Mossberg Silver Reserve Eventide Turkey
The Eventide over/under shotgun family of firearms is part of Mossberg’s International Series, built in Turkey as marked on the barrels. The build is intended for practical reliability, which is just what one wants in a serious hunting O/U. The Eventide lineup features shell extractors instead of ejectors, chrome-lined chambers and barrels, and dual locking lugs. The tang-mounted safety and barrel selector combination is handy for right- or left-handed shooters.
Retail pricing on the Eventide Turkey, which is available in 12, 20, and 28 gauges, is set at $952. Though dedicated hunting O/Us are few and far between, the Eventide looks and feels the part with its compact metrics, extended XX-Full turkey chokes, and full camouflage coverage.
Test Gun
Our test shotgun is a 28 gauge. The 28 itself is on the verge of a major boom as far as underrated turkey bores. My sample model shows its small footprint with those 20-inch barrels. Throwback Mossy Oak Greenleaf coverage wraps the entire number, including stocks, receiver, and barrels.
The gun comes out of the box incredibly tight. It took more than one box of 25 rounds to loosen up the action to a point of comfortable work. There’s molded checkering in the correct places and a logo-engraved receiver.
As expected, the Eventide ships with a pair of extended turkey chokes in XX-Full. In a thoughtful move, the company also includes an Improved Cylinder tube for hunters who might want a more open pattern option for gobblers or other pursuits. Speaking of that, the Eventide is purpose-built for gobbler hunting, but there’s no reason it can’t do double duty on other hunts or even clay shoots. Though the short barrels may not be ideal for clays or upland hunting, it’s a plenty capable shotgun.
Field Notes
Turkey hunting often occurs in relatively tight quarters: small pop-up blinds, dense vegetation, and generally more constricted setups. Having a compact firearm that maneuvers more easily can sometimes make the difference between getting the perfect shot or spooking wary birds with the excess movement of working a longer gun into position.
That’s where the Eventide Turkey series excels. The barrels are 20-inchers, and overall length on our test gun is only 37.75 inches. Best of all, the Eventide Turkey family makes use of Magnum chamber lengths.
The 12-gauge Eventide uses a 3.5-inch Magnum chamber, while both the 20 and 28 have 3-inch chambers. That’s especially noteworthy for the 28-gauge, which is starting to show its impressive colors with specialty shot types and 3-inch shells.
All three chamberings wear the same 20-inch barrels. The 12 gauge comes in at 38.25 inches overall and weighs 6.75 pounds, while our 28 gauge proves even more friendly at 37.75 inches and 6.5 pounds. Length of pull is fixed at 14.5 inches, which I would normally consider long, but this one feels comfortable. The included pair of extended XX-Full chokes meld perfectly with its intended use on longbeards.
Optics & Sights
Though the Eventide’s receiver is not machined for direct mounting of RMR-type optics, nor is it drilled and tapped, we found a simple solution for hunters desiring an optic. Warne (and likely other manufacturers) builds a handy, easy-to-install base that attaches to the shotgun’s rib, allowing for simple mounting of numerous micro dots.
We opted for Holosun’s 407K X2, a low-profile, always-ready carry sight that's proved ideal on turkeys. For what it’s worth, the factory fiber-optic red front sight is really all you need for fast acquisition and accurate shot placement, as long as the hunter uses a solid, repeatable cheek weld.
Patterning Board
The Eventide Turkey proved itself on the patterning board well before heading to the turkey blinds of Florida and Wisconsin. Patterning is of critical importance when hunting game like turkeys, where everything rides on one shot.
While it’s not mandatory to use tungsten shot for turkey hunting with sub gauges like the 28 or .410, I highly recommend it. Do you need tungsten to be repeatedly successful with a 12 or 20 gauge? No. Is it nice? Certainly. But when stepping down significantly in hull size, the move to smaller, denser shots like tungsten are a game changer.
Both Apex TSS and Federal Heavyweight TSS 28-gauge loads pattern like a dream from the Eventide, and that’s with the included XX-Full tubes. Some hunters like other brands of aftermarket tubes but testing here revealed no reason to switch. Though TSS is expensive, be sure to take at least one patterning shot, as you’ll find its point of aim to be quite different from OTC lead loads.
We started at 15 yards, moved to 25, and walked it out in 5-yard increments out to 40. There’s little doubt this rig could easily down a tom at or even beyond 40 yards with proper ammunition and a practiced hunter. Still, the greatest thrills you’ll find as a gobbler hunter are with those strutters gobbling in so close that you never have to question the ethical range.
Final Thoughts
I’ll be the first to admit that I don’t generally gravitate to Turkish-built shotguns when American versions are available, including many from Mossberg. That’s not a knock on quality or capability, but rather personal preference.
I’m throwing that preference out the window with this gun.
