Camo Mom: An honest review of my favo-righteous shotgun!
One of the many, many, many things I love about turkey hunting is the opportunity to put to use my Mossberg 835 Ulti-Mag Turkey Shotgun. I own several shotguns, but when I’m headed to the turkey woods, I always grab the Mossberg.
Tammy Ballew sports her fav Mossberg on a turkey hunt with good friend Marti Davis. Photo by Barbara Baird
My 835 Ulti-Mag is a 12 gauge with a 24-inch overbored barrel and adjustable fiber optic sights. According to Mossberg, the smooth bore barrels are overbored to 10-gauge bore dimensions, which reduces recoil and produces uniform shot pattern from both light and heavy shot charges. The barrel has eight strategically placed ports on each side, which directs gasses upward and outward, also reducing recoil, in addition to minimizing muzzle jump for a quick second shot recovery.
I’m extremely impressed with the LPA (Lightning Pump Action) of the Mossberg shotgun. It’s a smooth transition when racking in another shell. I don’t worry about it jamming up and having to dig the spent shotshell out.
Additional specifications that the 835 Ulti-Mag features that I think are important for a turkey shotgun:
- Ulti-Full turkey tube
- Fiber optic sights that are windage and elevation adjustable
- Ultra-quiet thumb operated safety
- Receiver is drilled and tapped for scope base attachment
This terrific turkey gun comes in Woodland Camo, Mossy Oak Break-Up Infinity, Realtree Hardwoods HD Green and Mossy Oak New Break-Up. And last, but definitely not least, this shotgun is priced right. Depending on the model, of course, they run between $516 and $555.
One of my hunting goals is to achieve a Grand Slam turkey hunt, and when I do, I will be using the Mossberg 835 Ulti-Mag Turkey Shotgun to successfully complete this endeavor.
About Tammy Ballew
My ABSOLUTE favorite turkey gun is my OLD Mossberg 835 with a XXX CompNChoke and Winchester 3.5″ #5s. I have a brand new Mossberg 935 but I just can’t put my 835 into retirement. This is a trusty gun, fires true and the pattern is phenomenal. It looks old and worn but to date has killed more turkey than my years as a hand me down. I can’t compare it to many other guns because in all honesty, I haven’t hunted with many others….”If it works, why fix it!”
Great review, Tammy.
My feelings exactly, Nancy Jo! Hope you are having a successful spring turkey season wherever your travels are taking you!! If you’re ever coming through my way, give me a shout and we can meet up somewhere along the way!
Good luck on your turkey slam, Tammy! Thats one of my goals too. Thanks for the info on the gun-I like the fiber optic sights.
Thanks, Britney! We should try to get at least one of our species on a hunt together!