The turkey ammo market has been flipped on its head this yr because the price of Tungsten Super Shot skyrocketed. Amid the turmoil, ammo producers are working to offer one of the best turkey hundreds they will at costs that prospects can abdomen. Some are loading a less-dense tungsten pellet as a method of avoiding the harshest tariffs. Others are stacking tungsten pellets with lead.
However nonetheless, all of those hundreds are far more costly than good previous lead ammo. So which of those turkey hundreds are prime performers? And the way a lot additional efficiency do they provide in comparison with the highest lead turkey ammo?
Finest Turkey Hundreds
Extra Hundreds We Examined
To be able to reply these questions, the OL group carried out an in-depth turkey load check, taking pictures prime hundreds by means of two weapons (with completely different choke constrictions), to measure sample density and pellet penetration on ballistic gel. We examined tungsten hundreds at 60 yards and lead hundreds at 40 yards. To guage sample density we counted the variety of pellet strikes inside a 10-inch circle drawn over the core of the sample. We had been on the lookout for no less than 100 pellet strikes within the zone (as is the long-held commonplace) for constant lethality. To jump to our full testing protocol, click here.
Additionally, try my critiques of one of the best 20 gauge turkey loads and finest .410 turkey loads.
| Load | Av. 60 Yd Sample, Rem (.660) | Av. 60 Yd Sample, Moss (.695) | Av. 60 Yd Sample, Mixed | Shot Measurement | Payload | Pellet Materials |
| Apex Greenleaf | 199 | 137 | 168 | 9 & 10 | 2 1/4 oz | TSS (18 g/cc) |
| Winchester Lengthy Beard Tungsten | 156 | 146 | 151 | 9 | 2 1/4 oz | Tung (17 g/cc) |
| Winchester Lengthy Beard XR | 147 (40 yds) | 121 (40 yds) | 134 (40 yds) | 6 | 1 3/4 oz | Lead (11 g/cc) |
| Apex GT-3 | 145 | 91 | 118 | 9 | 2 1/4 oz | TSS (18 g/cc) |
| Boss Tom | 131 | 103 | 117 | 9 | 2 1/2 oz | TSS (18 g/cc) |
| Hevi Shot | 121 | 100 | 110 | 9 | 2 oz | TSS (18 g/cc) |
| Federal Customized Store | 105 | 104 | 104 | 9 | 2 1/2 oz | TSS (18 g/cc) |
| Migra Hybrid | 90 (40 yds) | No Information | No Information | 9 & 5 | 2 oz | Lead & Tung (17 g/cc) |
| Federal Grand Slam | 54 (40 yds) | 62 (40 yds) | 58 (40 yds) | 6 | 1 3/4 oz | Lead (11 g/cc) |
Editor’s Selection, Finest TSS Load: Apex Greenleaf
Professionals
- Extremely dense patterns
- Surprisingly good penetration at 60 yards
- Obtainable at main retailers
Key Options
-
Pellet Materials: TSS -
Shot dimension: No. 9 and No. 10 -
Payload: 2 ¼ ounce -
Common 10-inch sample: 168 at 60 yards -
Value: $100 per field of 5
In idea, Apex’s Greenleaf ought to produce higher patterns than another load on this roster. As a result of it combines 1 ½ ounces of No. 10 shot and ¾ ounces of No. 9 shot there are an unbelievable quantity of pellets packed into this shell — 1096 to be precise.
The outcome was shockingly dense patterns even at 60 yards. By way of the tighter choked Remington, we averaged 199 pellet strikes within the zone. For reference, that’s a lot better than most lead hundreds will produce at 40 yards.
However our fundamental query was: Do these tiny No. 10 pellets penetrate sufficient at distance to be efficient? Once we shot this load on ballistic gel, we had been pleasantly stunned to see that these little pellets had been certainly killers. The No. 10 pellets penetrated about 1.87 inches, whereas the No. 9 pellets drove in about 3 inches. For reference, No. 6 lead pellets penetrated 1.5 inches at this distance.
The mixture of insane sample density with ample penetration was sufficient to earn Apex Greenleaf our hands-down Editor’s Selection award.
Editor’s Selection, Finest Lead Load: Winchester Long Beard XR
Professionals
- Wonderful 40-yard patterns
- Reasonably priced
- Extensively obtainable
Cons
- Restricted ranged in comparison with TSS
Key Options
-
Pellet Materials: Lead -
Shot dimension: No. 6 -
Payload: 1 3/4 ounce -
Common 10-inch sample: 134 at 40 yards -
Value: $26 per field of 10
I used to be among the many first group of writers to check Winchester Long Beard XR again when it was launched greater than a decade in the past. Right this moment, it’s nonetheless one of the best lead turkey load that I’ve ever shot. The key is Winchester’s “Shot-Lok” expertise, which is a strong resin that buffers its pellets. The result’s heavy, even patterns down vary. By way of the tighter choke of the Remington 870, we averaged 147 pellet strikes inside a 10-inch circle at 40 yards.
