Phil & Dave,
I like some things about both guns but wil go withe 870 because I have used my kids youth model to harvest my last 6 toms. Short barrel is a plus in thick cover ( which I hunt alot ), I use a magnectic hiviz glow stick which makes aiming very easy, unlike the writers I use a mod choke and 2 3/4 inch 1 oz copper plated # 6 load which inside 35 yards does a spectacular job ! The safety issue Phil brings up is critical as moving quickly towards a just shot turkey with a still loaded gun can be a very bad thing .....
Actually I think Phil " shamelessly ripped off " the idea of using a youth 20 gauge from me as I was doing it before he was ( a hypothetical thought at least .... )
I look forward to other Gunfight Friday blogs, for OH to be happy I am confident that goose guns will be one of them :)

This looks like a great new approach. Borrowing someone else's idea is never "shameless" if you acknowledge where it came from. Interesting thoughts on turkey hunting (which I know little or nothing about).

OH,
A light weight gun is handy for run and gun turkey hunting. You try one location and if unproductive you keep relocating until you get a responce. Easy to cover a lot of ground that way.

mspl8.. The Mossberg SA-20 and Weatherby SA-08 are near clones made in Turkey and imported by each company.

Well, that's interesting! Hat's off to Mossberg. For those who might not know, thugs were a religious cult in pre-Victorian India. At certain times of years it was their perceived religious obligation to murder people, particularly travelers. Typically strangulation as I recall. They did it to satisfy some sex-crazed bloodthirsty Hindu god which had supposedly spawned them from her sweat (talk about deadly B.O.!). The Hindus also routinely practiced female infanticide to get rid of unwanted extra daughters and threw all the widows on the burning pyre of their dead husband (not a great country/time to be born female!). Of course, the British did away with these barbaric practices ... leaving the Sub-Continent what it is today: civilized but also grossly overpopulated and impoverished.

Ontario Honker,
If somebody wants to drag a howitzer around the turkey woods that's okay with me. Each to his own.
The reason I went out and bought me a cheap little .20 gauge youth pump to haul around in the turkey woods is that my arms felt like they were six feet long after carrying around my 12 gauge double gun all day. Where I hunt here in South and Central Texas it may be wet, windy and 40-degrees at 5 a.m. in April and 95 by midday. That means dressing in layers and peeling them off as the day wears on. What I can't stash elsewhere goes into a backpack and travels with me, along with water, camera, a folding chair, half a box of shells, knives, flashlights, a couple of decoys, insect repellant, a dozen calls, a book, snacks and lunch. If I'm lucky I'll be walking back with all that stuff while lugging an 18 or 20 pound turkey. There's not much flat ground here in the Hill Country, so most of that walking will be up and down, and it's not unusual for me to cover at least 5 miles or so in the course of a day. Three pounds difference may not sound like much, but just imagine you're hauling around all the stuff I just listed, all day long, while holding a bag of sugar in each hand, and you'll see why some of us like to use lighter guns. The turkeys I've killed with that little 20 or just as dead as the ones I've killed with my O/U 12. I’m just a little more alive at the end of the day and my 58 year-old legs and back aren’t complaining quite as much.

Don't worry OH, when and if those big birds head your way, anything you all ready have will kill them just fine, but you knew that anyway. What I'd really like to see is an older shotgun fight (written words, of course), but I'm guessing Mr. Phil would do that without us asking.

Hunted with a 28" full, Browning A-5 Mag 20 for 10 years. '75 - '85. I averaged 2 toms per year during those years. Hand loads were 1 3/8 oz. # 4 lead 3". Didn't own a 12 ga. until the lead shot waterfowl ban went into effect after 1985. Toms were taken at ranges from < 10 to 55+ yards. Three were taken on the wing, two going away but one was a crossing shot.
I'd take the Mossberg AUTO! It's very difficult to 'see/hit' flying targets, even the size of a gobbler, with a scoped shotgun.

I chose the pump over the auto because my personal distrust of autoloaders.

That said, I'm not a huge fan of the 870, mostly because I cut my teeth on a Mossberg 500 (sold as Western Auto Revelation) and the Remington just never felt right. Hate that trigger-guard safety. Nevertheless, I've got an 870 that was tricked out for turkey and it worked OK.

But when it comes down today, almost everything I shoot with a shotgun is shot with the Savage 311 that's been passed along for a couple of generations. I use it for doves, ducks, quail, clays, and turkeys. I've used it for rabbits and squirrels. And I keep it laying around the closet in the remote event that some two-legged critter shows up uninvited.

Meanwhile, my second Mossberg 500 (the first one was stolen along with my car... I miss the shotgun more) sits in the safe alongside two 870s and an Ithaca 37 Featherweight. And my "spare" 311.

