Home Forums Birds & Dogs Turkey Hunting Tss shells

Why not a sensible compromise of #7.5 TSS, instead of the #9 rat shot? Not quite as many pellets but certainly more of every other measure of a turkey load.

I shot several with a Hevi shot mixed load 4x5x7 and I grew tired of picking little shot out of my meat

just so you know, I have killed them with lead, Hevi13, Heavyweight, and TSS.
I was not a fan of Hevi13 but will say if I were not shooting TSS, I think I would shoot Longbeards.
I roll my own so I can control what goes in and how they are loaded

Hard to argue with facts.

I found this on another website I am a member of. I think this sums it up better than I can so I copied it and am pasting it here.

Armchair turkey ballistic junkies have generally come to accept 1.25" penetration in ballistic gel to be the minimum required to cleanly kill turkeys. Penetration in ballistic gel is a much more useful metric than foot-pounds of energy because it is accurate across all different pellet materials (lead, HS, HW, TSS, etc) For example, a TSS 9 will penetrate as deeply as a lead 4, even though the lead 4 carries significantly more ft-lbs of energy. The TSS penetrates so deeply because of its greater density and small size (reduced surface area). So now for your question...

Per KPY Ballistics, lead 6s at 1200 fps yield 1.25" of penetration in ballistic at 0' elevation and 70 degrees to 52 yds. At 1050 fps (magnum load) they will do it to 47 yds,

Lead 5s at 1200 penetrate 1.25" to 64 yds and when launched at 1050, 58 yds,

My takeaway is that to maximize range with Winch LBs, one should choose 5s. The only way to choose between the standard and magnum (slower) load is to buy a box of each and pattern through your setup. The range at which your pattern density falls to 100 in a 10" circle is your max range. Sixes may put more pellets on target but I would not trust them with regards to penetration and killing potential beyond 50 yds.

Here is a video of a guy shooting ballistic gel. If you don't want to watch it all, skip to around the 4 min. mark

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BwD4qzRbjYw&ab_channel=AP2020Outdoors

He lost me with his 70 yard scenario. Well before that point, no matter how long you’ve worked them, let ‘em walk. Drop begins to rear its head too, and a lot of those loads are pretty slow, which naturally increases that. I’d not take a shot beyond the range I’ve tested a load for both pattern and POI, any more than I’d go deer hunting with an rifle that I hadn’t checked.

Energy is just a comparative number, just like with rifle bullets. What matters is getting sufficient penetration and pattern density to do enough damage to drop your quarry. If you get that with 7 1/2s, fine, but smaller gauges benefit from the high pellet count they get with the small shot, and as the video shows, penetration is not an issue. For body shots, I’d go with larger shot, and probably lead, and a different, more conventional choke. No sense burgerizing a fine bird with the kind of patterns you get with TSS. Still working on my O/U 20. Might end up with TSS in one barrel and lead in the other. Since there are some days when both deer and turkey are legal for me, it might be a shot and slug combo.

JB’s article, which was focused on wingshooting, said the best patterns were with an IC choke.

I try my best to keep my shots inside 30 yards. I have patterned and know I can take them much further but I want them in at 30 or less.
As far as body shots, no thank you. if I can't get a head shot, I am out.

Pellet count does matter, no doubt about it. Thing is, I think there might be a trend toward the itty bitty shot in an attempt to make a turkey gun out of what would not normally be considered a turkey gun. The stunt shooters, the .410 toters, use a swarm of #9 to flush out the pattern from the little gun. TSS compensated for pellet size with density and hardness. Then the .410 toter can brag about killing a gobbler at 64 yards with a .410. I guess in the end a dead gobbler is a dead gobbler. I just don't see the point. But that's ok, to each their own.

He counts hits in the wattles as effective hits. Nope...

I was just talking about the penetration on the ballistics gel. I do not agree with the wattles hits nor his pattern assessment.

If the gun throws a killing pattern, how is it a stunt?

.410 Henry SS Fed TSS, 50 yards. I count 14 solid hits in the head and neck, not wattles.The Apex Ninja loads are better.



Lighter gun, lighter ammo, less recoil, adequate killing power. Just because it doesn’t “seem” right to you, doesn’t mean it’s a stunt. I don’t shoot stuff to brag about it, or impress internet jackholes.

The same gun with a Skeet tube put three Brenneke slugs inside a 2” square the same day.

I guess I won’t be using it. I had been vaguely aware of the stuff, then I saw some for sale today and did a double take: $52 for a box of 5! I’ve never had a problem killing turkeys with regular shot in ordinary 12 and 16 gauge guns. If I want to kill them beyond the 40 yards or so my 3 1/2” duck gun is good for, I’ll go to my .25-20 .

Would have filled the breast with TSS too.

Pappy,
As I said, a dead gobbler is a dead gobbler. Do as you see fit and good luck in that endeavour.

Penetration is not that bid a deal on thin skinned game like a turkey that is hopefully shot in the head that is why people can kill them with small shot like TSS #7s or #9s.

I'm a pretty good shot with a rifle or a shotgun but you shoot at enough turkeys and you'll eventually make a bad shot. When it happens I want a pellet size that I can depend on to smash through meat and bone and immobilize the turkey until I can put my foot on his head.
If Winchester ever came out with a reasonably priced TSS load with "Shot-lock" in a #5 pellet size I might give them a whirl...until then I'll shoot my #4 Winchester Longbeads.

Some, for certain. Hopefully less at the closer ranges I expect to shoot at. The tight patterns are best directed with some sort of sight to keep more of the shot where one wants it, like the prism on my .410.

Thanks, I usually do.

I spent a lot of time, effort, and money on assembling my setups and testing them to determine their capabilities. After all that, people that toss around terms like “stunt shooter” piss me off. Going out and buying a box of shells and going hunting without checking the patterns seems like more of a stunt to me. I know because I’ve done it. Opportunities here are too scarce to squander them trusting to luck.

Don’t hold your breath waiting for that. TSS shot from BP is >$50 a pound according to JB’s article, or over $3 an ounce. I used Active nickel-plated 5s on one some years ago from an old Stevens SxS. Just creamed him. In 2018, I shot at one at about the same range with the same shells in a different gun and he flew away unscathed. The next day, I called in probably the same bird (who was a lot more cautious) and killed him with those shells, but it was far from a clean kill. He flopped about 20 yards until I ran over and grabbed him. Not pretty. Was too busy the next two years to hunt, but decided to get a lighter gun and do it up right, including testing the patterning. Got that down, just need a volunteer. Might just test the setup that gave me trouble someday, but it’s dedicated now to claybirds so it would just be for fun.