American Tactical Turkey/Fowl Shotgun Field Test: Part 1

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Growing up in the Midwest, I’ve always been an avid turkey hunter. Turkey hunting is so much more interactive than most other North American game, and much of the hunt revolves around trying to call a bird in and maneuvering into an optimal position for a clean shot. The idea of maneuvering is what led me to consider an over/under shotgun for turkey hunting, in this case, an American Tactical Turkey/Fowl Over/Under model in the Mossy Oak Bottomland camo finish. I’ve always hunted with a pump or semi-auto shotgun, but an over/under offers a unique advantage to turkey hunters – two barrels. Well, duh, of course they do, but that also means you can use two different chokes, which you can set up for close-range or farther shots on a bird.

If you’re a turkey hunter who likes to move around a lot to get on a bird, you know that they can be incredibly quiet when they want to, so they can often pop out of seemingly nowhere. Sometimes they suddenly appear across a field, and sometimes they’re just a few yards away as you come over a hill. Having one barrel set up with a full choke and the other barrel with a modified choke gives you the ability to rapidly switch between a close or far shot on a turkey. It’s a unique advantage over a single-barrel pump or semi-auto.

Shotgun Breakdown  

Now, I hate to suddenly change gears, but I actually received this gun in December of 2023, well before turkey season in my home state of Missouri. Since the ATI shotgun is modeled as a turkey and fowl gun, I thought I’d take it on my family’s annual Christmas pheasant hunt. I still plan on putting this gun through its paces on a spring turkey hunt, and you can find out how that goes in an upcoming issue of Firearms News. Before we get to the pheasant shoot, let’s break down what I like about ATI’s Turkey/Fowl Over/Under (o/u) shotgun. This first thing you’ll notice it that the gun is remarkably well balanced for a sub-$800 o/u shotgun, and it doesn’t feel heavy at all. In fact, it weighs in at just a tad over 6 pounds, according to my scale. The gun looks and is substantially shorter than my other o/u shotguns; the barrel is only 22 inches long. However, that’s ideal if you find yourself working through dense woods looking for a bird. I found that it points incredibly well, as can be confirmed by the mess of pheasant we took. With the shorter barrel combined with the green fiber-optic front sight, getting on target is incredibly fast.

On top of the barrel, you’ll find a 10mm rib, which also boasts mounting points for a small section of Picatinny rail. I cannot recommend a red dot for a turkey enough. It is definitely a game-changer, especially on longer shots. Combined with a premium turkey load like Federal Premium’s Heavyweight TSS load, taking a bird beyond 50 or 60 yards is perfectly ethical with a red dot to give you a precise aiming point. Once turkey season gets closer, I’ll certainly be mounting a red dot for my hunt. Moving on to the stock and receiver, you’ll find that it and the handguard are finished in the Mossy Oak Bottomland camo pattern, which is a solid choice to break up the pattern of your gun. I don’t typically like camo on my guns, but turkey can see incredibly well, so turkey guns are the exception to that preference. The stock itself is synthetic, which helps keep the gun at the 6-pound weight, and synthetic is a good choice for hunting in rough conditions. I’ve been rained on many times while chasing birds, and wooden stocks simply don’t care for water.

The 12-gauge model that I received uses a 3-inch chamber, which is to be expected in a turkey gun, and the receiver itself is constructed from aluminum. It uses a standard tang safety, but you can also quickly and easily move the safety left or right to choose whether the top or the bottom barrel shoots first. I found the trigger to be quite nice with no grittiness and a nice clean break. This shotgun comes with three extended chokes made by Truloc. Two are extra full chokes and one is modified, which is perfect for the type of turkey hunting this gun is optimized for. All-in-all, this gun is perfect for turkey hunters, whether they like to sit in a blind or move around. Interestingly, ATI also advertises this as a fowl o/u shotgun, too, so let’s see how it does on birds in the air.

