Yoder says I have the summer doldrums. Maybe. Tropical heat and humidity will do that.
I wanted to compare the guts of the 3 brands of .410 TSS shells I have. So I did some expensive destructive disections. I plan on patterning them when it's a little cooler outside. Right now, 96 degrees (106 degrees with heat index) does not make for pleasant range days.
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Federal Heavyweight TSS #9 observations:
The shot cup plastic is the thickest and stiffest of the three. The shot cup has three slits that extend from the top to about 1/4" above the bottom of the cup. Because the slits don't go to the bottom of the cup, there is a true cup at the bottom. This is not a flight control wad despite retailer descriptions that say that it is. (The box doesn't say its a flight control wad, but the retailer description did.) The wad ties with the Apex as the longest of the three. There is a cardboard shot cap that sat directly on top of the shot cup. The shot was heavily buffered. This is marked as a 13/16 oz load.
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Browing TSS #9 (loaded by Winchester) observations:
The shot cup is shorter than the Federal. The shot cup plastic is thinner and less stiff than the Federal, and about the same as the Apex. There are three slits that go to about 1/4" above the bottom of the shot cup. Like the Federal, the bottom of the shot cup is a true cup. While the cup has 3 slits, one of the slits was not complete. Two the pedals at the top of the shot cup were still attached. I can see the scratch where the slit should have been, but it did not go all the way through the plastic. The shot cup is also shorter than the Federal and Apex. The shot cup sits directly on the powder. There was no paper shot cap like with the Federal and Apex . The Browning shell has a standard crimp. The shot was very moderately buffered. This is marked as a 13/16th oz load.
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Apex Ninja #9.5 observations:
Shot cup plastic is about as thick as the Browning. This shot cup has 4 slits that go to the bottom of the shot cup. The load has a paper shot cap. The shot was very modestly buffered. The shot cup sits directly on the powder like the other two. Unlike the other two, there was a felt buffer at the bottom of the shot cup, but in the case of this shell, it was stuffed in sideways and did not properly cover the bottom of the shot cup. This is listed as a 7/8oz load. I tried measuring the shot with calipers and could not detect any difference between the #9 and #9.5. Nor did it look any different to my eye. This is marked as a 7/8oz load.
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Each shell uses a different powder.
The Apex uses a dark grey flake powder. I cut this shell open a few days ago and already discarded the powder.
The Federal and Browning use different powders. The Federal has both balls and flakes. The Browning only ball powder. The Browning ball powder is so round, it was rolling right off my desk.
