# Tss shot for 3.5 inch gun. Plz help



## GCO (Feb 23, 2017)

So I'm confused about the whole tss turkey load deal. I notice people is getting great patterns with a 20 gauge, with tss number 8s or 9s. But why is a 20 gauge better then a 12? Should you be able to make hand loads for a 3.5 inch 12 gauge with number 8s or 9s and it be even better?


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## 01Foreman400 (Feb 23, 2017)

With the right combination a 3.5" TSS load will have a lot denser pattern than a 20 ga. TSS load.  I've seen some sick 3.5" patterns.  Not many load the 3.5" because of the cost and recoil.  When you can get 300 pellets in a 10" circle with a 20 ga. most folks think of it as why do I need a 12 ga. much less a 3.5" 12 ga. load.  Most folks are shooting TSS so they can carry a light 20 ga. that will out pattern any 12 ga. load on the market.  All I load are 3" & 2 3/4" 12 ga. loads and 20 ga. 2 3/4".  No sense in shooting #8's in TSS either stick with the #9's.


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## fountain (Feb 23, 2017)

Pretty much what Foreman said.  No sense in loading for a 12 with the results you get in the 20.  Loading for 12 ga will take more shot and you're using wasting it at that point honestly.  Most have went to a 20 to get away from the recoil of the 3.5".  The 20 ga with tss is pretty versatile from young to old and the patterns/knockdown power are great too


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## hawglips (Feb 23, 2017)

GCO said:


> So I'm confused about the whole tss turkey load deal. I notice people is getting great patterns with a 20 gauge, with tss number 8s or 9s. But why is a 20 gauge better then a 12? Should you be able to make hand loads for a 3.5 inch 12 gauge with number 8s or 9s and it be even better?



A 20 ga is not better - except it's lighter and cheaper.

I've got lab tested loads up to 2-5/8 oz in the 12 ga - and a 20 can't compete with them - in terms of performance.  

But I carry a 28 ga most of the time....


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## benelliBUCK (Feb 24, 2017)

Whats the best TSS load and choke combo out of a Benelli SBEII


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## jscrapmetal (Feb 24, 2017)

its pretty dumb to load a 12 with TSS. It would be 20 bucks a shell that's just insane.


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## huntindawg (Feb 24, 2017)

It's about a third of that estimate, scrapmetal.  Not insane when you figure they're getting over $5 for hevi blend shell that's about a third of the performance.


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## Bucky T (Feb 24, 2017)

GCO said:


> So I'm confused about the whole tss turkey load deal. I notice people is getting great patterns with a 20 gauge, with tss number 8s or 9s. But why is a 20 gauge better then a 12? Should you be able to make hand loads for a 3.5 inch 12 gauge with number 8s or 9s and it be even better?



A 20ga shooting TSS isn't going to outperform a 12ga shooting TSS.

Yeah, you can load up a 3.5" 12ga or even a 10ga with TSS.

The only question is this:

How deep are your pockets??


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## 01Foreman400 (Feb 24, 2017)

jscrapmetal said:


> its pretty dumb to load a 12 with TSS. It would be 20 bucks a shell that's just insane.



Got any facts to back that statement up?


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## deast1988 (Feb 24, 2017)

10ga 3oz #9tss


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## jscrapmetal (Feb 24, 2017)

01Foreman400 said:


> Got any facts to back that statement up?



you can kill them at 60 yards with a 20 with half the amount of shot of a 12. as William at Sumtoy says how dead do you want them? Why waste all that shot. I know guys killing the mess out of them with 410's and 28's. So why waste the money????


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## mcarge (Feb 24, 2017)

jscrapmetal said:


> you can kill them at 60 yards with a 20 with half the amount of shot of a 12. as William at Sumtoy says how dead do you want them? Why waste all that shot. I know guys killing the mess out of them with 410's and 28's. So why waste the money????



Absolutely. Seen the 410 in action at 40 steps in a thicket...head swell! 12 gauge for waterfowl only...that would be expensive


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## GCO (Feb 24, 2017)

jscrapmetal said:


> you can kill them at 60 yards with a 20 with half the amount of shot of a 12. as William at Sumtoy says how dead do you want them? Why waste all that shot. I know guys killing the mess out of them with 410's and 28's. So why waste the money????


You can tell William that I won't my turkeys really dead. So I'ma stick with the .12


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## 01Foreman400 (Feb 25, 2017)

jscrapmetal said:


> you can kill them at 60 yards with a 20 with half the amount of shot of a 12. as William at Sumtoy says how dead do you want them? Why waste all that shot. I know guys killing the mess out of them with 410's and 28's. So why waste the money????



Half the shot?  In a 12 ga. most shoot the 2 oz. load which has a 3/8 oz. larger pay load than the popular 1 5/8 oz. 20 ga. load.  

So everything you spend your money on you absolutely have to have to live?  If so you don't turkey hunt then.  

What's your turkey gun and ammo set-up?