In The Field: Pheasant Hunt

It was a perfect cold day in late December for a pheasant shoot, which has become a fun family tradition we have on my wife’s side of the family every Christmas. We were joined by two fine English pointers from Oak Grove Wildlife in central Illinois, and the owner always brings out some excellent birds. The ATI Turkey Fowl o/u quickly became the conversation piece compared to the longer shotguns the everyone else had brought. I said, “Well, it’s supposed to be a turkey and fowl shotgun, so let’s see if that’s true!”

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To be clear, this shotgun is obviously set up primarily as a turkey gun, but I can attest you will do just fine if you find yourself with some dogs looking for other birds besides turkey. I brought a case of Federal Premium’s HEVI-Bismuth 12-gauge ammo for everyone to use, and it was quickly raining pheasant. I have to add that I’m definitely a new convert when it comes to bismuth. Like steel, it’s non-toxic, making it legal for waterfowl and upland hunting, but it’s about 22 percent denser than steel. It has superb downrange energy, and you typically get a higher pellet count than a comparable steel load.

Most of the birds I shots were within 20 yards, but I had at least two reach the 50-yard mark, yet I had no problem dropping them. I mentioned that the shotgun points incredibly well, and they became even more apparent with a few birds that took flight from right beneath my feet. They were lively and moved quick, but I was able to get the fiber-optic bead on them fast. Reloads are quick, too. The break action is smooth and ejects the shells well, so I could reload much faster than everyone else using pump and semi-auto shotguns. The gun is also a pleasure to carry. It’s not just light weight, but it is incredibly well balanced, too, so covering a lot of ground doesn’t feel exhausting. That light weight does come with some cost, though. Those Federal HEVI-Bismuth loads are hot, and they’re rated at about 1,450 feet per second (fps). You’ll definitely feel it when shooting a lot, and those shells are light compared to Federal’s TSS turkey shotshells. With that being said, I consider it an acceptable tradeoff. This isn’t a trap gun that will see thousands of shells, and you’ll spend a lot more time walking than shooting on pretty much any bird hunt. I’ll take a bit more kick for an easy carry when I know I have to cover a lot of ground.

Once I had a vest full of birds, I let my wife’s cousin have a turn on the ATI shotgun, and he was also able to bag a number of birds with shot from between 10 and about 40 yards. It may be a turkey optimized shotgun, but it certainly lives up to the fowl part of its name, too. I had a lot of fun on our family pheasant hunt, as I always do, but I am especially excited to get my calls out and start practicing for a spring turkey. Based on how well the pheasant hunt went, I’ve no doubt I’ll be tagging several turkey this year, assuming they decide to come out. If you’re in the market for a new turkey gun, you should strongly consider a look at an over/under model like ATI’s Turkey/Fowl shotgun featured here. They are also available in 20 gauge and .410 bore. I’d say it’s safe to assume that this gun will work great for you, too. However, if you need to see a turkey with this gun before you decide to buy, keep an eye out for my complete review, turkey included, in an upcoming issue of Firearms News.

ATI Turkey/Fowl O/U Shotgun Specs

• Type: Break-action, over/under
• Gauge: 12 (tested), 20, .410 bore
• Chamber: 3 in.
• Barrel: 22 in., mounting point for Pic rail section
• Chokes: Truloc, 2 extra full, 1 modified included
• Stock: Synthetic, Mossy Oak Bottomland camo
• Sights: Green fiber-optic front, middle bead (10mm rib)
• Weight: 6 lbs., 1 oz.
• MSRP: $699
• Manufacturer: Kofs (Turkey)
• Contact: American Tactical

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About the Author

Jack Oller is a U.S. Army veteran, having served in the Military Police with one deployment to the Camp VI Detention Facility in Guantanamo Bay, Cuba. He has extensive firearms training from military and civilian schools and is a passoniate shotgun shooter and hunter. Jack has an English degree from Illinois State University, and he started his career in the outdoor industry as Associate Editor for Guns & Ammo magazine. After Guns & Ammo, he worked as Brand Manager for Crimson Trace and now is the Digital Editor for Firearms News.

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