Home Forums Birds & Dogs Turkey Hunting Choking TSS: How tight is too tight?

I've only hunted with TSS in 20 gauge and .410. I recently got my first 12 gauge TSS shells - Federal TSS #9. I've had good luck with it in the smaller gauges.

I also picked up a 12g Carlsons TSS choke .650. The tightest 12g choke I've ever fired through, and only with lead, is .656. To me, .650 seems really tight. Carlson says it's tailored for Federal rounds with the flight control wad, but in reality it is just a tight smooth choke.

Just wondering what the tightest chokes you've used for TSS are in a partcular gauge, when you saw a point of diminishing returns in terms of patters, and if you've seen any damage from TSS in really tight chokes.

I’m not a fan of over choking TSS. 20 and 12 ga the tightest I hunt is a 65 constriction on tss. 665 in 12 575 in 20. I like a more forgiving pattern for 20yds and in where they sometimes end up unexpectedly.

I’ve done a good bit of loading/shooting/testing and developing my own loads even. What I’ve witnessed (mostly 20 ga) is that the larger shot specifically like 8’s prefers a more open choke like a .582 to .587 in 20 ga. Especially where the larger payloads are concerned. Think 1 7/8 oz to 2 1/8 oz loads.

For consistent even patterns with the 1 5/8 oz loads most commonly used, the .582 construction seems to really do the ticket and .575 also.

For the lighter payloads of 9’s or 9.5’s like the 1 3/8 oz the .570 chokes seem to do well.

I’ve had issues with patterns having “holes” in them and being inconsistent with the tighter chokes.

.385 seems to be very consistently the best construction for the .410 from my more limited experience. I’ve dabbled with .380 and .390

For 16 ga, the .600 choke gives an even pattern with 1 3/4 oz load, and the .615 really tightens that load up.

Agreed on the 410. I found same thing. Now longbeard xr that likes to be choked tight 50-55 constriction again in 12s and 20s but with very critical patterns definitely better with an optic

TSS is funny, in some guns, a more open choke give a tight pattern, in others, not so much.
In both of mine, they like a .555 (in 20 gauge) but I did have one that liked a .568 choke (sold that gun to my boss for his kids)

Mark Bansner put a sleeve in my Valmet 412 223/12 in 1986, called him 3 years ago and asked about shooting TSS through it, he said sure. It mics .632
It doesn't shoot like some of the guns you see where folks carefully tailor the choke to the particular load they use, but it will darn sure kill a gobbler or coyote farther than you need to shoot them.

I shot Federal TSS loads out of a 11-87 with a .660” IC that was blowing patterns. Sold it so I never had a chance to play around with it more. I shot Apex GT-20 loads out of my Franchi Affinity 3 with a .555” IC that was blowing patterns, ended up going to a .562” IC and that cured everything. Still hunt that gun to this day. It really depends on the gun, barrel length, and bore dimensions. Some guns are backbored and have larger bore sizes than others. I think barrel length plays a role as well. Forcing cone length, although not so much with TSS as it doesn’t deform. Get away from those Federal shells with the flitecontrol wads, that will tighten things up in a hurry alone. Apex, Salt Creek, FoxTrot, etc all way better shells than the Federal.

I got the Carlsons TSS choke in .650. According to their sales pitch, it's tailored to Federal Premium TSS with the flite control wad. This will te the first 12 gauge TSS I've shot. I have the Carlson TSS Choke in 20 gauge, .565, and it patters #7 and #9 very well.

Choking those federal TSS shells tightly, and defeating the flight control was seems to be the best way to get them to shoot good. My 1300 12ga will shoot them in the 350s at 40 yards.

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