I will be hunting turkey with muzzleloading shotgun using plastic shot cup. For tighter pattern can you not cut slits in shot cup. I shot gun with 3 slits and it put 10 shot in turkey head target. Is it safe to just use shot cup with no slits? thanks ps this was the first time shooting muzzleloading shotgun and it felt good.
You can certainly shoot without slits, but you will be shooting a slug like pattern. When the shot leaves the shotcup, it is usually beyond normal turkey ranges. I would not recommend shooting without slits, unless you have a choke designed to strip the shotcup from the shot as it leaves the bore.
Just experiment with the slits, I use 3 slits in a Turkey Ranger shotcup in my White. You don't have to slit all the way down to the base of the shotcup, one of my best loads is 3 slits just 5/8" long. I wouldn't go any shorter, but try it at 5/8", 3/4", 7/8", 1", until you find one that is suitable for your shot.
One thing about these ML shotguns, at least in my experience, 95% of the time, #5 shot will out pattern #6's and #4's. Those 3 sizes are the only three I would consider using for turkeys, and they will all work at normal ranges.
One other BIG thing to remember. If you will be hunting on a clean bore, make sure you swab the bore clean after every shot while patterning your loads. There is a BIG difference between loads shot through a clean bore versus a fouled bore.
