Reloading Shotgun for Tungsten - Guidance?

[RockAndSage]

Looking for a little guidance on where to start in reloading 12ga for tungsten shot. I've been experimenting with various companies' loaded shells on ducks, and have decided it's the way I want to go. It's been hammering waterfowl in ways steel and bismuth just don't, and the cost of the TSS is worth it to me to have far fewer cripples, given how little opportunity I have to actually get into birds here in Nevada.

I reload pistol and a little rifle on a Dillon 550, but have zero experience with loading shotgun. I wasn't interested in it at all until experiencing the TSS shells in the field, and now looking into the cost/benefit of rolling my own. More importantly though is that I want to be able to work up and tailor my own loads.

So, given all that, what should I be looking for in a good reloading machine? What should I watch out for? Quality matters, but at the same time I'd likely be handloading less than 300 rounds a year with it. Probably half that at best.

Any experience loading TSS you could share?

 

[Jstumbaugh]

I used to load Hevishot when we duck hunted a lot 20 years ago. With the volume you are looking at you can get a basic single stage press like a Mec 600 Jr. We were used to using 3-1/2" 12ga steel shot loads for ducks and geese and had a hard time wrapping our heads around using #4 Hevishot in 2-3/4" shells crushing birds. Looking at the newer TSS stuff, I would stick with the 2-3/4" shells and use #6-#7 shot probably, 1-1/8oz loads with some speed.

 

[MallardSX2]

Load-All II

Lee complete reloading tool with 24 shot and powder bushings. Loads 2 3/4 and 3 inch shells. Nothing else required.

leeprecision.com

Here you go. This IS the answer to your problems. For the amount you are going to reload, this will suffice. I have reloaded THOUSANDS of shells with one of these.

 

[flathead#2]

I recently bought a MEC 600 Jr.
Havent set it up yet as it's hunting season but should
have it rolling by next season.
Was planning on loading Bismuth but may try Tungsten.

 

[StupidLightweight]

I just read an article on China stopping tungsten exports to USA. Might be a good time to buy. Could get even spendier soon.

 

[Billy Goat]

In a 12 GA for waterfowl, you will want to duplex with steel for tss.


I'd look at Bucks Run and go the hw13 route.


Understand that loading shotshell is different than metallic, you don't work up loads, you don't swap components, little changes can make big pressure swings.


Find good data, then pick what you want. Play with wads, how they are cut, and chokes. That's about as much as you can do.

I use Mec and PW, the PW is nice because of how it supports the shell, sometimes the mec takes a little playing and adjusting to get the crimp right.

Really for the volume you are looking at, might just roll crimp.

 

[Rich M]

Get a MEC reloader, the collet sizers are nice too.

 

[Bluefish]

For low volume tss loading a mec Jr is my choice. Find a recipe and follow it exactly. Then go shoot. Hal Abbot, aka hawglips is the tss guru.

 

[Dryfly1]

My best advice is to buy your shot from someone who will provide you with tested load data. Shotgun loading is different from pistol/rifle. 12 gauge TSS is way overkill for ducks and geese. Many people are killing ducks with 28 gauge and 410s. The 28s are duplexed with steel 4. I just load for turkey and don't even use a loader. Just a drill press to roll crimp the shells. 20 gauge 2 &3/4 with an ounce and a half 0f 9 shot will kill turkeys way farther than they should be shot. I have yet to use this on ducks or geese but have heard/read that the results are devastating on geese at 50 yards. The biggest hurdle will be obtaining the proper components. Good luck and be careful. You don't mix and match like metallic reloading.

2GBL

 

[RockAndSage]

This is all great advice, and very much the kind of info I was hoping to hear. Thank you. Definitely didn't realize just how big of a difference reloading shotshells is from centerfire rifle and pistol, big thanks for the heads-up on all that as well.

 

[Rich M]

I started reloading on MEC and then moved over to handgun and rifle.

Precision Reloading
Ballistic Products

 

[IN2HNTN]

I've been reloading 12 ga duck & goose rounds for about 20 years now. There is very good and solid information in this thread regarding sticking with proven published recipes and not mixing & matching, like we do with metallic. If you go with 12 ga., duplexing #8 or 9 TSS with steel is something you might want to consider, still very deadly and you can save a few $$.

 

[Jstumbaugh]

Note to follow with tungsten reloading is you will need filler wads and you can’t load tungsten by volume. Each load of shot has to be weighed.

