Tungsten Super Shot turkey loads

[Barry54]

Turkey season is days away here...

Has anyone bought and loaded the (high dollar) high density TSS and been successful?

The stuff has turned 410’s into valid turkey guns, and I see the appeal with it being $40-$50 per pound. 12 gauge 3-1/2” rounds are about $18 each.

I’ve heard that it’s not necessary to use much choke constriction.

What have you loaded and learned. It’s expensive to play with, so I’ll be all ears on a shortcut to success.

[Hogtamer]

I don’t understand the attraction of super dense shot or 3 1/2” magnums. 1 1/2 oz of #6 lead shot out of your favorite mod or full 12 ga will kill every turkey in GA. Or a 20 ga full choke with 1 oz 6s will do. More money than sense is all I can figure because pattern boards don’t lie.

[Barry54]

Other people do understand the attraction of super dense shot. Those are the ones I’d like to hear from.
Thanks

[poppy42]

I don’t understand the attraction of super dense shot or 3 1/2” magnums. 1 1/2 oz of #6 lead shot out of your favorite mod or full 12 ga will kill every turkey in GA. Or a 20 ga full choke with 1 oz 6s will do. More money than sense is all I can figure because pattern boards don’t lie.

I think the attraction is for folk that can’t call a turkey in close enough to hit and kil it with lead shot. But I’m with you! I just plain not spending $75.00 for 5 shells! When you think about it ya need at least 2 boxes. No hunter worth a damn is going hunting with shot he hasn’t patterned his gun with! One shot don’t pattern a shotgun! So your spending $150.00 before you even leave the house! I’m sorry I hunt for food and because I enjoy it. I could care less about trophies! For $150.00 I can put a lot of frozen turkeys in the freezer and still have enough for a six pack! I can go sit on a stump in the back yard, drink the beer, and pretend I’m turkey hunting! And have a freezer full of turkeys lol!

[kungfustyle]

According to my shotgun manual and shotshell reloading manuals you are not supposed to use anything tighter than a Modified Choke with Steel or Hevi Shot. The pellets won't constrict like lead. It would stink to blow the end of your bbl off trying to get a few more yards. Tungsten Shot can kill out to about another 20 yards and #9 shot will do the job, so yes, a 410 will work. In-fact a friends son shot one at about 40 yards with a 410 DRT. I guess, if you are looking for every advantage out there and you have the money....

[eastbank]

use what you want, i use tss shells and have killed my last 5 birds with 6 shells. longest shot was 47 yards(thats where he hung up), most of my birds are killed at under 40 yards. number 9 tss weights the same as number 5-6 lead. to me i want a clean kill, not fox or coyote food.

[gunther]

A friend who has see TSS used remarked that an advantage was that it will shoot clean through the bird when I asked him "How about breaking a tooth when you chow down on said bird?".

[eastbank]

at least you will not get lead poison.

[Half Dog]

That price for rounds? Wow!! Our local Walmart has/had turkeys for 98 cents per pound. Just saying...

[Kestrel4k]

I can't speak for the TSS, but my very first shot with Hevi-Shot killed 5 mallards stone dead.
With my limited hunting time and all the related effort, I can certainly understand the reasoning behind that level of premium ammo.
How many shots does a turkey hunter take on an average year ?

[eastbank]

if he can call reasonly well and sets up right with no movement, one shot for each bird should do it. with regular lead or tss.

[Barry54]

I regret mentioning turkey at all with this thread.

I was wanting to draw on the experience of others who have loaded tungsten super shot.

Apparently no members here who are currently active have loaded their own?

[M-Tecs]

I regret mentioning turkey at all with this thread.

I was wanting to draw on the experience of others who have loaded tungsten super shot.

Apparently no members here who are currently active have loaded their own?

I've never loaded it in a 410. A good friend has been using a 410 to turkeys since tungsten shot came out. He takes 2 or 3 a year with it and claims to have never lost a bird with his 410 using tungsten shot. I use it in a 12 gauge for fall turkey hunts when calling is not very effective. I do know tungsten shot is a significant range extender. I got mine at 70% off when a business closed.

I don't know why but, on this forum, and others I have noticed a significant rise of negative comments about almost everything. I think it might be a reflection of a general unhappiness of the last couple of years.

https://www.themeateater.com/hunt/fi...g-power-of-tss

[lawdog941]

I don't use 410, but I'd recommend #9 TSS from super18tungstenshot. If you purchase from them, email the owner, hawglips, and he will send you a few recipes once you describe your gun and gauge. From what I can gather from the internet, getting TSS recipes are not too easy to find as most shooters have to develop their own and are hesitant to share. I'm in 12 ga, and the heaviness of the loads requires a hefty dose of Lil Gun. These loads are devastating, as stated, the density contributes to extraordinary penetration.

[Blood Trail]

I’ve played around with TSS quite a bit. Got a great deal on 70# for $15/lb. That’s the only reason I’m in the TSS game. Just my opinions:

- TSS really brought sub gauges back to life and few back from the dead. To some people, killing geese at 50 yards with 28 gauges and turkeys out to 40 yards with a .410 is appealing to many.