With that Remington shotgun, I might really feel comfy taking pictures Lengthy Beard XR to about 45 yards. A lot past that, the sample would degrade to the purpose the place we’d not have 100 pellet strikes within the zone (which is our threshold for constant lethality). So though Winchester guarantees “twice the variety of pellets in a 10-inch circle out to 60 yards,” I don’t think about this a 60-yard load, no less than by means of our check weapons.
Gel testing revealed that the No. 6 lead pellets penetrated 2.5 inches at 40 yards and slightly below 1.5 inches at 60 yards (which is nearing the edge of lethality). However once more, within the weapons we examined, there weren’t sufficient pellet strikes within the core of the sample at 60 yards for dependable, clear kills.
The takeaway right here is that with the precise choke and a few diligent patterning work, you may shoot Winchester Lengthy Beard XR to 45 or perhaps 50 yards successfully. Contemplating it’s exponentially cheaper than any TSS load, it is a good selection for many turkey hunters.
Finest Worth TSS: Federal Custom Shop
Professionals
- Extra inexpensive than different TSS choices
- Offered in field of 10
- Heavy payload
Key Options
-
Pellet Materials: TSS -
Shot dimension: No. 9 -
Payload: 2 1/2 ounce -
Common 10-inch sample: 104 at 60 yards -
Value: $156 per field of 10
I notice it’s a bit absurd to contemplate $15 per shell a worth, however welcome to the fashionable TSS market. By way of its on-line Custom Shop, Federal hundreds quite a lot of TSS choices for a bunch of various gauges. For turkeys they provide 2 ½ ounce, 12 gauge choices in each No. 9s and No. 7s. We had good success with the No. 9s placing a mean of 104 pellets within the zone with each weapons. The No. 7s penetrated like loopy (3 inches at 60 yards) however as a result of there are fewer pellets within the payload we didn’t get sufficiently dense patterns at lengthy distance.
Federal sells these Customized Store hundreds in a field of 10, so that you get a bit extra bang to your buck. The one tough half is availability.
Finest Tungsten Patterns: Winchester Long Beard Tungsten
Professionals
- Superior patterns at 60 yards
Cons
- Much less dense pellet materials
- Much less penetration at 60 yards
Key Options
-
Pellet Materials: Tungsten (17 g/cc) -
Shot dimension: No. 9 -
Payload: 2 1/4 ounce -
Common 10-inch sample: 151 at 60 yards -
Value: $93 per field of 5
This spring Winchester is providing a Long Beard Tungsten choice (to not be confused with Lengthy Beard TSS). This load makes use of a barely much less dense pellet materials of 17 g/cc than commonplace TSS, which has a density of 18 g/cc.
In our vary testing, Winchester’s No. 9 load delivered excellent patterns, particularly out of the Remington 870, averaging 156 pellet strikes within the zone at 60 yards. This was the second finest efficiency we noticed, behind the Greenleaf TSS.
Nonetheless in penetration testing we had been a bit dismayed to see these pellets solely drive about 1.5 inches into ballistic gel at 60 yards. That is considerably lower than the straight TSS No. 9 pellets, which penetrated 2.75 inches at this distance. Actually, Winchester Tungsten was on par with the lead No. 6 pellets when it comes to penetration. Nonetheless, Winchester did say that of their testing they recorded 2.44 inches of penetration into the identical gel block materials at 60 yards.
The takeaway, no less than from our testing, is that Lengthy Beard Tungsten can ship excellent patterns and sufficient penetration to be reliably deadly at 60 yards, however in all probability not past.
Extra Turkey Hundreds We Examined
Apex GT-3
It is a commonplace No. 9 TSS load that turned in some glorious patterns at 60 yards. This 2 ¼-ounce load brings 814 pellets to the occasion. By way of the Remington 870 it averaged 145 pellet strikes within the zone (so a .660 diameter might be an excellent place to begin). One extra advantage of Apex is that they supply their TSS from American corporations, fairly than China.
Boss Tom TSS
Boss provides the best 20-gauge turkey load I’ve ever shot, and their 12-gauge providing is strong too. Apparently, it is a 2 ¾-inch shotshell that brings a hefty 2 ½-ounce payload. That interprets to 905 No. 9 pellets within the payload. Boss additionally sources its TSS from American corporations.