 

[SloppyJ]

I picked up some of the Hevi-Shot tungsten/steel loads. I believe they're 3 shot steel with 6 shot tungsten. I have 3 boxes of that and 3 of the straight bismuth I'm testing this year on ducks. Excited to see how they do. I went 3" instead of 3.5" and pondered the 2-3/4s even.

I reload metallic but if the results are that much better with the tungsten, I was going to look into reloading them just as you are.

What's everyone's spot for good tungsten? I don't shoot a ton of shotgun shells through the year so I'm trying to price it all out to weigh the ROI.

 

[RockAndSage]

Note to follow with tungsten reloading is you will need filler wads and you can’t load tungsten by volume. Each load of shot has to be weighed.

Why is this?

 

[Jstumbaugh]

Shot loads are 1oz, 1-1/8oz,1-1/4oz ect based on lead volume by weight. The tungsten is heavier an fills less volume. Filler fiber/felt wad spacers take up the void in the wad. Don’t take a 1-1/8oz charge bar designed for lead and expect it to drop a 1-1/8oz load of tungsten.

 

[RockAndSage]

I picked up some of the Hevi-Shot tungsten/steel loads. I believe they're 3 shot steel with 6 shot tungsten. I have 3 boxes of that and 3 of the straight bismuth I'm testing this year on ducks. Excited to see how they do. I went 3" instead of 3.5" and pondered the 2-3/4s even.

I reload metallic but if the results are that much better with the tungsten, I was going to look into reloading them just as you are.

What's everyone's spot for good tungsten? I don't shoot a ton of shotgun shells through the year so I'm trying to price it all out to weigh the ROI.

Part of what bothers me in shooting steel is the cripples. A lot of my hunting is jump-shooting ponds or rivers, so the distances are often 40-ish yards instead of the 20-30 I'd prefer when calling them into a decoy spread. But even on closer shots I'd still often end up shooting another one or two rounds to dispatch a wounded bird, especially over moving water, a windy day with it swimming away, etc. So is it really saving that much money to shoot steel instead of tungsten, if I have to shoot 2 or 3 times with steel to actually get the bird dead enough for the dog to catch up to?

Add into this that I might only get one or two shot opportunities in a day, during some parts of the season. Those are valuable to me, and I don't want them wasted. Separate from the cost of ammo, that's a lot of time and effort to put in, hit a bird, and then lose it because I chose to shoot a $1.35 round instead of a $5 round. Hell yes a canvasback or mallard is worth $5 in ammo to me.

The difference is night and day. Haven't had a single cripple with the tungsten. It's tough to really believe #8s hit harder than #2s with far denser patterns until you see it in action a few times, but it absolutely smashes them, while also leaving them in great condition.

So far I'm only running straight Tungsten, 7s and 8s in different shell lengths and payloads, from Salt Creek Custom Ammunition, and Apex.

Something to watch out for is unless it's marked TSS, then it's an alloy blend that won't be as dense. Most major companies offering "tungsten" seem to be doing a watered down alloy around the density of lead. That's a big improvement over steel, but I think the real magic in Tungsten is the pattern densities of all those small pellets, combined with just how much energy the much smaller pellets contain. Combined, there's more hits and the penetration is phenomenal - it's almost always a straight pass-through.

 

[RockAndSage]

Shot loads are 1oz, 1-1/8oz,1-1/4oz ect based on lead volume by weight. The tungsten is heavier an fills less volume. Filler fiber/felt wad spacers take up the void in the wad. Don’t take a 1-1/8oz charge bar designed for lead and expect it to drop a 1-1/8oz load of tungsten.

Ah, I see what you're saying there, makes perfect sense.

 

[ElDiablito]

I’m a huge fan of TSS. It’s almost magical. I shoot TSS in my 12 ga muzzleloader for turkeys and load steel/tss shells for waterfowl.

I use a MEC for reloading duplex loads (but I weigh out each load of steel and tss and don’t use the charge bar.

My current fav load is 1/8 to 1/4 oz of TSS (#8 or #9) with 1-1 1/8 oz of steel (usually #4 or #2). I shoot a lot fewer shells and zero cripples. The stuff is amazing.

 

[Bluefish]

TSS was running $55 or so a pound last time I checked. That makes it expensive. Probably why most of us run sub gauges, less shot and less recoil. Been loading it for 10 years or so.