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wow 10-12 bucks a round for 20 ga TSS should I be rolling my own. cost???

Started by NEWYORKHILLBILLY, July 22, 2025, 08:54:11 AM

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NEWYORKHILLBILLY

well I getting into TSS with a couple new 20ga guns. federal seems to be the only brand that I can find in New York state. Cant have it shipped to this state. bass Pro and cabelas will not let you buy on line and have it shipped to store and stores don't have any. 

thinking of rolling my own  what's it cost per round? I looked into it some I have a drill press and powder scale. do you save anything? loaded ammo seems to be 10-12 bucks a round for 20 ga.

in September I be making a trip out west where i can probably pick this stuff up ,but if i could save some money reloading it be worth it.
where do you find load data on the tss?

Ranger

You'll still have over $7/ shell in them. Most folks I know that load their own do it to make sure they have the options they shoot well when they need/want them and not rely on the market. Time goes into loading them as well, lots of time. 
"One can work for his gobbler by learning to communicate with him, or one can 'buy' his turkey with a decoy.  The choice is up to the 'hunter' " --William Yarbrough

PharmHunter

You aren't going to save much money, but I enjoy loading my own.  First of the year it always kicks off my Spring routine starting to load and pattern shells/guns.

CALLM2U

As others have said, you're not going to save much money. 

May be worth hitting up some local gun shops when you make a trip or two out of town.  Or if you have some family members who live in a different state, you could have it shipped to them. 

silent tom

You'll have to find an overseas supplier to buy direct from to save much money. You are looking at a 10 kilogram minimum more than likely (22 lbs). 

If I were just now looking into loading my own, I'd heavily consider finding a shell you liked and buying as many of the same run as you could afford/justify.

kwild835

I don't know where guys are getting their TSS from, but I have around $5 per 1 5/8oz shell.
I like loading them and not worrying about if the manufacturer decided to change up components without me knowing. 
If I did go the commercial route, I would do as others have stated and buy as many as I could afford if I found a winning combo.

Boykin Hollow

TSS shot is running approximately $50 a pound.  You can roughly ten shells out of a pound so right off you have $5.00 in each shell not to mention the other components.  I load shotgun shells for clays year round and I just enjoy doing it so I never count my time in the equation. All said and done you will have 7-8 in each shell,  cost of everything you will need to get started will be around $250-300 bucks.

GobbleNut

At the end of the day, I think it all comes down to how many shells you shoot in a season. Most turkey seasons, I shoot less than a 5-pack of TSS...and the most I have ever shot was eight in a season. At that rate...which I don't expect to change...I can't come up with any valid reason to make that initial investment to start loading them myself.

There are obviously folks on here to which loading shells, target shooting, pellet counting, and comparing all of those things in various combinations and guns is "their thing". Nothing wrong with that, but before you make the reloading investment, I would suggest you ask yourself if it is going to become "your thing".  :icon_thumright:  :)

Greg Massey

Quote from: GobbleNut on July 27, 2025, 09:01:02 AMAt the end of the day, I think it all comes down to how many shells you shoot in a season. Most turkey seasons, I shoot less than a 5-pack of TSS...and the most I have ever shot was eight in a season. At that rate...which I don't expect to change...I can't come up with any valid reason to make that initial investment to start loading them myself.

There are obviously folks on here to which loading shells, target shooting, pellet counting, and comparing all of those things in various combinations and guns is "their thing". Nothing wrong with that, but before you make the reloading investment, I would suggest you ask yourself if it is going to become "your thing".  :icon_thumright:  :)

X2 .. I agree,,, at my age I see no reason to invest in all the stuff needed to reload them. I already have all I will ever use in my lifetime and more ...

Dtrkyman

I started hand loading my own years ago, no TSS loads were being produced commercially yet, I bought a roll crimp tool and scale as far as tools.  Use a cordless drill with an attachment that makes it work like a press that I already had.

Powder, hulls, wads and other components come in large quantities and last for a long time, some 250ct at a crack, so after the initial investment things get pretty cheap other than shot, which is getting pretty spendy!

I remember I had less than 6 bux per round into my hand loads, really saw no increase until this past year in shot, you can go crazy trying a bunch of loads from different suppliers but I have only ever shot 2, just switched last year as I bought shot from a new supplier and his load was easier to load, less components and slight increase in pattern.

Tough call maybe now with all the loads available but still think I would load my own, even on my best seasons I shot less than 15 rounds typically.

I enjoy loading my own and know what I am getting, when I am finished loading a batch and I weigh each shell to confirm consistency, they are virtually identical when done and all loaded exactly the same as far as process.  Have never had a misfire or poor performance, well other than my own poor performance!

I solely started loading to carry a lighter gun, and If I were starting from scratch, even from the gun stand point I would find the lightest weight 28ga and roll with it!

Probably go .410 soon and will likely try commercial loads first. :icon_thumright:

NEWYORKHILLBILLY

I like to get the load data for Ronny savages lil hammer load 20ga.  anyone have any contact info for Ronny savage?  I tried sending him I PM about a week ago.looks like he not on here to offten. seems everyone is tight lipped on the load data . pretty hard for me to figure cost without know what component are needed 

Greg Massey

Shannon doesn't allow load date on the forum because of liability reasons and i'm sure it's the same reason with others. I believe if you buy your shot, you can get load information.

But sharing that kind of information on this forum has always been a NO NO..

Guskie

In my opinion, reloading only makes sense if you build a shot trap to catch the rounds fired during load testing and checking POA/POI.

With that said, I have all the loading equipment and a shot trap, but the last couple of years I have been buying Apex because I haven't had time to load.