Home Forums Reloading Shotshells - TSS and Unleaded Best #2 load for feral hogs

Some public land near my place is crawling with feral hogs and I can either use a bow or a shotgun but limited to #2 shot. Are any of the non leads better than lead for penetration out 30 yards? Thinking Bismuth from a Hevis-shot factory load 1 1/2 ounces. How does Tungston compare? Penetration being the most important criteria and the ability to pattern tightly. I will be shooting at the head/ neck junction at generally less than 25 yards from a tree.

Nothing compares to TSS. Lead will flatten on bone. TSS doesn't deform even when hitting steel. I'd just get the Federal TSS 7s if only shoot to 25 yards.

TSS is hard to beat for penetration and patterns,but I think if you are shooting 25 yds and under, lead out of a Turkey choke would be more than enough.
But I have never killed feral hog so maybe their tougher than I thought.
If your not worried about cost TSS is fantastic,Bismuth I'm thinking would work fine also.

Greg

Well I tested some Hevi-shot "Hevi-Hammer loads, they have a small number of bismuth shot in them but are mostly loaded with steel shot. At 25 yards the steel pellets penetrated the side of a 55 gallon steel drum. Lead #2's dented it. The bismuth shot splattered easier than regular lead. I ordered some Hevi-shot Hevi-X tungston #2 shot from Midway and hopefully will test them soon. I was surprised just how tight the Hevi-Hammer loads patterned through my Turkey choke, all pellets inside 9 inches at 25 yards!

the tungsten #2 will be like nothing you've ever shot before. They will penetrate like crazy.

I know that Reloader7MM has some BB's (I know that you were talking about #2) but they have been killing deer and hogs with them.

What choke tubes are good with Tungston?

I'd think bismuth would be too light and too soft.


TSS would probably be the way to go. Not cheap...but it'd be your best bet. Not sure what chokes guys are running with larger TSS shot.


I'm going to be doing that research myself sometime. I wanna come up with a coyote load.

modified for bismuth or steel

Well I tested several loads using #2 shot, lead and steel. And of course the Hevi Hammers. Well it seemed a wast e to me to use those since the bismuth penetrated less than lead with the steel giving better penetration at 30 yards. I settled on the
HEVI Steel from Hevi shot 3" 1/14 Oz #2. So I poured a bag of corn out one day and checked back on it until I knew they were hitting it, climbed into the tree stand just before daylight one morning and must have chased them off doing so. But they came back after 30 minutes of quiet. There were 3 in the hundred pound range, probably 10 of various sizes down to 20 pounds and a couple of 200 pound sows. The first to give me a decent shot was a 75 pounder and I centered the pattern on her neck, one squeal and she is down and running but laying on her side. I figure the range at 25 paces and shot hit her a bit on the shoulder, her neck and the back of her head. Worked just fine. Shotgun being a Mossberg 500 with a Primos Tight wad choke. I know it is not rated for steel but there seems to be no marks inside it from the shot. And it does pattern very tightly with this load. There were a few shot in the onside shoulder Penetration was pretty good as I found no shot in the meat of that shoulder or the other side. I found a couple in the backstrap near the spine. My take is I would shoot another this size or a bit bigger again under those circumstances.

Lead is gonna be FAR better than steel, and bismuth is better than steel...on flesh/bone/game, for penetration. It’s about density of the shot.....steel is the absolute worst. Testing penetration on a steel drum for buckshot penetration on game was a waste of AMMO, unless your gonna outfit your hogs with some medieval armor. 18gcc TSS #2s would probably take a really big hog to catch one. FWIW, EMI (Hevishot company) is FOS regarding about 90% of whatever they promote with their loads. They’ve flat out lied about shot and load composition on several loads.

Well I agree that testing shot on a steel drum does not equal doing the same thing on a hog. However I did test the Hevi shot #2 load on a hog and it did kill the hog. Shooting downward at less than 30 yards the steel shot penetrated very well. That said the drum testing was to compare the ability of the different shot types to penetrate, steel won.

Steel will NOT win on flesh and bone over lead or HTL shot types, period. Any #2 lead load will outperform any #2 steel load, period. Any HTL #2 load will outperform the lead...physics and stuff. You were fortunate you killed that hog. Sometimes #2 steel has penetration issues much past 30 yards on ducks and geese. I wouldn’t take it hog hunting on a dare, and a 22 rimfire would be preferable. If you shoot some test medium HARDER than the projectile, you’ve skewed your results. They’re ALL harder than a hog. The heavier/higher mass in a similar velocity window will penetrate more hog than the lighter ones....no matter how hard.

Okay I will run a penetration test using water filled gallon milk jugs.

https://www.trapshooters.com/thread...cs-with-different-shot-densities.267784/

Do you need to shoot milk jugs full of water to know that in objects of the same size, shape, and velocity, that the ones with more mass/density will penetrate further in a soft medium? They’re all round balls. Sure, lead will deform more on bone than harder shot, but it’s been working for 300 years. I’d imagine the trouble is finding #2 lead that’s hardened or plated. #9 TSS will out penetrate #2 steel. #4 lead will out penetrate #2 steel.

