Quote from: Johnnemily on February 22, 2018, 12:06:44 PM
This is a good argument lol a number 5 longbeard with the right choke will kill 10/10 birds at 50 yds why pay 7-9 bucks a shell if your only judging 40 yd performance? What is the exact density comparison for lead pellet size in equivalence to a tss #9?
I recently took the plunge into reloading TSS. In NY we are limited to #8 shot for hunting turkeys so keep this in mind as #9 TSS has about 100 more pellets per load than #8 shot which in theory would give you even more pellets. I shot #6 longbeards prior to reloading TSS. The fact is both will kill turkeys inside 40 yards no problem, however, the TSS will give you a MUCH better pattern at close ranges. I used a factory full choke this past weekend, since my turkey chokes were TOO tight for TSS. This gave me a pattern at 20 yards which was almost twice the diameter as my longbeard #6 pattern and yet yielded the SAME pellet count in a 10in circle at 40 yards! This really opens up the room for error in close range shots in my opinion. This is with a 3in 12gauge shooting 2ounce loads of TSS #8s.
The benefits of TSS start shining in small bore shotguns or for those who simply do not want to have to find that perfect choke combo as TSS will do well with factory chokes. Imagine getting an effective turkey killing load in a 20guage shotgun which out performs your 12gauge 3.5inch loads! OR imagine a 410 shotgun which performs just as good as your 12gauge loads. My next turkey gun will be a 20gauge to reduce the weight I have to carry in the field AND reduce the cost to load the shells.
