Home Forums Birds & Dogs Turkey Hunting TSS facts verses fiction

I do know that you can over choke TSS and blow the pattern but have using it for a long time now, I am happy with my gun/shell/choke combo and I have not bought a new choke in several years. I load my own TSS due to 1) issues I saw with Hevi Turkey shells back in the day. You would find a shell that patterned great and the next box (different lot#) would not. They changed the wads or hull or whatever and your great pattern would go to crap. The second reason was back when I started shooting TSS, the only way you got a shell was to roll your own as their was nobody loading them commercially. I got tired of not knowing what was in my shell and how it would pattern, so I started loading my own.
I started back before TSS and was buying bags of Hevi Shot. You talk about inconsistent shot size and shapes, it was awful. I then went to using Federal Heavy weight shot and it was much better as far as shot goes in shape and size. You could not buy the shot in bags and I would wait till the season was over and everybody was blowing their stock out for cheap. I would buy 20 or 30 boxes and rob the shot out of the shells (I think I still have a few lbs of that left over) Then TSS showed up and I bought enough hulls/wads/and shot to do me for the rest of my turkey hunting days.
I usually load 20 shells at a time and that will do me 3 or 4 sometimes 5 years before I have to load again. I shoot a shot or two and make sure my gun is still on and everything is good to go. Depending on if I hunt out of state and how well my season in TN goes, I may shoot 3 to 8 shells a year. I have about 2 or 3 shells leftover from last year so I will have to load some more for this year.
I also put a new red dot on my turkey gun this year so I will need a few shells to get that dialed in as well.