Cranfield Posted May 28, 2017 Report Share Posted May 28, 2017 A friend from the US sent me an email regarding a recent (very successful) turkey hunting trip to Kansas. Here is an extract regarding what equipment they used, I was very surprised they were using steel and the shot size. "We're all carrying 20 gauges. 5 birds all died within 30 yards to them. We had 3 others inside of gun range that we could not close the deal on for one reason or another (mostly hard hearing a soft gobbling bird in these extreme winds!) I'm carrying a stoeger M3020 youth model, one is carrying a benelli super 90 and the third is carrying a Remington 870 youth model. All three guns are equipped with a Sumtoy Customs choke by William Lambert - his chokes won all divisions at the NWTF shoot this year. Shells were all hand loaded 2 3/4" or 3" roll crimps. Shot was #9 TSS (Tungsten Super Shot @ 18g/cc). Yes, you're thinking we're crazy with this "pixie dust" shot but you should see what it does to turkeys. Never seen something lay them down with as little flopping as these do! We've killed 9 birds this spring between us with them out to around 45 yards. They all hit the dirt and quiver, little else, and especially no major flopping around! Hand loaded they're about the cost of The Federal Heavyweight, maybe $.50 more+/- " Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TIGHTCHOKE Posted May 28, 2017 Report Share Posted May 28, 2017 Interesting. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
motty Posted May 28, 2017 Report Share Posted May 28, 2017 Yeah, interesting stuff. Not steel, obviously, but a tungsten based shot. I have a very similar product (heavyweight 18) in a size 7.5 ( can't remember diameter in mm.). The few geese I shot with it last season were very convincingly killed - the damage was impressive. Expensive, but great stuff. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cranfield Posted May 28, 2017 Author Report Share Posted May 28, 2017 Yeah, interesting stuff. Not steel, obviously, but a tungsten based shot. Oooops, a senior moment, he is using a tungsten based shot, as you rightly point out. In previous correspondence he has often talked of his experimentation with steel/tungsten/hevi shot hybrid loads. He is an ardent homeloader. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Continental Shooter Posted May 29, 2017 Report Share Posted May 29, 2017 TSS is great but the g/cc ratio - and cost- puts it for me out of range for a cheapish non-toxic shell. I am focussing on ITX-10 for next season; where you can probably almost replicate lead like shells using fairly cheap/available powders Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Whitebridges Posted May 29, 2017 Report Share Posted May 29, 2017 Has your friend commented as to what the birds were like for the table? I wondered whether they might be a bit "peppered"? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
casts_by_fly Posted May 29, 2017 Report Share Posted May 29, 2017 Probably not a pellet in the meat. You head shoot turkeys with quite tight chokes. You want a super dense pattern to get a half dozen or more pelts in the head and neck. That is why's tinier shot is great- more pellet density. The problem is that turkeys can hang up at 40+ yards. #9 lead has the density at 60+ yards to kill cleanly, but not the energy. Heavy weight shot like noted carries the energy further while keeping the pattern density up. I can see the appeal of this shot in a light load 20. A standard turkey load is American #6 lead in a 3" cartridge pushing about an ounce and a half or so (42g). I shot up to 2 oz but my normal load was 1 7/8 #6. I'd like to see the comparison of pellet energy and pattern density between my loads and an ounce of the hw18 noted. Rick Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest cookoff013 Posted May 30, 2017 Report Share Posted May 30, 2017 TSS is great but the g/cc ratio - and cost- puts it for me out of range for a cheapish non-toxic shell. I am focussing on ITX-10 for next season; where you can probably almost replicate lead like shells using fairly cheap/available powders tss is great, the #9 is about equivalent to a #1or#2 lead shot. its because the density is nearly double that of good hard christian lead. that itx 10 is fantastic stuff. it is perfectly ballanced between cheap enough to reload, not too expensive enough to shoot. i cant understand sometimes when reloading recipes come out and its £1 worth or £2 worth of alliant steel, to shoot an ounce of shot. i know speed kills, but there has to be cheaper way of shooting than that. for the same money, normal powder, and itx10 is actually more value per shell, and offers performance while its doing it. no point shooting 28gram steel 1500fps when it costs a fortune to get it to do that, whereas it could cost the same or even less in powder to shoot itx10. and have better performance 40+ yards (even better sub 30yards.) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Continental Shooter Posted May 31, 2017 Report Share Posted May 31, 2017 tss is great, the #9 is about equivalent to a #1or#2 lead shot. its because the density is nearly double that of good hard christian lead. that itx 10 is fantastic stuff. it is perfectly ballanced between cheap enough to reload, not too expensive enough to shoot. i cant understand sometimes when reloading recipes come out and its £1 worth or £2 worth of alliant steel, to shoot an ounce of shot. i know speed kills, but there has to be cheaper way of shooting than that. for the same money, normal powder, and itx10 is actually more value per shell, and offers performance while its doing it. no point shooting 28gram steel 1500fps when it costs a fortune to get it to do that, whereas it could cost the same or even less in powder to shoot itx10. and have better performance 40+ yards (even better sub 30yards.) I could not agree more! and that's why i veered towards ITX-10 you've seen the two patterns; and i know there is a lot to improve as they seemed too fast but since i can't link in with Saddler and George is not answering, i think i need to wait till the SGA to send these to C&G to proof test. In exchange i'll have some Tecna off them (i hope) which will allow me to further test this for the up and coming (my first real) wildfowling season... It's a wee shame as i'd hoped to get them tested long before that just to be able to fine tune them... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest cookoff013 Posted May 31, 2017 Report Share Posted May 31, 2017 yeah, i missed all my timing targets last year. i still havent tested my 3" jobbies. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
motty Posted May 31, 2017 Report Share Posted May 31, 2017 I can't recall any recipes that require £1 or £2 worth of powder. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest cookoff013 Posted June 1, 2017 Report Share Posted June 1, 2017 I can't recall any recipes that require £1 or £2 worth of powder. motty. i bought some alliant steel for testing. worked out (negative hazmat) to about £80per lb. that was during a alliant steel powder shortage. 381 wasnt about or just about coming through. this is how long it was, i had batch 15- alliant steel ! i was trying out the 38grain /32g steel speeder loads. wish i had put that money into powershot instead. now i know alittle more about ballistics, i`d have shot powershot with vectan A0. would have been way cheaper, and a hundred times better. even powershot had limted data. times change. alliant steel is £41per lb. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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