A revelation in shotgun hunting.

[quigley257]

I have been following the development and use of TSS shot for a while now. Like many others, I looked at the performance claims with a raised eyebrow and more than a hint of doubt. After much research and reading and watching videos of pioneers and users of TSS, I decided to bite the bullet and purchase some factory rounds to try on pheasants this year. I am old school and shot lead for ducks until it was banned. The switch to steel shot with its much more limited performance really switched me off of waterfowl hunting. As an upland hunter, my only non-toxic requirements are for GPAs and WMAs, etc. where it is needed for pheasant hunting. Steel shot has caused far too many cripples/losses compared to heavier shot types, even when going up in shot size. I tried out the Federal Black Cloud TSS shells with the 3 and 9 shot sizes. It is a Duplex load with 3/4oz of #9 TSS and 1/2oz of #3 flitestopper steel shot at 1450fps. I followed recommendations and used a skeet choke because the TSS patterns so tightly. My personal results were 9 birds killed with 10 rounds fired. Terminal effects were amazing. All but one rooster was dead on Impact with only one that flopped a couple times after Impact. The only birds lost in our hunting party were ones shot with steel loads. I am impressed with the performance of this stuff. To give the uninformed an idea of its effectiveness, here are some figures to consider.

Shot density in g/cc
Steel - 7.9
Bismuth - 9.8
Lead - 11.1
TSS - 18

This translates into ballistic gel penetration of 1.5" at the following yardages with a common speed of 1450fps with the following shot types and sizes.
#4 steel @32 yards
#3 steel @48 yards

#9 TSS @73 yards
#7 TSS @118 yards
This is enhanced by the fact that your pattern density goes way up because you shoot far more and much smaller pellets in the same payload. The only downside that I see is the cost as TSS is expensive compared to other shot types. The proof is in the performance however. One round of TSS is a bargain compared to multiple rounds of steel and lost game and time afield searching for it. I'm a believer in TSS and will be hand loading my own for next season. The guys out there using 410 bore and 28 gauge to effectively harvest large geese and turkey at astonishing ranges are leaders in TSS development. I hope to have a killer load worked up for my 28 gauge for use on wild South Dakota roosters for next year. If you have the opportunity to try TSS, I highly recommend it. It kills like nothing I've ever used before.
Good luck and good shooting!

 

[Critter Picker]

Thanks for the great article. I have been thinking about trying this myself.

 

[amu_shooter]

Man, this is great stuff....thank you for sharing. Have TSS shot/wads on order for my 20 and .410 to reload.

 

[Darryle]

5/8oz of #9 TSS from 28ga and 1/2oz of #9 from a 410

It is the best thing to happen for waterfowl hunters since Tom Roster sold a bill of goods to everyone with the NILO farms tests.

I wonder how many birds died and were never recovered using steel versus how many actually died from ingesting lead.

I was witness to 6-7 days straight of limits using the TSS last year alone.

 

[Stk]

Thanks for the write up. What a fun trip.

 

[M1A1ABRAMS]

I have been following the development and use of TSS shot for a while now. Like many others, I looked at the performance claims with a raised eyebrow and more than a hint of doubt. After much research and reading and watching videos of pioneers and users of TSS, I decided to bite the bullet and purchase some factory rounds to try on pheasants this year. I am old school and shot lead for ducks until it was banned. The switch to steel shot with its much more limited performance really switched me off of waterfowl hunting. As an upland hunter, my only non-toxic requirements are for GPAs and WMAs, etc. where it is needed for pheasant hunting. Steel shot has caused far too many cripples/losses compared to heavier shot types, even when going up in shot size. I tried out the Federal Black Cloud TSS shells with the 3 and 9 shot sizes. It is a Duplex load with 3/4oz of #9 TSS and 1/2oz of #3 flitestopper steel shot at 1450fps. I followed recommendations and used a skeet choke because the TSS patterns so tightly. My personal results were 9 birds killed with 10 rounds fired. Terminal effects were amazing. All but one rooster was dead on Impact with only one that flopped a couple times after Impact. The only birds lost in our hunting party were ones shot with steel loads. I am impressed with the performance of this stuff. To give the uninformed an idea of its effectiveness, here are some figures to consider.

Shot density in g/cc
Steel - 7.9
Bismuth - 9.8
Lead - 11.1
TSS - 18

This translates into ballistic gel penetration of 1.5" at the following yardages with a common speed of 1450fps with the following shot types and sizes.
#4 steel @32 yards
#3 steel @48 yards

#9 TSS @73 yards
#7 TSS @118 yards
This is enhanced by the fact that your pattern density goes way up because you shoot far more and much smaller pellets in the same payload. The only downside that I see is the cost as TSS is expensive compared to other shot types. The proof is in the performance however. One round of TSS is a bargain compared to multiple rounds of steel and lost game and time afield searching for it. I'm a believer in TSS and will be hand loading my own for next season. The guys out there using 410 bore and 28 gauge to effectively harvest large geese and turkey at astonishing ranges are leaders in TSS development. I hope to have a killer load worked up for my 28 gauge for use on wild South Dakota roosters for next year. If you have the opportunity to try TSS, I highly recommend it. It kills like nothing I've ever used before.
Good luck and good shooting!
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I would love to just see some of these beautiful birds again in my area of PA. As a kid they were so much fun to hunt. And quite tasty. I wish I had the know how to reintroduce them again into the ecosystem.

 

[quigley257]

5/8oz of #9 TSS from 28ga and 1/2oz of #9 from a 410

It is the best thing to happen for waterfowl hunters since Tom Roster sold a bill of goods to everyone with the NILO farms tests.

I wonder how many birds died and were never recovered using steel versus how many actually died from ingesting lead.

I was witness to 6-7 days straight of limits using the TSS last year alone.

I too have wondered about the mortality rates of birds crippled with steel versus ingesting lead while feeding. I imagine the steel shot rate is much higher than the lead rate. I'm not aware of any studies that show otherwise, the problem is it just doesn't fit the greenies narrative