Home Forums Birds & Dogs Turkey Hunting TSS facts verses fiction

I hunt mainly timber land with huge clear cuts, replanted pines, hardwoods, and cypress/tupelo bottoms and plenty of water, with lots of culitvated fields nearby. I've seen plenty of toms out in the open. I just won't take a shot where I don't think I have a much better than even chance of a clean kill. I've never lost a bird to date and don't want to. 40 or so yards is my self imposed limit.

Now, if someone can come up with some TSS buck shot that will let me reliably reach out to 50-60 yards on dear and won't damage my barrel or choke, that's be great. I hunt a few buckshot-only areas and it's tough seeing a buck out of buckshot range that I could have easily taken with a slug.

Why I am considering going to a smaller gauge. I'm a week out and I still feel like I've been beaten with a baseball bat.

Were you shooting prone

Nope. It's a vertical bruise when I put my arm down.

My very good friend and hunting companion for years shoots a Mossberg 835. One time he shot a turkey that was on a ridge almost behind him. The way he ended up twisting, to take the shot, put the butt of the shotgun on his right bicep instead of his shoulder. He shot, and killed, that bird and the bruise the 12ga 3-1/2" 2-1/4oz turkey shell gave him was incredible! His entire arm, from just below the elbow, up into the shoulder, was the most beautiful shade of purple and yellow.

It's starting to yellow now. It's been a lovely shade of purple and blue for saeveral days. That's from 20 shots of 3 1/2" (10 00 buck, 10 #5 turkey)

Dang, that did leave a mark. I don't think I am that pissed off at anything to go thru that

Those 835's are noted for killing on one end and crippling on the other.

The Browning A5 isn't much better. They're a semi auto, but it's inertia and it doesn't do much to soak up recoil. On top of that its light. My gas guns are way more comfortable to shoot with heavies than the A5.

I had a Mossberg 935 that was not bad. It had the overbored barrel like the 835 but was a gas automatic. Patterned great a recoil was not bad.
I sold it when I quit using a 12 ga to turkey hunt with

You might like the Dixie Tri Ball. Developed by James Gates, it is a 3" 12 ga. hull with three .60 caliber round lead balls. I haven't tried it (not legal where I live) but others say they group tight through turkey chokes and kill at 70 yards.

Well, there are options and realities you apparently are not contemplating ...

Consider: TSS is DENSER than lead. That means there are FEWER pellets in a given weight of a given shot size in TSS than in lead. The TSS pellets will also be much more lethal and much more likely to pass through.



1 oz. #4 Lead (134 pellets) @ 1200 fps penetrates gel 2" to 45.4 yards. Your preferred shot size, I believe.

1 oz. #4 TSS (83 pellets) @ 1200 fps penetrates gel 2" to 139.1 yards. Too sparse for my taste, but you might like the pellet count.

1 oz. #6 TSS (137 pellets) @ 1200 fps penetrates gel 2" to 98 yards.
Now tell me whether this load is going to damage meat more or less, not to speak of leave more or fewer pellets in your 40 yard turkey? I am seeing equal pellet count, smaller holes, and complete pass-throughs (and DOUBLE the range). In all likelihood, you are looking at complete pass-through to whatever range your skillset/patterns take you.


It's not even close. At identical muzzle velocities, #6 TSS will outdo your lead #4s to double the range, if you were so inclined and properly choked/patterned.
Notice, we have not even set out the smaller/high-count pellet scenario here, even though it is very attractive to most, because YOU do not prefer it. And that's fine. There are lots of ways to go with this.



As an aside, and as stated before not really worth getting into at this point, I use steel/TSS duplex loads out of a 20 ga (incredible performance!) for quail and very light (5/8 oz) TSS-only loads out of the 28, and I am still experimenting.

I have killed 2 long range turkeys. One was 60 and the other 66 yards. I didn't know either was that far. When I'm sitting down for some reason, I can't estimate range good at all.

Be interested in the load info. Those are some serious pokes!

3" Win. Longbeards #4 shot. I know a couple other guys that have killed a little further.

Nice.

Rick I'll go out on an limb and say that a handloader or another Ammo manufacturer can not load a 12 gauge 3" shotgun shell with 1&3/4 ozs of #6 TSS shot that can out pattern a 12 gauge 3" Winchester Long Beard shell with 1 &3/4 oz. of #6 copper plated lead shot...velocity or pattern wise.

I shoot 12 ga. 3.5" shell with 2 oz of #4 because I like the higher velosity and all the testing I've done has shown me the #4s shoot the best for me. I've killed a lot of Turkeys in the fall and several in the spring with the 3" 1&3/4 oz shells...#4 and #5s...myself I've shot #6s and I don't care for #6s for turkey.

You'll get a few more pellets in your target with 5s and 6s and they also offer a lower velocity 12 gauge 2oz, 3" shell and 2&1/4oz. 3.5" 12 gauge load for the guy that needs to see more pellets on paper..

I'm guessing about now you're thinking I'm wrong, I'm crazy or and don't know what I'm talking about...just bare with me.

Get your hands on a Winchester Long Beard shell take your knife and cut the very end of the shell off.

The shot will not come out....

You can bang it on your work bench or throw it on the floor or against the wall the shot ain't coming out ...2 or 3 pellets might fall out but you will have to pick the rest of the shot out of the shell a pellet or two at a time with a pick.

Winchester calls this "Shot Lock Technology".

Here's my take on it....

It appears to me to be some kind of epoxy that has to be put in the shell along with the shot in a liquid form and then it hardens around the shot.
..the pellets are literally "locked in the wad". This is the biggest improvement in Turkey loads since the plastic shot cup/wad

When Winchester came out with "Shot Lock Tecnology" is when Federal went to scrambling and started loading the little TSS pellets....along with their advertising plan.

Why because they couldn't make a shotgun shell that could hold a candle to the new Winchester shell with standard sized shot.

Plane as day if you were watching.

That resin encasing the shot breaks into powder when the round is fired becoming a fine buffer material.

LFC
I have seen what I think you are talking about. I have seen everything the same from shell to choke to gun being the same except for shot size and #4 may pattern better than #5 or #6 and or vis-versa. When it comes to turkey guns and shooting tight patterns, I think shotguns are no different than rifles, each one is different and they like what they like.

If I had to go back to shooting lead, the Long Breads are going to be tuff to beat in the testing I have done. I don't know first hand but have heard some bad stuff about them not doing well if they are older. Buddy had some that were about 2 or maybe 3 years old and said that his "glue' (or whatever they use to hold the shot together) had turned to powder and when he shot the shell, the shot did not stay together and the pattern went to crap. I have heard this form a few guys that I trust but once again, I don't know first hand. Maybe they got a bad batch or something, who knows.

It is true some shells had a slight rattle...I sorted through mine several years back. And got close to 10 shells that rattled out of 8 or 10 boxes...contacted Wincherster and they replaced them.

If I buy any I open the box in the store before I buy them and shake each shell....found a few but not many. Guy at the gun counter is going to think you're nuts....

I've never saw the buffer "go to powder"....I'm betting he's meaning the slight rattle.

I have 8 or 10 boxes of 3.5" 2oz #4s on hand
...I figured when I first saw one with a rattle that it would affect the pattern. So I shot them just to get rid of them and I couldn't see a difference in how they shot.

There is a problem with the shell that bares watching.