Home Forums Birds & Dogs Turkey Hunting Did a little shootin' with the craptastic Fiocchi Golden Turkeys, and other stuff, too

We had a cold front start moving through last night and it rained until about noon. It stopped and weather radar suggested it would be clearing up. High winds were expected to follow the front through. I got to the range after the rain, but just before the high winds. About an hour into shooting, the wind picked up, and I was having a hard time keeping the cardboard on the frame. But each shot was taken when wind was relatively low, and the cardboard and target were flat.


Laser verified 40 yards.




Through my new Benelli M2 3" 12 gauge with 24" barrel. I put a Carlson's TSS choke, .650, in it. I ran Fiocchi Golden Turkey #6 3" 1 3/4 oz loads through it. Here's the craptastic results:










I decided to see if they would do any better out of my Winchester SX4 3 1/2" 12 gauge with 24" barrel. I had my new Trulock Long Beard choke in it, .665. Here's how the Fiocchis did in that.










Disappointing.


So I switched out the Trulock for a Browning-brand XFull .685 choke. Just worse.

On top of patterning poorly, the ammo is filthy. Shooting it sends what looks like tiny confetti down range. The wad. Damn, that wad. That wad flies the whole 40 yards and whacks the target. Never seen a wad fly that far.

Not sure what I will do with the other tweo boxes I have. I'm glad it was cheap.

I shot 4 rounds of Federal TSS #9 1 3/4oz loads. It did pretty good at 40 yards. This was pretty representative.

I was very impressed with the Trulock "Deerstroyer" choke, .710.

Mounted in my SX4 and shooting Remington 3" 000 10 pellets. 7 hits in a 12 inches, wirth 6 of those in an area the size of my hand.


21, possibly 22, of 27 pellets of #4 buck at 40 yards.

That #4 buck pattern is bad news



A friend bought some of the Fiocchi TSS #9’s for $50 to save money over the $55 Apex. From his 20 gauge his patterns look about like your lead loads. So, now he has Apex on order, lol.

Thanks for posting your results. You probably saved some of us a few bucks.

Both of those Buckshot patterns look impressive at 40 yards.

I'd relegate those Fiocchis to crow huntin' duty. "Craptastic" is being kind.

SHEESH !!!!!!!

That's not a bad idea except that it is absolutely the filthiest shotgun ammo I have ever fired. Not only do the rounds blow confetti out the barrel (I'm not even sure what it is), the inside of my receiver had flakes of unburned powder in it after every shot.

Edit: maybe the confetti IS unburned powder.

Likely it IS unburned residue.

Burn them in a single or double gun. MUCH easier to clean.

My results are about any TSS ammo patterns better than federal

Try the Fiocchi at 30 yards. If good there use em as heavy woods ammo.

Pretty sure they're not buffered either. That alone would have left them sitting on the shelf for me.

I haven't done any testing of TSS ammo in 12ga. But I have shot several in 410 and 28ga.

My results were about the same as this using Rouge TSS in 410. Not as many fliers with my Jeb's TSS choke



Salt creek ammo's TSS shoots real good in my 28ga with my Carlson TSS choke.

Well, it is only 1 3/4oz of shot. And if I have used a splatter target, which I didn't have that day, it would look more impressive.

I've gotten good results from Federal. I examine their flight control wads when I can and don't have an issue with them. They seem to perform well. The new wads don't have the "side flaps" (for lack of a better word) like the old wads did, so the aren't as affected by porting. I do believe wad strippers still mess with thm. But they do well for me and I've got a decent supply.

I would like to try Apex and may pick some up sometime soon.

I think the yellow color must have some kind of shot replant in it or something. The way the shot went all the way around it but did not hit it makes me think that.

Someone made a picture like this and posted it here. It would have been about right for this ammo.

🤣

That TSS pattern I posted was shot with a new Benelli M2 I traded into a few weeks ago. I really like that gun but it has some issues:

On the plus side, it was reliable (but only put 10 or so rounds through it). It mounts perfectly for me. It comes up right where I want it every time. It's light and holding it up for a long time waiting for a perfect shot will be easy. It's easy to clean.

One the negative side, the trigger sucks. It's squishy. There's quite a bit of take up and it's hard top feel where it will let off. It's very much like a Glock Gen 5 trigger. And the safety has a pretty loud click. All of my Brownings have a positive, but relatively silent safety. Even pinching the Benelli safety and moving it results in a click. And of course, it kicks pretty good. I shot is side by side with my Winchester SX4 and there is a very noticable difference in recoil with the same loads. But I didn't have to flush the gas piston with non-chlorinated brake cleaner like I did with my Winchester, cuz the Benelli ain't got one. It was a breeze to clean.

I tested (one each) Golden Turkey #5 lead and Longbeard #6 in my now-departed Mossberg 590 12ga, and the LB was clearly better, thought the Fiocchi was usable. Not sure I ever drag my 725 out for turkeys, but maybe if I’m out while other stuff is in season.

In .410 and 20, Apex Ninja is the schizzle for certain. Thankfully, I bought mine before Bidenomics kicked in.

That Fiocchi Golden Turkey sucks donkey balls. I shoot Win. LB XR #4 and sometimes #5 and it has always done really good. I've killed several at 40 yards and a little further. I will not pay for TSS, for a 12 gauge. Those that do, that is their business and money.

Rob Robert's will work on your trigger.