TSS for turkeys?

[zacattack]

Thinking about trying some TSS loads this year but dang I feel like I need a loan to buy them. For you guys with experience with these loads, is the price worth it? Does it give the advantage regarding distance that it’s hyped up to?

 

[19hunt92]

I will first off say that I am using hevi-shot in my 12 ga gun and TSS in my 10 ga gun. Yes these shells are expensive and I question the same. My girl friend uses a 20 ga with long beard shells, cheaper version of these high end turkey shells.

99% of the time, they are way over kill. I kill most of my birds around 30 yds and same with my gf. Can't kill them more than dead and lead shot would do that just fine. Twice though, i have dropped birds at 54 and 72 yds (bad range estimate) but did kill them. This would not have happened with regular lead shot.

The patterns you get with the chokes made for these shells is what makes them, not the shell alone.

So if you never see yourself shooting over 50 yds, its not worth it. This is why I take the cheaper (lead shot hand loads) route for toms in the woods and in set up blinds and then when i run and gun in fields, i take the hevi-shot set up "just in case". I know that is not the best hunting ethics but bad range estimates were made twice and i haven't missed a bird at the trigger pull in about 7 yrs now.

 

[fatlander]

It’s not really meant for the distance advantage. Sure, you can spend a pile of money and turn a shotgun into a rifle. . . Although, getting close is what turkeys hunting is all about IMO.

OR you could carry a 20 gauge with a tss load and have better KE and coverage at 40 yards than a 12 gauge with standard lead loads.

Killing turkeys at rifle distances will always be best served using rifles. Killing turkeys at traditional distance with lighter guns that are more pleasurable to shoot is where tss shines.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

[N2TRKYS]

To me TSS is pointless for traditional ranges, regardless of the gauge on the gun. I got into loading TSS for the tighter patterns and added distance for those misjudged shots. The weight savings of going from a 12ga to a 20ga in the same configuration ain't enough to cuss a cat over. I definitely wouldn't shoot TSS based on weight savings alone.

 

[mathews8pt]

Ive shot relatively inexpensive LongBeard XR the last couple years in my 12ga and its a great load in almost any gun. This year i got the itch to try a 20ga and decided to go with TSS. Just got done patterning and with a $40 carlsons choke the 20ga is a easy 50+ yard gun. I think my 40yard 10" circle had 238 in it and 50 yards was around 170 in a 10" circle. I dont want to kill turkeys at 50 plus, but this setup leaves me a lot of room for error on range estimation.

As for the price, i dont worry to much honestly. I spend way more on arrows and broadheads. Plus your talking less then 10 shots to sight in and kill a few birds a season. To each their own, but Im staying on the TSS band wagon for now.

 

[howl]

The heavy tungsten shot kills better than lead. If you like to see your bird crumple without flopping, TSS will do that for you without having to carry a big 12ga. I've done it with a .410. That's the big advantage to TSS. You can carry a five pound repeater and give up nothing to your old 12 gauge. My .410 is under 3.5 pounds. If you consider my call bag as a unit, the gun is literally the lightest thing I carry.

Re: extended range...there's a pretty hard limit on range due to wind and gravity. You can try to turn a 12ga or 10ga into a howitzer with some success, but sixty yards is the reasonable limit. People are killing birds way, way out there with it though. I have not done, because I actually like hunting turkeys. Killing them at distance does nothing for me.

And don't forget how far TSS kills. Whereas lead sixes run out of steam fairly quickly, TSS will kill other hunters and livestock downrange like a rifle.

 

[sneaky]

Thinking about trying some TSS loads this year but dang I feel like I need a loan to buy them. For you guys with experience with these loads, is the price worth it? Does it give the advantage regarding distance that it’s hyped up to?

Worth. Every. Penny. You can kill birds at 50 yards with a 410 with TSS.

Sent from my SM-G955U using Tapatalk

 

[Gobbler36]

TSS are awesome just patterned my gun and had 174 pellets in a 10in @50 yards with #9s

This was out of a 12ga

 

[N2TRKYS]

TSS are awesome just patterned my gun and had 174 pellets in a 10in @50 yards with #9s

This was out of a 12ga

How many did you have at 40 yds? What ounce load are you using?

 

[RedneckRyRy]

I’ve been thinking about trying it with the 410. Sounds like it’s worth a shot based on these responses.

Agreed it is probably overkill a lot of the time but worth it to have the confidence if needed


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

[Unoboats]

It’s the difference between aluminum arrows and carbon shafts. I shot my grand slam last year with bow. Now I like running and gunning with a 20 ga and the apex tss shot with a jebs choke gives me the power of a 12 ya load in a lighter gun. No brainer.

