Ozarkansas
WKR
- Joined
- Nov 10, 2020
- Messages
- 315
I'm hunting an area down in Texas with tons of hogs that only allows shotguns and archery. Since some times of the year you can only have birdshot in your possession and since Texas has no shot size limits I decided to buy a roll crimping bit and try my hand at loading TSS in larger sizes in my 20 gauge turkey gun. I got in touch with a guy who sold it in larger sizes, and asked for T shot, but he talked me down to BB by telling me that T was way bigger than you need and even BB will always pass through anything you could shoot at. I thought he was blowing smoke but I figured I would at least try it.
Once I got the TSS I was able to come up with a 2-3/4 load that threw 49 BBs at about 1200FPS based on load data he gave me (which had been pressure tested). patterns were decent at 30 yards through an IM choke- 30 pellets or so in a 24" circle and no pig-sized gaps anywhere in the pattern.
The first day of the season, I took it out to the area I hunt and very quickly started smelling and then hearing pigs. I was able to intercept them at a creek crossing and ripped a shot off into a clump of three pigs, dropping two. My second and third shots dropped a pig each. All pellets passed completely through, even several that passed through both femurs and the hip bones of a pig. Range was about 30 yards. Overall I was blown away by the level of destruction I saw. It was like I had set off a claymore in the woods. Every pig dropped like it got unplugged.
If you don't have shot size restrictions, definitely give TSS a try for big game in your scattergat. I now have what is essentially a 49 pellet buckshot load and may drop down a shotsize or two to bump up pellet counts even more (that guy was right, I definitely did not need T shot). TSS may be super expensive, but it's easier to justify paying $8 a pop when you're bringing down big game with it.
Once I got the TSS I was able to come up with a 2-3/4 load that threw 49 BBs at about 1200FPS based on load data he gave me (which had been pressure tested). patterns were decent at 30 yards through an IM choke- 30 pellets or so in a 24" circle and no pig-sized gaps anywhere in the pattern.
The first day of the season, I took it out to the area I hunt and very quickly started smelling and then hearing pigs. I was able to intercept them at a creek crossing and ripped a shot off into a clump of three pigs, dropping two. My second and third shots dropped a pig each. All pellets passed completely through, even several that passed through both femurs and the hip bones of a pig. Range was about 30 yards. Overall I was blown away by the level of destruction I saw. It was like I had set off a claymore in the woods. Every pig dropped like it got unplugged.
If you don't have shot size restrictions, definitely give TSS a try for big game in your scattergat. I now have what is essentially a 49 pellet buckshot load and may drop down a shotsize or two to bump up pellet counts even more (that guy was right, I definitely did not need T shot). TSS may be super expensive, but it's easier to justify paying $8 a pop when you're bringing down big game with it.