- It patterns really tight.

- Kinda a waste in 12 ga for the most part. It’s a PIA to reload for due to the density and trying to match the right components for a proper shot column.

-1 oz #8.5’s literally shreds ducks within 50 yards. Great for squatting cripples at 80+ yards. I killed about a dozen cripples from buddies using steel at 70-80 yards with a 1 oz load. Stoned them graveyard dead.

- I had to duplex my TSS with steel shot to do two things:
- open up the pattern
- save a little money and use the steel shot as a “filler” of sorts

- loading super heavy TSS in 20 ga is stupid. If you wanna shoot anything heavier than 1.5 oz, shoot a 12 ga. 1.5-2oz TSS loads in 20 ga kicks like hell.

- If you do feel you need to load heavy loads in 12 ga, a 2 3/4” hull is all you need. Trust me.

- #6 TSS 1 oz loads kills big geese at 70+ yards.

-#T and #4 TSS buckshot is extremely lethal a long ranges. We’re talking 80 yards in deer for #T’s and 100 yards for #4 buckshot.

- the best turkey load IMO is Winchester Longbeards. Most distances I’ve seen guys hunt turkey with TSS is usually within 50 yards. Don’t need a $20 shotgun shell to do that.

Once again, this is just my opinion based on my experiences.


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[Barry54]

I didn’t intend to narrow down the question to any particular gauge. I just meant I could see the appeal of using it in 410 because it’s so expensive.

I asked about chokes because I only have screw in chokes on 12 and 20. Everything smaller has fixed chokes.

The advantage I see of 12 gauge 3-1/2” is a higher pressure limit. Or more capacity for steel shot. I have no interest in steel shot. So the lead loads I’ve looked at generally have the same wads as 2-3/4 or 3” loads but an extra gas seal or some card wads to take up space.
If I were to load Tungsten in 12 gauge, I’d be more interested in 1.5 ounce payloads, vs 2.25 ounces.

[Barry54]

I don't use 410, but I'd recommend #9 TSS from super18tungstenshot. If you purchase from them, email the owner, hawglips, and he will send you a few recipes once you describe your gun and gauge. From what I can gather from the internet, getting TSS recipes are not too easy to find as most shooters have to develop their own and are hesitant to share. I'm in 12 ga, and the heaviness of the loads requires a hefty dose of Lil Gun. These loads are devastating, as stated, the density contributes to extraordinary penetration.

I found that website this morning. The screen started jumping around at the checkout page, and I thought it was a bogus website after that.

[poppy42]

Ok all kidding aside. I load 12guage and 410 bore, although not with tungsten. I can tell you 410 is not the easiest shotgun to reload for. Especially if you don’t have any experience shotgun reloading. If you do jump down this rabbit hole, remember you don’t use the same wads for tungsten as you do for lead. Wads for tungsten are typically thicker/stronger than lead wads. Use a wad made for lead for tungsten and the wad gets turn up leaving your barrel exposed to the tungsten. Do this for very long and you’ll soon be replacing a barrel! With that being said I imagine stuffing that thicker wad in that 410 hull is something I don’t want to deal with. I don’t know what press your going to use but I’ve got a Mec 600 Jr. the wad likes to get stuck on the rammer/drop tube. Combine that with getting a right stack height and a proper crimp. I thought it was me but after some research and I found out that they seems to be a common problems. Loading 410 tungsten is just not something I’d do just to try out. I do wish you luck. And keep us informed.

[southpaw]

Turkey season is days away here...

Has anyone bought and loaded the (high dollar) high density TSS and been successful?

The stuff has turned 410’s into valid turkey guns, and I see the appeal with it being $40-$50 per pound. 12 gauge 3-1/2” rounds are about $18 each.

I’ve heard that it’s not necessary to use much choke constriction.

What have you loaded and learned. It’s expensive to play with, so I’ll be all ears on a shortcut to success.

I have loaded 20ga and 410.

With the 20ga I was able to get a real tight pattern at 40 with a ic .555. Close to 400 in the 10”. It was a bit lite in the 20” tho. With a Carlson .575” it was mid 250’s with a more forgiving 20”. The closer patterns (20 yards) were bigger than the other turkey loads (longbeards). This was done with #9 shot.

The 410 is a bit more difficult. The main thing I found was that shot size makes a huge difference. My 870 factory fixed full choke shoots the 9’s best. My 301 and tuff turkey do not like 9’s. They will shoot the 9.5 and 10 shot very well tho. I am not sure if there are any recipes for the 410 that will allow for a fold crimp. The ones I have give just enough room to roll crimp.

I suggest going to gobblernation.com and taking a look around. I will see if I can get some pics up at some point.

In reality, if you only shoot birds at 30 yards and under a trap load of 7.5 is all you need.

[Brassmonkey]

I regret mentioning turkey at all with this thread.

I was wanting to draw on the experience of others who have loaded tungsten super shot.

Apparently no members here who are currently active have loaded their own?

It’s on my to do list. Just haven’t come to terms with $50 a lb shot.