Real world 410 range for turkey

Honyock

WKR
Joined
Dec 21, 2019
Messages
1,038
Location
Edmond, OK
For those of you that have went the sub gauge route on turkey, what has been the effective range of a 410 with TSS? Not looking for absolute maximum range but the good reliable range. I know this may sound ridiculous, but I've got a place that has an abundance of turkeys (150+) and looking to make it more of a challenge than blasting them with a 12 gauge.IMG_0896.jpegIMG_0899.jpeg
 
My self imposed limit is 40. I might be fine a little further out but it starts opening up past that. That's with a rossi tuffy turkey with the factory choke and apex 9.5. I may be able to tighten the spread a little with experimenting with loads and chokes but 40 is plenty for me.
 
If you want more of a challenge just set rules for yourself and effective range won’t be an issue. .410 at standard hunting ranges shouldn’t be an issue (inside 30-40 yards).

My “rules” for archery are that a bird (not a Jake) must gobble on his way in and strut through the decoys before I shoot them. Decoys are set so they strut inside of 20 yards. I don’t use a blind and I’m a very average caller, so it’s a fun hunt!
 
If you went in deep and tested multiple loads and chokes probably 50 yards, otherwise 40 is likely going to be max.

A cheap 12ga lead load is probably less effective than .410 TSS, not including long beard XR.
 
My wife killed one last year at 55 with .410 and TSS #9. Range limit was supposed to be 40 but she misjudged. Ethical range is going to be pattern dependent.

I remember reading that theoretically TSS 9s will penetrate 2” at 70 yards at ~1200fps muzzle velocity. The smaller shot has lower surface area so will penetrate better than larger lead pellets. Also, smaller shot = more pellets = increased pattern density.
 
Thanks, first ride with the TSS. I've always had a self-imposed 40 yard limit using Winchester Long Beard XR with the 870 12 gauge so 40 works for me. I guess I'm old fashioned, I've always tried to call them in to within twenty yards rather than seeing how far I can shoot. Never saw the need for TSS in a 12 gauge but that's just me.
 
I hear that, I started hand loading TSS prior to the availability from commercial loads, basically started to have the ability to carry lighter guns! I kill most of my birds inside 30 but it is nice to have some buffer for those "40 yard" shots that turn out to be closer to 50!
 
Have never killed any with TSS out of my .410s, only lead 4s and 6s. It’s what I used for probably my first 6 or 7 years of Turkey hunting til I graduated to a 12. Never had any issues stoning birds 40-45 yards and in with mossberg 500 .410 factory full choke and lead. TSS i’d imagine 50 and in easy but if patterned well could reach out to 60.
 
Bud of mine killed a gobbler last fall, it was right around 50 w his .410. Said he had no clue it was that far, also mentioned it stoned the gobbler, and he never flopped. He hand loads 9.5's
 
We’ve been using TSS in the Rossi & Savage single shots for about five years…. So probably 25 birds total. All but one has been bang flop out to 52 yards. The vast majority of the birds have been sub 30 yards. I had one bird get away. Forty yards away & I felt like the shot was good. Watched him run for about 75 yards. Found some blood, but never could find the bird. No explanation other than a hole in the pattern. I have used federal tss and apex tss. We have a mix of factory full and aftermarket chokes. It has definitely made turkey hunting fun again.


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