Turkey load $70 a box?

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mauser06
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Re: Turkey load $70 a box?

Unread postby mauser06 » Mon Jun 06, 2022 5:28 am

I've been loading TSS in my flintlock the last few years because the pattern is far superior to anything else.


This year I added a 20ga barrel to my Encore.


The patterns are ridiculous. Not to mention the energy and penetration TSS offers.



This year's bird was shot hard quartering to me in half strut. The devastation and penetration was unbelievable. I recovered 40 or so pellets. 1 from the breast...after penetating the entire left breast and breaking the center breast bone. A couple from the left wing...after completely smashing the wing but. The rest? From the far side of the body. He fell straight to the ground. Never kicked or flopped. Head and neck were the consistency of jello.


If I wanted to carry a 12ga, I'd just stuck with hevishot magnum blend. But, I wanted a smaller, lighter gun that doesn't knock the stuffing out of ME.


I handload my 20ga shells and obviously the flintlock....so I'm not paying ammo prices.


I don't care about the extended range....I just want the best performance I can get. Same thing with my arrows and broadheads..or bullets in my rifles. I don't shoot what I do for when everything goes picture perfect. I shoot what I shoot for the times "stuff" happens and goes south.


I've killed a lot of birds prior to any of this new stuff. I personally don't miss fighting with birds after I shoot them.


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Sailfish_WC
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Re: Turkey load $70 a box?

Unread postby Sailfish_WC » Mon Jun 06, 2022 9:13 am

I think I paid $14 or $16 this year for 10 rounds of Winchester SuperX #4 turkey loads.
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VaBowKill5
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Re: Turkey load $70 a box?

Unread postby VaBowKill5 » Mon Jun 06, 2022 9:15 am

The way I see it a whole turkey from the grocery store can range from 20-60 dollars a pop. If I can pay $16 for a shot that I’m confident will kill a turkey I’m happy spending the money+ it’s a of a lot more exciting way to grocery shop!!!
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Re: Turkey load $70 a box?

Unread postby Moose » Mon Jun 06, 2022 10:01 am

I shoot longbird xr I forget what I paid but was around $1.50 per shell. I bought 3 boxes so that's 30 shells and as long as I can keep killing with just one shot I don't think it's bad at all. everything is expensive now unfortunately.
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Re: Turkey load $70 a box?

Unread postby mspaci » Sat Jun 11, 2022 2:41 am

I load my own TSS for about $5 a shell, easy & I am the quality control. No way I was paying $70. Mine will out proform most. Mike
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Re: Turkey load $70 a box?

Unread postby muddy » Tue Aug 16, 2022 12:06 pm

I stopped using HeviShot due to cost. Personally can't hold a bead on a bird past 45 yards anyway, so just using the cheaper 3.5 inch loads.
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greenhorndave
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Re: Turkey load $70 a box?

Unread postby greenhorndave » Tue Aug 16, 2022 12:21 pm

muddy wrote:I stopped using HeviShot due to cost. Personally can't hold a bead on a bird past 45 yards anyway, so just using the cheaper 3.5 inch loads.

Absolutely makes sense. I occasionally hunt Federal WPAs so lead’s not an option in those cases.
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muddy
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Re: Turkey load $70 a box?

Unread postby muddy » Wed Aug 17, 2022 7:00 am

greenhorndave wrote:
muddy wrote:I stopped using HeviShot due to cost. Personally can't hold a bead on a bird past 45 yards anyway, so just using the cheaper 3.5 inch loads.

Absolutely makes sense. I occasionally hunt Federal WPAs so lead’s not an option in those cases.


I'd rather use cheap steel shot and get em close over spending what they're asking for bismuth or lead free shot
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Re: Turkey load $70 a box?

Unread postby SCRbux4 » Thu Aug 18, 2022 2:08 am

A buddy of mine who's a new hunter, told me he spent $70 on a box of turkey shells this past spring. My jaw about hit the floor...
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greenhorndave
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Re: Turkey load $70 a box?

Unread postby greenhorndave » Thu Aug 18, 2022 2:58 am

muddy wrote:
greenhorndave wrote:
muddy wrote:I stopped using HeviShot due to cost. Personally can't hold a bead on a bird past 45 yards anyway, so just using the cheaper 3.5 inch loads.

Absolutely makes sense. I occasionally hunt Federal WPAs so lead’s not an option in those cases.


I'd rather use cheap steel shot and get em close over spending what they're asking for bismuth or lead free shot

Absolutely makes sense.

What was interesting to me was that the Hevi brand used steel and was significantly cheaper... Not much more than the lead stuff and a lot less than the tungsten.
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Re: Turkey load $70 a box?

Unread postby CJM » Wed Dec 14, 2022 4:10 am

Guys, its straight tungsten. Look at tungsten prices ~40-50 dollars a pound. 2.5 ounces per shell, that is right around 40 bucks worth of shot alone in each box. Add in all the other components, and there really is not much profit in it.

Now look at what you get. Tungsten density is 18.1g/cm3 lead is 11g/cm3. Tungsten also does not deform. Therefore, you can ( I do ) shoot tungsten #9 shot, each pellet has roughly the same mass as a lead 5.5, at half the volume. This allows me to have over 900 pellets in each shell. Tungsten does not compress or deform, so you can shoot it through a wider choke than lead. At 20 yards my turkey gun throws a pattern about the size of a basketball, leaving much more room for error than any lead/turkey choke combo, while also carrying enough pattern density and energy to VERY effectively kill out to 70 ( I am sure it could go beyond that, just never saw the point to pattern that far, but at 70 the gun outperforms lead guns at 40 ). Now before I get all the LeArN tO cAlL, shooting to 70 is never the plan, however, all that extra pattern density really helps when those pesky Toms want to stay behind a little brush and not give that perfect wide open field edge shot, and with TSS, that little bit of brush in the way doesn't matter. If you can see any part of the head/neck, it will make it to it. And like the previous comment, it absolutely hammers them. Plus, when a range is misjudged, and it happens, a lot, this stuff doesn't cripple birds.

Now for the cost. We spend thousands on guns, hundreds(or thousands) on camo and decoys. Hundreds on gas, burn vacation days, all of which costs more than a box of shells that we may use 2,3, maybe 4 of per year on a damn good year. Not to mention all the time put into it. So if we are willing to spend all that time and money on this, why get caught up on the price of the one thing that actually does the killing? Especially when it is far superior to any alternative?
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Re: Turkey load $70 a box?

Unread postby Lowcountry » Thu Dec 15, 2022 1:12 am

Moose wrote:I shoot longbird xr I forget what I paid but was around $1.50 per shell. I bought 3 boxes so that's 30 shells and as long as I can keep killing with just one shot I don't think it's bad at all. everything is expensive now unfortunately.

I would shoot long beard xr #6, if I didn’t have tss, they are bad news for a turkey.
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szwampdonkey
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Re: Turkey load $70 a box?

Unread postby szwampdonkey » Thu Dec 15, 2022 1:57 am

I still use the 16gauge shells my dad gave me 20 years ago. I think people get too caught up in shells for turkeys tbh. $15 a shell is just wasting money.
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Re: Turkey load $70 a box?

Unread postby Trout » Thu Dec 15, 2022 3:24 am

dan wrote:At what point do you draw the line? Are we out there to kill? or to hunt for food? You can buy 4 frozen turkeys already cleaned for the price of 5 shells...


That is insane :shock:


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