Home Forums Birds & Dogs Turkey Hunting hevi shot blended? does it work?

I use hevi-shot to comply with non-toxic shot requirements and was looking at what they offer.

Normally I use 12 gauge 3 inch 5 shot with a 655 ish choke.

I saw heavy shot offers a "blended" load of 5, 6, and 7 shot and I watched the promo videos on it.
The 7 shot is dense close pattern with the higher energy 5's maintain killing force farther out.

This seems neat, but I wonder if it works?

It seems like I want more higher energy 5 shot pellet 5 hits when shots get long where the lower energy 7 shot may be misleading with a nice pattern on the target.

Is my breakdown right or wrong?

Go with straight 7's. There aren't enough 5's in a magblend to make it to bird. They're good shells but they don't offer anything over ths straight 7's


Hevishot also isn't like lead in that it's not round and uniform in size. If you cut a hevishot shell open the pellets are basically a blended shot anyway.


Straight 7's will shoot completely through a turkey at 50yds, I've done it.

I bought a box to shoot from a little 20ga I purchased. Shot one at 30yds, Not even a twitch or kick afterwards.

50yds is a long way.

It is a long ways, a misjudgement of yardage on a foggy morning on new ground resulted in a shot I typically wouldn't take. I was glad to have the 7's in the chamber.

That was with hevi-shot?

Or that TSS?

(I cant get TSS)

Works like a mofo!

It'll pattern like crazy at 60 yds in my gun.

It sure is. I misjudged using my 870 20ga and it killed him dead.

It works great
Heavy-shot Mag Blend use it in My 10 ga and 3 1/2" 12 ga

Hevi shot straight 7's


I've never used TSS but if I did it would be #9's

Sweet jesus that looks like someone went nuts with the pepper shaker! ;-)

Excellent pattern

Interesting development...

Checking cabelas and you can buy tungsten super shot loaded by federal now. 5 shells for $38 ish.

so the density values are from cabelas website...
lead 10.9 gm / cc
hevi-shot 13 g / cc
TSS 18 g / cc.


Holy crap I can understand why you guys like that tss stuff.

I've used the magnum blend 3" 12 gauge heavy-shot since it became available. Killed a bunch of birds with it. Some a lot farther than I thought they were. Flattened them all.

Still shoot them before season, but I've gone to 3" Winchester LB in #6. Killed a whole bunch of birds with this load and like it a lot. One thing about the Magnum Blend is the severe recoil!! The 2 oz of that stuff adds a whole bunch more gitty-up on your end.

I am quite happy and confident with either in any of my shotguns, except for the TC Encore 12 gauge. That thing is way too light and doesn't give enough of a solid grip surface on the shooting hand to make control better. I'm changing to the plastic buttstock this spring. I like that one in close quarters, because of its shorter OAL. But I really have to hang on when that goes bang. The Winchester loads are more bearable in that one. The 870s and 835 handle the Mag Blend recoil better. Although, you can still leave marks by crawling the stock.

Think I will try the TSS when it shows up. I love to experiment with turkey guns, chokes, and loads. Sometimes makes for tough day on the range, but I get lots of data from the testing. I use large (20"x40") light, but dense card board display signs that the wife gets from old grocery store setups. Bigger sheets is best for patterning. Across the board of turkey loads, 3" shells have patterned better than the larger. They work just as well at any range in the field, too.

Just like with big game, half the fun is in the prep!

Yeah, they'll work if they hold the pattern in your gun. That's the catch. You gotta test and find the right combo. Going by math, the 7s should be best. 7s were matched by lead 5s in the gun I tested them in.

On the tungsten super shot you need to be aware that those have extreme range and penetration. You have to account for your shot like you would with a rifle. If you cut loose on a field or open bottom with those, you better be sure there's nothing down there you can't get away with killing. Cows. People. More people, though, because ones like me might shoot back.

I miss judges one last year that I thought was only about 43-45

Didn't realize there was a knoll at the edge of this little wet spot due to cattails. Killed him deader than he'll at 77 yards


Smashed a runner that July buddy shot and his gun jammed at 89

I shot mag blend in my 12gauge 870 with great success. I switched to 20 tss last year but still have some mag blends in case I need to get the 12 out for some reason.

Been shooting the 12ga 3" HeviShot Mag blend since introduction. I shoot mine through a Pure Gold .670 choke tube in a Winchester 1300 and same tube in Benelli M2, same results in either - flat birds. Last season I grabbed an older box of Hevi-Shot #5, didn't realize it until I was loading up at the truck - still flattened the bird (this one at 32 yards). I have enough Mag Blends to last for years, bought two boxes of the #7 when they came out, still haven't patterned or killed a bird with them. I think any good load that patterns well for you will work. Due to neck injury issues I'm going to switch to my Auto-5 Magnum Twelve this year, got to pattern it, hope to significantly cut down on the recoil - don't think I can shoot the M1300 anymore - kicks like #@$%.
Ps Longest kill with the HeviShot Mag Blend was this Tom at 53 yards - he was strutting in an open swamp behind a downed tree - couldn't get him to come over or around.

I suggest switching to a sub-gauge. An 8# .410 loaded with 18g/cc tungsten will give 12 gauge lead performance with negligible recoil. If you will handload you can dial it up for more performance and still have less recoil. Current 20 gauge factory loads still have fairly stout recoil in the neighborhood of lighter 12 gauge loads.

urbaneruralite, thanks for the idea of using a sub-gauge. I've killed a gobbler with a 16 Ga Belgian AUTO-5 and the Federal Premium #6 lead 1-1/4 oz., "baby magnum" load - effective at 22 yards, patterns well out to 32 yards. I tried two 12 Ga semi-auto's, each with a LM choke and 3", #3 steel, during waterfowl season - found the Browning Auto-5 to be quite mild in "neck jolt" received as compared to the same load/choke in the Benelli M-2. I don't handload, so I'm still testing. I know the 12 Ga M1300 pump/3" Mag Blend combo will be way too much. If the other loads don't work out I will consider buying a sub-gauge. Odessa

Sure does, I have three 50 yard plus kills out of three chances. My Dad and I doubled in Oklahoma at 60 yards. Both shooting 3 1/2" 12 ga. MagBlends. His out of a Browning Gold (Indian Creek) and mine out of a Remington 11-87 (Primos JellyHead).