Who loads their own TSS shells?

Again I dont think most are doing it for Cost Savings being the main objective, however I think currently my cost per shell is around 3.75 but I bought most all my stuff years ago when prices where lower.

My main point and I think I can speak for a lot of guys that have been doing it since the beginning is, The #1 and #2 reason are its fun, and something about killing birds with shells you personally loaded up feels great. #2 reason being you know 100% the load will be exactly the same today as it is 5 years from now cause you can load them. While Apex or other factory ones shoot great for you today, some day they may change the buffer/wad/powerder or other stuff and they dont publish that. SO a load that was GREAT in your gun now may not be or it may not shoot the same POI all the sudden.

Maybe I am jaded from the old federal heavyweight days but I just love the confidence that its going to shoot exactly the same every year no matter what.

just to add, you also can somewhat play with the load like rifle shells. You can subtract some buffer, or subtract some powder and see how that does to your pattern if you want.

lastly, for testing you can build a shot trap for pretty cheap and get back around 95% of every TSS pellet you shoot and then just keep reloading them to test. In the beginning thats exactly what I did, so I could shoot 10 shells to test chokes and loads and I really wasnt out much money at all because I would just collect all the shot after shooting it and load it again.
 
megalomaniac said:
F

Thread 'Fiocchi Golden Turkey TSS'

I have bought from Freedom Munitions several times with no problems. Seems like a decent deal.
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I bought like 8 or 9 boxes (mostly #7s for coyotes).

Keep your eyes open, check ammoseek.

Usually best deals are toward end of April and May.
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man that cheap, at that price Id buy a couple boxes just to cut them open and take the shot out :)
 
REN said:
Maybe I am jaded from the old federal heavyweight days but I just love the confidence that its going to shoot exactly the same every year no matter what.
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12ga 3" maroon shell w/gold lettering 2oz of copper-plated 4s or 6s...absolute hammers back in the day.
 
REN said:
having said all that, IF I were to ever tote a 12 gauge again I for sure wouldnt bother with TSS in it. Id just shoot magblends or longbeards. 12 gauge TSS for me just isnt worth the cost for what you are gaining.
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My dad has an old 11-87 special purpose from when they first started making them in bottomland camo. I've thought about throwing some 3" #6 longbeard in it and toting it a couple times
 
I realize this may not be a popular opinion with some, but I 110% believe 1 ounce of TSS #9s with correct choke/pattern testing will kill turkeys as dead as my old school lead #4s out to 40-45 yards. One of the original TSS loads I rolled from was Hal's 12G 3" Duplex "economical load" that had 1 ounce TSS #9s on bottom and 1.25 ounce of lead 7.5s on top. I was paying $60/pound for TSS #9s at that point in 2015 and getting 8 12G shells when loading 2 ounce 12G shells, so I was experimenting with cost saving measures (splitting hairs in the big picture). The thought behind the economical duplex was plenty of pattern density from all pellets at 30 yards and under, and TSS pellets (360 of them) would do the work 30-45 yards, if needed. I clearly recall an old gobbler hanging up in the wide open no-foliage timber in Missouri at 45 yards (or so I thought) and me killing him dead as an hammer just as he raised his head and tucked his wings. I stepped it off as 52 steps from base of tree to where he lay in logging road. My stride is 2.9 yards per step, so it was a solid 50 yards, little more than I realized when I fired. Obviously, the TSS pellets did all the work at that distance, not the lead 7.5s. Food for thought for those that load/buy/shoot TSS.
 
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mwbenelli1996 said:
My dad has an old 11-87 special purpose from when they first started making them........
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My first dedicated turkey gun in late 90s was the brother to that gun. REM 870 SP 12G 23" barrel in Mossy Oak Breakup. I have so many fond memories of that gun and I in the turkey woods, but it rarely sees the light of day these days. It has been a safe queen for right at a decade now.
 
Andy S. said:
My first dedicated turkey gun in late 90s was the brother to that gun. REM 870 SP 12G 23" barrel in Mossy Oak Breakup. I have so many fond memories of that gun and I in the turkey woods, but it rarely sees the light of day these days. It has been a safe queen for right at a decade now.
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I'd love to come across pretty much any old 870 like that. I have a youth model express from the early 2000's in 20 gauge that was my first gun, it's still deadly with a $20 choke and some #9 tss
 
Andy S. said:
I realize this may not be a popular opinion with some, but I 110% believe 1 ounce of TSS #9s with correct choke/pattern testing will kill turkeys as dead as my old school lead #4s out to 40-45 yards. One of the original TSS loads I rolled from was Hal's 12G 3" Duplex "economical load" that had 1 ounce TSS #9s on bottom and 1.25 ounce of lead 7.5s on top. I was paying $60/pound for TSS #9s at that point in 2015 and getting 8 12G shells when loading 2 ounce 12G shells, so I was experimenting with cost saving measures (splitting hairs in the big picture). The thought behind the economical duplex was plenty of pattern density from all pellets at 30 yards and under, and TSS pellets (360 of them) would do the work 30-45 yards, if needed. I clearly recall an old gobbler hanging up in the wide open no-foliage timber in Missouri at 45 yards (or so I thought) and me killing him dead as an hammer just as he raised his head and tucked his wings. I stepped it off as 52 steps from base of tree to where he lay in logging road. My stride is 2.9 yards per step, so it was a solid 50 yards, little more than I realized when I fired. Obviously, the TSS pellets did all the work at that distance, not the lead 7.5s. Food for thought for those that load/buy/shoot TSS.
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1 oz of 9 ,9.5's, or #10 kills them every spring out of the mighty 410. A 1 1/4oz of the same out of a twenty is plenty to kill birds farther than need be, im getting 230's with a 11/4 oz #9 at 40 and thats way more than needed
 