 

[dr.mooseknuckles]

40 yard shot through thick volunteer pines at my 3 O’clock. Truly the only bang flop I’ve experienced.

With a 20 gauge. I’m a believer now


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

[dr.mooseknuckles]

How many did you have at 40 yds? What ounce load are you using?

My uncle is getting 60 pellets out of his .410 at 35 yds.



Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

[N2TRKYS]

My uncle is getting 60 pellets out of his .410 at 35 yds.



Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

I like 7.5s better than 9s. I'm getting 175 pellets in a 10" at 40 yards in my 20ga with the 1 5/8 ounce load. I killed one this afternoon at 50 yds with it.

 

[StrongSide]

I have friends that swear by tss, they dont shoot steel or lead anymore

 

[hardscrabbletoo]

Seems like the last 5-rd box of Fed Premium 3-inch 5’s I bought was pushing $20. I paid $38 for 3-inch 9’s TSS. So, yeah, the $3.50 premium per shot ain’t nothing to sneeze at. On the other hand, what’s it worth to avoid a running Tom dragging a busted wing?

We didn’t do extensive testing. I was skeptical (WHAT?? 9’s??) so we set out a Tom target at 50 yds and let fly to test the closest choke I had to what is recommended. A couple of shots was pretty convincing. We didn’t have to count pellet strikes.

My son’s first bird taken at 40yds. I was was doing the calling and had a ringside seat...it was a very convincing hit.


comprehensive insurance meaning in hindi

 

[Backpack Hunter]

I tend to think it is worth it. Quite frankly I don't need it the majority of the time, but I like having it when needed.

 

[CP6]

I was a bit skeptical, but I switched over to tss a couple of years ago. I’ve shot about three dozen gobblers with them so far and while dead is dead, the TSS does seem to hit them harder and I have fewer instances where i need to do the stand on head pull on feet neck break. They also give me a little insurance on misjudged distance. I shoot most of my birds under 30 yards, don’t advocate much over 40 for 90% of hunters, and would never shoot one past 50, mainly because I want to call them in as close as I can, not see how far I can possibly kill one (which inevitably leads to wounding). Do I see a benefit over lead? For me yes. Would I cry if tss was no longer available and feel handicapped going back to lead? No.

Oh the one thing that concerns me is the platform Apex ammo and some choke tube companies are taking advocating longer shots using tss. I’ve tested the shot extensively and they are potentially lethal to humans at a far far greater range than lead. A tss #9 can puncture your suck assembly or clip an artery easily which I fear will happen eventually due to these companies pushing “shoot farther” coupled with poor target ID at longer ranges.

 

[Jsc]

Seems like the last 5-rd box of Fed Premium 3-inch 5’s I bought was pushing $20. I paid $38 for 3-inch 9’s TSS. So, yeah, the $3.50 premium per shot ain’t nothing to sneeze at. On the other hand, what’s it worth to avoid a running Tom dragging a busted wing?

We didn’t do extensive testing. I was skeptical (WHAT?? 9’s??) so we set out a Tom target at 50 yds and let fly to test the closest choke I had to what is recommended. A couple of shots was pretty convincing. We didn’t have to count pellet strikes.

My son’s first bird taken at 40yds. I was was doing the calling and had a ringside seat...it was a very convincing hit.


comprehensive insurance meaning in hindi

What size choke were you shooting

 

[hardscrabbletoo]

What size choke were you shooting

.665, which is tighter than recommended.

Edited to say:

I couldn’t find a consensus and I never found a recommended choke size from Federal. There were some comments that choke size might be less critical with the wad they’re using, but I have a hard time making sense of that. (Although I consider their Flight Control wad to be a miracle of modern science.) There were more comments from what appear to be (take it for what it’s worth) hunters that know what they are doing, and claimed to have tested, that the magic number is .675.

I’ve spent as much time looking for magic numbers as Congress has looking for deficit reductions, with about the same result. My experience is that shotguns do what they want to do with any given load and until you do the shooting you can’t know for certain.

My boy was shooting my old Benelli SBE. I don’t remember the choke brand, and the gun is still at the farm, 3 hours away, so I can’t go look. The very limited testing we did was at 50 yds and E shot the bird within a yd or two of 40. That’s about as far as I’ll take a poke at one, and he had very clear rules of engagement, as in ‘when he steps out in the clearing but NOT BEFORE’.

The advantage I was hoping to get was increased energy while maintaining or increasing pellet strikes on the bird, rather than killing them out further. I haven’t killed more than a bird or two out of fields in years, and getting 5-shot level energy out of a cloud of 9’s is clearly an advantage when there is a possibility brush or foliage might be a factor.