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## 01Foreman400 (Feb 25, 2017)

mcarge said:


> Absolutely. Seen the 410 in action at 40 steps in a thicket...head swell! 12 gauge for waterfowl only...that would be expensive



The last thing I'm worried about when shooting at a turkey is the cost of the ammo.


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## Timber1 (Feb 25, 2017)

I like using lead so i can finish off a flopper with one to the head with my trusty 9mm that a carry to ward off man eating hogs that sneak up on me from behind.


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## WFL (Feb 26, 2017)

With TSS you can make any of them a 40 yard set up.    With 20ga I would run Federal HWT 7 or HV 13 if over the counter.  TSS if you want to get into hand loads.   
12 ga Win long beard is dead.  HV13 is very dead.  TSS is extremely dead. 


now think about this   You have 800 to 1500 in a gun.  60000 in a truck.  100's in gas. hours in time looking.  100's in camo. most have 1000's in calls LOL .   so what is a few bucks in a shell.


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## 01Foreman400 (Feb 26, 2017)

WFL said:


> now think about this   You have 800 to 1500 in a gun.  60000 in a truck.  100's in gas. hours in time looking.  100's in camo. most have 1000's in calls LOL .   so what is a few bucks in a shell.



Exactly!


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## Timber1 (Feb 26, 2017)

So with tss 7's shooting a 12 guage 3.5" with maximum/optimal load of powder and shot, and the gun dialed in for long distance, choke/optics, what is my killing range? Inquiring minds want to know?


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## 01Foreman400 (Feb 26, 2017)

Timber1 said:


> So with tss 7's shooting a 12 guage 3.5" with maximum/optimal load of powder and shot, and the gun dialed in for long distance, choke/optics, what is my killing range? Inquiring minds want to know?



#7's?  Are you deer huntin?


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## Timber1 (Feb 26, 2017)

01Foreman400 said:


> #7's?  Are you deer huntin?



Just figured 7's would have more energy at 100 yards than 9's.


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## 01Foreman400 (Feb 26, 2017)

Timber1 said:


> Just figured 7's would have more energy at 100 yards than 9's.



Good point!


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## GCO (Feb 26, 2017)

Timber1 said:


> Just figured 7's would have more energy at 100 yards than 9's.



Have y'all ever heard of a 100 yard gun?


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## Riverrat84 (Feb 26, 2017)

Id say worry more about getting a turkey in range than getting your range to the turkey. I agree that a quick kill is owed to the turkey but when i started trying to kill them where they hung up and swapping guns and chokes and wasting time and money, my success rate went yeeown. Hes a poultry, with a peanut brain. Get back to the basics and try to get inside that peanut and the rest will fall in place. Sometimes the ole turkey desurves to live to see another day because we don't have him figured out just yet. This is just opinion but think about it. Getting wiped by a Gobbler and sticking with it long enough figuring him out is what its all about. Its what keeps me going back anyway. And long shots simply short a man of gaining that knowledge. Hope nobody takes offense to this, that wasnt my goal. Hang ups are are around 70-100 yards and if you steal that from him then he hasn't had a fair chance.


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## 01Foreman400 (Feb 27, 2017)

GCO said:


> Have y'all ever heard of a 100 yard gun?



I sure hope not one has tried to setup a 100 yards turkey gun.


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## 01Foreman400 (Feb 27, 2017)

Riverrat84 said:


> Id say worry more about getting a turkey in range than getting your range to the turkey. I agree that a quick kill is owed to the turkey but when i started trying to kill them where they hung up and swapping guns and chokes and wasting time and money, my success rate went yeeown. Hes a poultry, with a peanut brain. Get back to the basics and try to get inside that peanut and the rest will fall in place. Sometimes the ole turkey desurves to live to see another day because we don't have him figured out just yet. This is just opinion but think about it. Getting wiped by a Gobbler and sticking with it long enough figuring him out is what its all about. Its what keeps me going back anyway. And long shots simply short a man of gaining that knowledge. Hope nobody takes offense to this, that wasnt my goal. Hang ups are are around 70-100 yards and if you steal that from him then he hasn't had a fair chance.



Very well said.


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## jscrapmetal (Feb 27, 2017)

01Foreman400 said:


> Half the shot?  In a 12 ga. most shoot the 2 oz. load which has a 3/8 oz. larger pay load than the popular 1 5/8 oz. 20 ga. load.
> 
> So everything you spend your money on you absolutely have to have to live?  If so you don't turkey hunt then.
> 
> What's your turkey gun and ammo set-up?



I shoot a weatherby SA-08 youth model 20 gauge. Sumtoy choke fastfire 3 and #9 TSS.


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## Timber1 (Feb 27, 2017)

01Foreman400 said:


> I sure hope not one has tried to setup a 100 yards turkey gun.


Increasing range seems to be the trend.
What if you took longbeard technology and loaded tss instead of lead? 20+ more yards to a shell that claims 60 yard effectiveness.
Your pushing 100 yards right there. 
Where does the madness stop?


