Who here uses 3 1/2 and who does not? And why? I am looking into getting a semi auto shotgun and not all of them shoot the bigger loads obviously so i was curious about who might use them and if they are worth it?

Thanks for the input guys. Season will be here before we know it.

I shoot a 2 3/4” or 3” 20 ga shell.

I shoot 3” outa my 12 and 20, for me I don’t see having the extra recoil from a 3 1/2 with today’s loads u don’t need it! Plus my gun patterns better with 3” shells

Before TSS came around, 3.5s were definitely worth it. Nowadays, not so much. Honestly I dont have much use for a 12ga anymore

Research tss and that may change your reasoning on a 12 guage in general.

Yeah i have no idea what you are talking about. Ill do some research and see what that yields. I've been doing some research already and there seems to be several folks that feel the same way.

A 2 3/4” 20ga with 1 5/8 oz of tss 9s will outperform any 12 ga 3 1/2” lead load out there. To answer your question, no, I don’t think it’s worth it.

I think I'm pretty close here, a 20 shooting #9 TSS = a 12 3 1/2" shooting lead 4s. You can tote a short , 6 ish pound 20gauge that will kill any Turkey on the planet at 60 yards.

Definitely 3.5 if you are a glutton for punishment

No need in a 3.5” shell or even a 12 gauge for that matter as others have already stated.

I like a 3.5" shell with TSS.

Nawp.

I had a Mossberg 935 that would shoot 3-3.5. after patterning with both with same Winchester Longbeard my gun did better with 3 inch shells. I think and have read that the extra force with the 3.5 cause the bb's to come out more chaos. I recently sold that gun to a friend and bought a Remington v3. Gonna put a venom Reddot and shoot 3 inch longbeardd out of it. Along with Carlson Longbeard choke. Good luck. But unless you are shooting geese I don't think it necessary and recoil is a b@#$_

is it necessary, no. But I don't notice any recoil difference. Maybe with a light single shot that would be different. The cost of TSS keeps me away. Just plain 3.5 nitro turkey Remington rounds for me. I'm probably a dinosaur but I'd rather shoot 4's but 6's pattern better in my more constricted choke. I shot a lot of birds with 12 gauge 2 3/4 loads and my old 10 gauge with 3.5. But the 12 in 3.5 I've been happy with. Probably don't need it but it sure has a more sense pattern.

For my kids I wouldn't use a 3.5 or even a 3. But they are 10 and 8.

Yep. And a 2-3/4” 12ga with 1-5/8 oz of tss 9s will outperform that 20ga more often than not.

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They definately are not worth the pain. My 12ga patterns better with 3" shells, my son shoots a 20ga with tss, I shot one turkey with mine and one with his last year, ill be taking his from now own, until I get me a 20ga that is.

For the brief time I carried a 3.5" gun, I still shot 3" shells for that very reason. I patterned it with Longbeards (both 3 and 3.5's) and HeviShot Mag Blends (again both 3 and 3.5's). With both brands, the 3" version patterned better than the 3.5. I eventually settled on the Longbeards because they were close enough in performance that I couldn't justify the higher price on the HS shells

a former co-worker & i were talking turkey hunting one day, and i knew that he'd killed a bird or two in the past ... when we discussed guns & ammo, i was stunned -- he was using his grandfather's old Browning 12g shotgun w/2 3/4" field loads & no turkey choke tube ... of course, i asked, "how many have you seen walk away b/c they were out of range?" and he admitted, quite a few ... he was an old school, sentimental kinda fella, and enjoyed the challenge of getting a bird in super close to kill it, using his grandfather's gun ...

many among us here use WMD's b/c we know how fickle these damn birds can be, and want to increase our chances & sway the odds better in our favor on shots requiring a bit of range & fire power

and a homemade box call, no less

im not convinced my 20 ga yildiz youth model over under doesn't kick harder with TSS than my Mossberg 12ga with 3.5".

that being said, I only feel it when shooting paper.

never felt a kick with a turkey in front of me

I don’t even own a 12ga anymore

Ive yet to shoot a turkey but i have never felt recoil when shooting a deer.

One thing to think about. You can always shoot 2 3/4 and 3 inch shells out of a 3.5 gun. You can't shoot 3.5 out of a 3.

No.

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As a turkey hunter that has been victim of Big Eye, I will ask. What is the downside of the extra pellets. If weight was an issue then I would simply diet and carry less weight on my fat butt. If recoil is an issue then I understand but have never felt the recoil while shooting at a bird. My turkey hunting goal has always been to shoot them with their beady eye touching the end of my barrel. In the real world a single pellet can be the difference between turkey nuggets and a pile of feathers. I shoot 3 1/2 inch shells because they don't make 4 inch shells.

Like I posted earlier, in my case it was because the 3" shells threw a better, more even pattern than the same shell in 3.5".

Had a guy tell me one time, the only reason he shot a 3.5 was because they did not make a 4

I love having a 3.5 kick the hell out of me!!

I tried some TSS, and they sucked out of my 12 and my sons 20. I’m sticking with 3.5 Longbeards in my 12 using a Rhino .660. My son’s 20 shoots the 3” longbeards with a Carlson choke great. Mine will reach out to around 65. His is deadly to at least 50.

That’s crazy, hand loaded or factory loaded TSS? I haven’t been using it long but my 20 with a 1 5/8 ounce of TSS 9’s is way better than the 3 1/2” longbeard 6’s and I thought they were pretty awesome

Iv never seen the word sucked and tss in the same sentence until now

Your chokes may have been too tight, TSS needs to "breath" a little to maximize the pattern.

Noo...unless im gonna hip shoot terminators an zombies...i might need that extra umph for that😁

I still shoot 3.5" shells, I see no reason not too. If so inclined, I could easily kill a turkey at 50 yards with #6 3.5" longbeard xr.

In a semi the 3.5" shells aren't too bad on recoil. I hunted with a Mossberg 835 pump years ago; if I still hunted with that gun I would probably shy away from the 3.5" shells as they just flat hurt to shoot.

As stated above, if you buy a gun that shoots 3.5" it doesn't mean you have to shoot them, but you will have the option to.

I shoot the 3.5"" Nitro's in a steel blend, but that's only because I don't have any TSS yet. Or a smaller gauge shotgun.

Steel shot for a turkey? You serious, Clark?

Sorry, it's non-lead. Tungsten I think?

Nitro brand tungsten or Remington Nitros? I believe Nitro brand is loaded with TSS

Nitro brand. They have TSS now, but this was the 4X5X7 blend in 3.5" before they had TSS. I did order some TSS loads today from them to try though.