shotguns, give our blog, Top 4 Red Dot Sights For Turkey Hunters a read.

Just like anything you hunt, you should already know the distances you plan to shoot at before selecting your ammo. Shotguns are just a little different because not using the right choke can cause you a missed opportunity. Even worse, using the wrong choke on a turkey can cause unnecessary suffering if all but one or 2 pellets hit the bird. 

Each choke tube represents a distance for you to shoot at, so it will depend on how close you think you can get to your target and how big is the animal. For example, you wouldn’t use a turkey choke for squirrel hunting because if 10-20 pellets hit a squirrel, you’d harvest no meat or fur.

The same concept applies to waterfowl hunting, as well. You need small size pellets (#9) for smaller birds to ensure you don’t just blow the bird out of the sky with nothing but feathers falling to the ground. 

Shotgun Pattern distance
Shotgun patterns at distance for different size chokes

What is the Estimated Range For Each Choke Tube?

 

Choke TypeAverage Range For Lead (Yards)Average Range For steel (Yards)
Cylinder0-150-20
Improved-Cylinder10-2020-30
Modified20-3025-40
Full30-4040-50
Extra-Full (Turkey)40-5050-60

Best Turkey Choke For 40-50 Yard Shots

There are few turkey chokes that I trust more than Primos turkey chokes. My first aftermarket turkey was the Primos Tight Wad Turkey Tube, and if I didn’t give my 20 Ga to my brother, I’d still be using it today.

The Primos Jellyhead Maximum 12 Ga Turkey Choke patterns out to 50 yards with around 8-10 pellets in the turkey kill zone.

The newer Jellyhead Maximum choke gives me a 40" pattern at 50 yards while reducing the felt recoil of a 3.5" shell with the fluted ports all around the muzzle-end. 

Turkey target with aiming point circled
Turkey target with aiming point circled

In fact, the Jellyhead Maximum got its name from the advantage of long-distance shots at 50-60 yards. Primos extended the taper of the choke and CNC-machine fluted ports to ensure it reduced the recoil enough to keep a 12 ga steady. Primos states that you’ll receive a 20% reduction in felt-recoil with the Jellyhead Maximum choke.

The Primos is perfect for the hunters that want an extra 10-15 yards to reach out and touch a shy Tom and ensure their pattern is tight and accurate. Because of marketing and performance, the Jellyhead is often overlooked. The Black-T coating they finish the choke off with is the same coating used on our M4s, M16s, and any other weapons system my fellow vets had the privilege of shooting. Black-T coating is the best for preventing rust and erosion of the metal because of the elements. 

At 20-40 yards, recoil doesn’t matter much for me with a 12 ga and shooting 3.5" Magnum shells. However, if you’re wanting to make a 50-60 yard shot, you need a stable platform and perfect mechanics. Give yourself a little breathing room with a tried and trusted choke like the Jellyhead. 

Which Shotguns Fit the Primos Jellyhead Maximum Turkey Choke?

Constriction sizes for each shotgun are based on the diameter of the choke tube. The tighter the choke tube means more constriction, while more open choke tubes have less constriction. The lower the constriction number (0.600) means the choke tube is more restrictive, while less restrictive tubes have higher numbers (0.770). 

Shotgun 12 Ga ModelsConstriction (Choke Tube Diameter)
Remington Versa Max.660
Baretta Xtrema 1 & II.660
Browning Invector.660
Benelli Crio.660
Benelli Super Black Eagle II.660
Mossberg 835.690
Mossberg 935.690
Invector Plus.670
Browning A5-DS.670

Primos Jellyhead Maximum 12 Ga Turkey Choke

$64.99
at Sportsman’s Warehouse
Prices accurate at time of writing

What Is The Best & Most Affordable TSS Turkey Choke?

Many of my most trusted hunting icons use Carlson’s choke tubes because they’re one of the most reliable turkey chokes. It’s always great when a company puts their money where their mouth is and offers a lifetime warranty on their products. For $40, you get a lifetime warranty and a choke specifically made for use with TSS Federal Heavyweight TSS Turkey shells.

Tungsten Super Shot (TSS) is a relatively new pellet formulation from Federal Ammo. They use a Tungsten-alloy for their pellets instead of steel and lead because TSS is 22% denser than 3.5" 2 OZ. Heavyweight Tungsten pellets, and 56% denser than lead pellets of the same size. Federal uses their patented Flitecontrol Flex Wads to ensure the TSS holds form for shots over 50 yards.

Not only is the price unbeatable right now, but the accuracy at 50-60 yards is unbelievable for a shotgun. If you’ve ever wondered what the next generation of shotgun ammo looks like, I’d say TSS has a great shot to lead the next generation of hunters to new limits and horizons. 

The Carlson’s TSS Turkey Choke Tube is optimized when shot with the Federal Premium Heavyweight TSS #7 or #9 shot. The small TSS pellets give us a greater chance at getting a kill from longer ranges than any other ammo material. 

I’ve not been able to shoot with this tube and ammo, but I know I’ve patterned 3.5" #6 at 50 yards with the Carlson’s TSS Turkey choke. The only thing I’d like to see is some sort of fluted port to help with recoil. However, you’ll notice when you shoot TSS shells, they don’t recoil in the same way lead or steel shot does. 

Shotgun 12 Ga ModelsConstriction (Choke Tube Diameter)
Remington Versa Max.640
Baretta.640
Browning Invector.665
Benelli Crio.650
Benelli Mobil.640
Mossberg 835.675
Mossberg 935.675
Browning Invector Plus.650
Winchester .640

Carlson’s TSS Turkey Choke Tube

$38.99
at Amazon
Prices accurate at time of writing

What is the Best Turkey Choke for TSS? 

The Primos TTS Turkey Choke is my favorite choke on the list because it’s optimized with TSS ammo, but it also works great with other brands like Hevi-Shot, copper-plated pellets, and lead. Be careful to never shoot steel through this choke or you could destroy the gun, choke, and cause injury to yourself or anyone near you. I love the universal usage for a choke tube that’s specialized to handle a specific load.
 
The unique ports around the muzzle of the choke tube help to reduce 20% of the felt recoil while giving you more accuracy at a distance. TSS ammo is new and I still don’t know a lot, but I can fit 400 more pellets into the same shell as a 3.5" lead load.
 
TSS ammo with the Primos TTS Turkey choke gives me 400 more chances of killing a turkey at 50-60 yards than any steel or lead load will ever give me. When you think about it like that, it’s a little easier to understand the price of a box of 5 shells of Federal TSS Heavyweight ammo.
 
ShotgunsConstriction (Choke Tube Diameter)
Remington Versa Max.650
Baretta Xtrema 1 & II.650
Browning Invector.650
Benelli Crio.650
Benelli Mobil.650
Mossberg 835.670
Mossberg 935.670
Mossberg 500.650
Invector Plus.670
Browning A5-DS.670

Primos 12 Ga TSS Turkey Choke

$65.42
at Amazon
Prices accurate at time of writing


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