Andy S. said:
I realize this may not be a popular opinion with some, but I 110% believe 1 ounce of TSS #9s with correct choke/pattern testing will kill turkeys as dead as my old school lead #4s out to 40-45 yards. One of the original TSS loads I rolled from was Hal's 12G 3" Duplex "economical load" that had 1 ounce TSS #9s on bottom and 1.25 ounce of lead 7.5s on top. I was paying $60/pound for TSS #9s at that point in 2015 and getting 8 12G shells when loading 2 ounce 12G shells, so I was experimenting with cost saving measures (splitting hairs in the big picture). The thought behind the economical duplex was plenty of pattern density from all pellets at 30 yards and under, and TSS pellets (360 of them) would do the work 30-45 yards, if needed. I clearly recall an old gobbler hanging up in the wide open no-foliage timber in Missouri at 45 yards (or so I thought) and me killing him dead as an hammer just as he raised his head and tucked his wings. I stepped it off as 52 steps from base of tree to where he lay in logging road. My stride is 2.9 yards per step, so it was a solid 50 yards, little more than I realized when I fired. Obviously, the TSS pellets did all the work at that distance, not the lead 7.5s. Food for thought for those that load/buy/shoot TSS.
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www.powdervalley.com

TSS Shot TSS Light Turkey Ammunition 12 Gauge 3" 1 oz #9 Shot Box of 5 | Powder Valley Outdoors

Kill gobblers at longer distances than ever before with Federal HEAVYWEIGHT TSS Turkey Ammunition. Its payloads of HEAVYWEIGHT Tungsten Super Shot provide the highest pellet counts possible. The tungsten-alloy material’s 18 gm/cc density is 22 percent higher than standard tungsten and 56 percent...
www.powdervalley.com www.powdervalley.com

here you go.... pretty sure it's Hal's recipie. good luck loading it for less yourself!
 
megalomaniac said:
www.powdervalley.com

TSS Shot TSS Light Turkey Ammunition 12 Gauge 3" 1 oz #9 Shot Box of 5 | Powder Valley Outdoors

Kill gobblers at longer distances than ever before with Federal HEAVYWEIGHT TSS Turkey Ammunition. Its payloads of HEAVYWEIGHT Tungsten Super Shot provide the highest pellet counts possible. The tungsten-alloy material’s 18 gm/cc density is 22 percent higher than standard tungsten and 56 percent...
www.powdervalley.com www.powdervalley.com

here you go.... pretty sure it's Hal's recipie. good luck loading it for less yourself!
Click to expand...

wow that load still uses the flightcontrol wad? man that thing was tough to deal with lol especially when it came to chokes.
 
megalomaniac said:
www.powdervalley.com

TSS Shot TSS Light Turkey Ammunition 12 Gauge 3" 1 oz #9 Shot Box of 5 | Powder Valley Outdoors

Kill gobblers at longer distances than ever before with Federal HEAVYWEIGHT TSS Turkey Ammunition. Its payloads of HEAVYWEIGHT Tungsten Super Shot provide the highest pellet counts possible. The tungsten-alloy material’s 18 gm/cc density is 22 percent higher than standard tungsten and 56 percent...
www.powdervalley.com www.powdervalley.com

here you go.... pretty sure it's Hal's recipie. good luck loading it for less yourself!
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Thats a 1 oz load which is plenty and the 2oz liad is only 39.99https://www.powdervalley.com/product/tss-shot-12-ga-2-oz-9-3-tss-turkey/
 
Unless someone is loading factory loads with the exact same components I'm using, I can say with almost 100% certainty that there's not a factory load (from the mainstream ammo companies) out there that can outperform my handloads. Using a flight control wad would more than guarantee that. My loads will also be far more consistent from one shell to another.

I'm definitely loading for no more than $5 per shell, especially when you consider that I re-claim shot from patterning.

I'll repeat what I said earlier, most of us are handloading because that was the only option at one time.

To each their own though...
 
Jbird22 said:
Unless someone is loading factory loads with the exact same components I'm using, I can say with almost 100% certainty that there's not a factory load (from the mainstream ammo companies) out there that can outperform my handloads. Using a flight control wad would more than guarantee that. My loads will also be far more consistent from one shell to another.

I'm definitely loading for no more than $5 per shell, especially when you consider that I re-claim shot from patterning.

I'll repeat what I said earlier, most of us are handloading because that was the only option at one time.

To each their own though...
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Yep…this.

I got into it with figuring that after shipping and tax, apex would be around 15$ a shell now. For my first 50 it would be about the same including my whole start up cost. The next 450 are under 6$ a shell…so cost wise not including my time doing it which I enjoy, it makes more sense to load my own.

I know for a fact how many pellets and all are in each of my shells. It's cool to kill or have friends kill with your own shells.
 

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