Ever heard of projectile design? Steel is harder than lead though lighter. Hard round objects may well penetrate deeper than soft round objects that get flattened. Waiting for my daughter to get up for her second shift job so I can shoot a couple of rounds into the jugs. The steel loads also have a faster starting velocity. I have some lead #2's Remington 1 1/4 express. I will be shooting at bone on the hogs. The head/neck area.

Okay tested on two one gallon jugs of water. Kind of a toss up. 30 yards on a board propped to give me an even look at the jugs in line. Both loads penetrated both jugs. Both loads left shot in the second jug. The steel load weighing the same but going 200 fps faster kicked noticeably harder. Winner of test the lead load. Recoil being the main reason. A lot of the lead pellets in the second jug deformed somewhat, the steel not at all.

‘Projectile Design’? They not DESIGNED perfectly spherical. The projectiles are COMPOSED of different materials of varying hardness and mass. Your attempting things yourself that have been truly proven as nauseam and have been common knowledge in shotgun circles for decades.

Funny the steel gave identical penetration in the water jugs. The steel shot is spherical and it's hardness does help it penetrate various mediums. The lead shot does deform when it hits the water jugs to a degree. Now if I were doing the tests out at 40 yards there would be some real measurable differences. Inside of 30 yards either load will work for me, the steel load just kicks more.

You sure you didn’t mean the steel load kicks LESS?

Nope same payload 200 fps faster. Noticable difference. 1 1/4 ounces of shot in both hulls, the lead load being in 2 3/4 inch cases and the steel load in 3 inch cases.

Ah, that would explain some discrepancies then. Nothing is equal among the loads, apart from shot diameter.

Well maybe but to look at the two it seems the steel shot is smaller and it does pattern better.

Well, either they’re both #2 in size, or they’re not, and one or both are not to spec. There’s decades of evidence, science, and physics that show that (all else being equal), the heavier (for diameter), spherical projectile penetrates more on game. Most duck hunters have comprehended this since the 80’s. Higher initial velocity only helps steel inside 30-40.....so I could see some similarity at short range, if that’s the only place you’re using it. I’d still pick copper plated lead #4s over #2 steel, for just about anything I was allowed to.

Thats why steel is ballistically inferior to lead, needs to be pushed harder.

If you are stuck with #2 shot have you considered heavier payloads. A 3" shotshelll can throw up to 1 7/8oz of lead shot, 3.5" 12ga can throw 2.25oz loads so its almost 2 for 1 compared to regular 12ga. The pigs you shot so far are about the size of large dogs. Might find a jump to 2-3 x bodyweight tests your setup.

Being stuck with #2 shot size and shooting from a tree stand I think 1 1/4 oz of #2's works just fine. I wouldn't hesitate to shoot any sized hog with anything I have on hand. Seems to me just about anything hit with either load around the neck head area is going to have problems pretty fast.

if you feel birdshot is okay on 200-300lbs hogs at 30 yards, its good you are up a tree is all I am saying

No I am required by the regs to use that load. Okay well bring the fat one on.

Steel is ok at close range. We've tried this on coyotes over the years. Beyond about 25-30 yards it was probe to balling up in the hair. Real Hevi-shot is way better. I have been using #2 Hevi-shot for 10-12 years. I am in the process of switching to TSS.
The steel is so light that it just doesn't carry any energy very far. You have to push them to like 1500fps to get any decent results.

You should try so TSS loads. I think Apex loads them

Hevishot is at best 12 g/cc as marketed. As Rickt300 posted above, Hevi has a long history of reducing the density of the shot they use without notice. Many of us remember and hold it against them.



TSS compared to Hevi is like comparing Hevi to steel. There is a huge difference in density and performance.
TSS (18 g/cc) will out pattern and out penetrate anything else on the market.

I believe this is true but Hevi shot is much more available in big sizes

I don't trust Environ Metal the makers of Hevi Shot. Maybe they are better now but there was a time when their product was very sketchy. Pellets were often globular in shape rather than round, their diameter was all over the place and inconsistent, weights/density varied highly and the material matrix was occasionally so brittle that it powdered upon impact. In their loaded ammo they would change hulls, powder, wads, ect. with no notice given to the consumer. So after doing meticulous testing with various chokes to find that perfect combination Hevi Shot would change the components in the shell and patterns would go to hell. It was maddening.

"No I am required by the regs to use that load. Okay well bring the fat one on."

Then don't. #2 birdshot of any kind is not suitable for hogs. Even if you were able to kill it, you will break your meat grinder and probably your teeth. The appropriate type of shogun ammo for hogs is slugs.

How much experience do you have with TSS? I don't think anybody who has run it would consider TSS #2 birdshot.

I agree but so far I am 2 for 2 and soon will do it again. My stand is only 125 yards from the road and it is all down hill. Possibly shooting from above at pretty short range with #2 gives it an edge over a crossbow or bow.

Unscientific but I’ve lost count of the hogs I’ve killed while turkey hunting with 3” #6 lead and a turkey choke. Never tried to stretch or measure the distance but up close it whacks em good - call it 20 yards? I’ve shot a few further out that required a little chasin’ up and a finisher.

Check this out:

https://apexmunition.com/apex-products/predator-deer-tss/

Out of stock.

The ones I wanted were OOS too. I signed up for notification and had them pretty quickly. I think maybe they’re made to order, at times anyway.

Think I will sign up to be notified.