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## 01Foreman400 (Feb 27, 2017)

Timber1 said:


> Increasing range seems to be the trend.
> What if you took longbeard technology and loaded tss instead of lead? 20+ more yards to a shell that claims 60 yard effectiveness.
> Your pushing 100 yards right there.
> Where does the madness stop?



I don't load to see how far I can kill a bird.  That's not the reason I started loading.  I enjoy loading and it adds a new spectrum to hunting to me.  I enjoyed tinkering with guns and ammo way before I started loading TSS.  I can't turkey hunt right now so this is what I do.  Personally I don't want a longbeard pattern at 20 yards.  I would be missing a lot of turkeys then.  I've never patterned a gun past 40 yards in my life.  I've never killed a turkey past 38 yards.  Don't label everyone who loads TSS as a long distance killer.  None of my close buddies who do it do it for that reason either.  It's just another aspect of hunting to us.  I see a lot more folks bragging about long distance kills with factory loads than TSS.  Actually I don't really see many TSS shoots bragging much at all about long distance kills.  Maybe I'm missing something?


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## 01Foreman400 (Feb 27, 2017)

jscrapmetal said:


> I shoot a weatherby SA-08 youth model 20 gauge. Sumtoy choke fastfire 3 and #9 TSS.



You've got a nice set-up and you've spent some good hard earned money on it.  Why down someone for toting a 12 ga. with a 3/8 oz. bigger load than you're 20 ga.?


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## Timber1 (Feb 27, 2017)

01Foreman400 said:


> I don't load to see how far I can kill a bird.  That's not the reason I started loading.  I enjoy loading and it adds a new spectrum to hunting to me.  I enjoyed tinkering with guns and ammo way before I started loading TSS.  I can't turkey hunt right now so this is what I do.  Personally I don't want a longbeard pattern at 20 yards.  I would be missing a lot of turkeys then.  I've never patterned a gun past 40 yards in my life.  I've never killed a turkey past 38 yards.  Don't label everyone who loads TSS as a long distance killer.  None of my close buddies who do it do it for that reason either.  It's just another aspect of hunting to us.  I see a lot more folks bragging about long distance kills with factory loads than TSS.  Actually I don't really see many TSS shoots bragging much at all about long distance kills.  Maybe I'm missing something?


I dont believe I labled anyone as anything.
Glad you have a hobby to keep you occupied during off season. You could be one of those guys who leases land, hangs cameras, puts out supplemental feed and builds food plots to guarantee the birds will be there come spring time. There are lots of ways to tip the odds in your favor.


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## jscrapmetal (Feb 27, 2017)

01Foreman400 said:


> You've got a nice set-up and you've spent some good hard earned money on it.  Why down someone for toting a 12 ga. with a 3/8 oz. bigger load than you're 20 ga.?



Im not downing anybody for hunting with a 12 gauge, all im saying why waste the shot.


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## jscrapmetal (Feb 27, 2017)

01Foreman400 said:


> With the right combination a 3.5" TSS load will have a lot denser pattern than a 20 ga. TSS load.  I've seen some sick 3.5" patterns.  Not many load the 3.5" because of the cost and recoil.  When you can get 300 pellets in a 10" circle with a 20 ga. most folks think of it as why do I need a 12 ga. much less a 3.5" 12 ga. load.  Most folks are shooting TSS so they can carry a light 20 ga. that will out pattern any 12 ga. load on the market.  All I load are 3" & 2 3/4" 12 ga. loads and 20 ga. 2 3/4".  No sense in shooting #8's in TSS either stick with the #9's.



im saying the same thing you said here so not sure why your all bent up with me for my opinion.


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## TurkeyWolf (Mar 5, 2017)

*TSS Shot*

I agree that TSS has been a huge game changer in the most difficult aspect of turkey hunting.  After all my research, I find it difficult to believe that factory and stock products will produce killing patterns past 60 yards.  I know it was hard for me to break the 50 yard line and had to use after market products to so.  I've killed two birds past 50 yards, one at 58 and one at 52.  Once I started hunting with a gun that would kill past 40 yards, I carry a rangefinder so I know my killing range limit.

As far as cost goes,  I spend too much time and money not to use the best available product.  If a bird is spitting and drumming at 50 yards, you have to ask yourself a question, "Is it worth 10 dollars a shell to kill that bird at that moment?".  Only you have the answer.  If you miss or wound that bird, good luck trying to get close to him for the remaining year.


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## HAVE GUN WILL TRAVEL (Mar 7, 2017)

dum du dum dum.......  im workin on a 100yrder now a sx3  in 3.5" with a 2.5oz payload of 7.5s .... but beware the KICK!!!   thats a one way street roller coaster ride to bruise town. I like my birds close as any other hunter on here guys, but lets be honest ..with limited vacation and expensive outa state tags if he "hangs" up do I have a less of an experience than those that kill em at 55 steps? remember when 55 was a "no no" ?


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