Hevi-18 TSS Turkey
Hevi Shot has quite a lot of denser-than-lead choices, however Hevi-18 is their prime TSS load. In comparison with the opposite TSS choices we reviewed, this shotshell has a lighter payload of two ounces, nevertheless it nonetheless put loads of pellets on course with 121 within the zone out of the Remington shotgun.
Migra Hybrid
Migra Hybrid is an intriguing load that mixes No. 5 lead pellets with No. 9 tungsten pellets (which have a density of 17 g/cc, like Winchester’s). The load incorporates 217 lead pellets and 200 No. 9 tungsten pellets. The result’s an choice that incorporates tungsten however is available in at a fraction of the value of TSS. A field of Migra Hybrid is promoting for $40 per field of 5; that’s lower than half the price of TSS ammo. Sadly, we didn’t get nice patterning outcomes out of those Hybrid hundreds. At 40 yards we noticed about 90 pellet strikes in a 10-inch circle with the Remington 870 (the Mossberg was a lot worse). Migra did say that it recorded 200-plus pellet strikes utilizing a Mossberg 935 and .675 choke.
So when you’re going to shoot these hundreds you’ll probably have to do some experimenting with choke constrictions for higher patterns than we had been in a position to produce in our check.
Federal Grand Slam
Grand Slam makes use of copper-plated lead shot and Federal’s Flite Management wad. We noticed okay patterns out of the Mossberg with this load at 40 yards, however we’d need to do extra testing with completely different choke constrictions to be totally assured with it at this vary.
How We Examined the Finest Turkey Hundreds
We used two 12 gauge check weapons for this evaluation:
For every load we shot three patterns per gun after which averaged them to get a mean sample density. We measured patterns by drawing a 10-inch circle across the core of the sample after which we counted the pellet strikes. Any common sample density of 100 pellet strikes or extra inside the 10-inch circle was deemed deadly (as that is the normal commonplace).
We shot the TSS hundreds at 60 yards and the lead hundreds at 40 yards. The concept right here is that hunters who go for TSS wish to shoot turkeys past the ranges that lead hundreds sometimes permit. We then shot the highest performing hundreds into ballistic gel to judge their penetration. It’s frequent data that lead No. 6s pellets kill turkeys successfully at 40 yards, so we used this penetration depth (2.5 inches) for a management determine.
Hundreds that delivered one of the best sample density, plus ample penetration, got prime honors.
We shot all patterns from a bench utilizing Caldwell’s Lead Sled Max, which saved us from the brutal recoil of those heavy payloads. We additionally used LPVO scopes on the weapons for exact aiming.
Learn Subsequent: The Best Turkey Guns of All Time
Turkey Searching Ethics
Turkey searching at its easiest is a close-range recreation. The purpose, in spite of everything, is to name a tom in shut and kill him cleanly. The professional turkey hunters I do know don’t blast turkeys at lengthy vary simply to punch tags. They benefit from the pursuit greater than something, and so they’re okay with letting a gobbler that’s out of comfy vary stroll with the intention to hunt him the subsequent day.
However it might be silly to disclaim the truth that we now have the gun and ammo expertise to kill turkeys cleanly and ethically past 40 yards. Based mostly on our testing, the precise 12 gauge with a correct choke and TSS load will kill a gobbler stone-dead at 60 yards. Nonetheless, making an correct shot at this distance is an actual problem. Positive, the sample of shot can be giant at 60 yards, however the core of the sample (which can kill the chook rapidly) is sort of small. In different phrases, when you take imperfect pictures at this distance, you might be certain to wound turkeys, and that is unacceptable.
It doesn’t matter what vary you plan to shoot, it’s essential to take the time to sample your shotgun and choke with the ammo you’ll hunt with. In case you are unable to place 100 pellets in a 10-inch circle over your goal constantly, then it’s essential to shorten your shot distance (and maintain working towards).
Last Ideas
If I’ve discovered something from testing turkey hundreds and turkey weapons, it’s that the shooter is sort of at all times the weakest a part of the system. Hunters miss turkeys as a result of we get overly excited and make dangerous pictures. It normally has nothing to do with our ammo, or choke, or gun.
With good taking pictures, nonetheless, one of the best turkey hundreds available on the market actually do give hunters an edge. You possibly can’t merely purchase ammo with a turkey on the field and assume that you simply’re good to begin killing gobblers. So use our information on this evaluation as a leaping off level, after which shoot these hundreds by means of your setup on the vary earlier than going searching.
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