OH
There are multiple reasons why lightweight Turkey guns are desirable. Much of it has to do with the fact that Turkey hunting being a spring pursuit, average temperatures can be higher than what most of us are used to. Particularly in states with later starting seasons (mostly the Northeast), temperature can range between 40 F in the morning and 79 F at noon. At this point, packing light becomes a necessary step toward avoiding dehydration. Also consider the fact that multiple varieties of biting, stinging, and generally nasty insects such as mosquitoes, black flies, and ticks make their appearance around this time. Full body coverage of decently thick camouflage becomes necessary not just to hide from the turkeys, but also to avoid losing half your blood on any given day. Some guys even half to watch out for various types of venomous snakes, at which point “light camo duds” are not a good idea. Keeping in mind the 75 degree temp, all this coverage can tire you out FAST. Weight of gear is also a real concern as well. Typically, camouflage coverage must be complete in order to hide from the birds. This means full pants, full coat, a full facemask (not paint typically), and gloves. Not too oppressive normally, but keep in mind that temp concern. As for calls, you want to be carrying more than “one or two calls.” My typical recommendation is “as many calls as freaking possible.” Turkeys can be wildly unpredictable in what types of calls they will respond to on a given day. Never have I seen two days in a row where the birds gobbled back to the same types of calls. Typically, I carry two or three box calls, one or two slate calls, and up to a dozen mouth calls in my vest. None of these things weigh a lot, but they do take up space, which adds to the overheating issue. The core of the light shotgun philosophy rests upon the ideal turkey hunt vs. the realistic turkey hunt. Ideally, you go out in the morning, set up your decoys, and call in the birds. In the magical land of reality however, that scenario doesn’t always play out. If your morning attempt was unsuccessful, as so many of them are, you now have to “run and gun” your way around a given area. This means moving from location to location to call and listen for responses. I typically will put in about a mile doing this, but my record is about 3.5 miles, a hell of a walk in 75 degree weather in full gear. Other concerns include being able to lift the shotgun slowly and smoothly with a nearby bird, much easier to do with a light gun.

OHH, i find that a light turkey hunting shotgun is not so much for the walking aspect, but there are many situations in which you have to hold that gun up in the a shooting position for long periods of time, equivalent to keeping a bow at full draw, but with a shotgun. thats when i find a light shotgun most useful. ive had situations where i have had to sit there with my gun up for 10 minutes waiting for a turkey to finish coming into shooting range, and i carry a ten gauge!!!!!!

I don't know much about the two twenties as all I ever used on turkeys was either a Model 12 or an A-5 in 12 gauge. I will admit that back in the seventies the best turkey hunter I ever knew only used an A-5 20 ga. with %6 lead shot. When he took me out to his garage I saw more beards than I have even seen in one place before or since.

OHH,
I hate to burst your bubble, but almost all actors are Ho's for the Almighty Dollar.

A turkey gun made in Turkey by thugs? How cute of Mossturd to come up with that catchy name.... figures.

Ontario Honker,
I can vouch for the narrow sling being good advice, because that's what I did when I bought the shotgun. One-inch leather strap, and it stays on my shoulder fairly well, or at least as well as any sling I've ever used sticks to my rounded shoulders. I would rather conduct do-it-yourself root canal surgery than head out with a slingless rifle, so I don't know why I waited so long to use one on a shotgun, other than boxed-in thinking.
Also, forgot to list binoculars among all the paraphernalia I carry along with me, so there’s another pound to two to consider. You don't need them so much when you're sitting down and calling, but there are some fairly open patches where I hunt and sometimes you can spot turkeys several hundred yards away from a high vantage point.

OH,
I don't like wearing binoculars around my neck either, so I usually just keep them in the pack and drag them out if/when I need them. However, I did finally break down and buy a binocular harness for some of those times when I need to have them quickly available (not turkeys). Harness makes for a heckuva lot more comfortable carry than just a strap dangling off your neck. I wear glasses too and folding down the cups is a pain, so when I have time (sitting and glassing) I usually just take the glasses off. If I'm still hunting I go ahead and fold the cups down, but it's still awkward.

Remington is just the superior of the two.
Better materials. Better design. I would say better workmanship, but I'm not sure either gun is "hand" assembled at any point!

Oh, and the bogus "Turkey Thug" moniker? Sounds like a sales pitch to 12 year-olds. How cute.

Okay, now admittedly I don't know squat about turkey hunting, but what is the deal with having to use a lightweight shotgun? I mean, what the heck is involved in getting oneself into position to shoot a gobbler anyway? Let's see ... a turkey call or two (weight = almost nothing); light camo duds and face paint (weight = not much more than nothing); only a couple of shells since an utterly fantastic day of turkey hunting might involve three shots (weight = almost nothing); maybe a decoy (or maybe not therefore weight = very little or nothing); and finally there's the gun (weight = most of the load that has to be carried into the field). Now when I go goose hunting I carry 1) a box of 3" mag 12 gauge shells (weight = substantial); 2) one goose flute call (weight = essentially zilch); 3) heavy parka, pants, and packs (weight = fairly substantial, perhaps fifteen pounds); 4) a packstrap bag containing 28 field decoys + stool + cover for dogs + water, dish, and food for dogs [sometimes this is not needed] (weight = approx. 45 lbs or more); 4) 870 3" mag 12 gauge with black plastic stock and 30" plain barrel (weight = I dunno but pretty heavy!); 5) floating gun case [gun must be encased before and after hunting hours] (weight = negligible). I usually hike about a mile to mile and a half out to the fields with my stuff (I only drive out into the fields if I hunt the weekends so other hunters can see me setting up in the dark and not inadvertently set themselves up too close). But the really hard work is getting off the fields. Okay a big tom can weigh 20+ lbs. But a limit of five honkers will weigh anywhere from fifty to 65 lbs! I recently made a carrying yoke for my birds from a cheap padded nylon sling and decoy cord. Finally had to. Once I added the second dozen shells to my set I was unable to lift the bag onto my back with a load of geese in it too. Let me tell you, the fields can be dry as a popcorn fart and my boots will still leave an imprint a half inch deep when I'm walking out! Understand that I do this almost on a daily basis once the season has opened. And think nothing of it!

I guess the point I'm making is, what's all this fuss about weight of a turkey gun? Even if somehow you guys were breathless from carrying that lunch sack of stuff to your spot, it's highly unlikely that you wouldn't be completely rested up (as in a nap?) by the time Mr. Tom finally made his appearance. Chasing turkeys just doesn't seem to me to be the most arduous form of hunting. Far from it. But you can't even handle a big boy's shotgun for that measly amount of work? Pffft!