Tungsten Alloy Shot

A place to discuss the gentlemans' sport of shotguns. Sponsored by Great Lakes Sporting Arms.

Moderators: skeetshot, deerhunter338mag, Vaughan

Post Reply
User avatar
SPEEDY
Moderator
Posts: 11282
Joined: Wed Jul 08, 2009 7:50 am
Location: Southern highland- Australia
Location: Albury, NSW, Australia

Re: Tungsten Alloy Shot

Post by SPEEDY »

I might get some 2.5mm (7 shot) and 4.5mm (BB shot) and have fun with it.
Do you have to use steel shot wads or can you use lead wads?
Either way I will load up with 36gm loads and through some thick patterns.
I'd be limited to mod choke then in my gun as I doubt the HS Strut Undertaker is going to be steel manure proof, but I might buy a set of Carlson waterfowl chokes and see how it goes.
I'm soft and I don't care. :dance:

User avatar
stokesrj
Moderator
Posts: 5918
Joined: Mon Jun 17, 2013 12:41 pm
Location: USA
Location: Mesa AZ, USA

Re: Tungsten Alloy Shot

Post by stokesrj »

You need the steel shot cups or collars so it doesn't scour the barrel walls. Of course it depends upon the most common distance you want to shoot but there are several TSS or steel safe tight chokes. The waterfowl chokes are too open for tight patterns. They are mostly set up for steel shot and very moderate ranges common to waterfowl shooting limited ranges of steel shot.
Robert J Stokes

User avatar
stokesrj
Moderator
Posts: 5918
Joined: Mon Jun 17, 2013 12:41 pm
Location: USA
Location: Mesa AZ, USA

Re: Tungsten Alloy Shot

Post by stokesrj »

Here is some further information on chokes for TSS. You will see that they are getting best performance even with buckshot from very tight chokes .660-.670 depending upon barrel bore diameter. http://www.nitrocompany.com/12ga35.html My testing to date has proven this information to be true but I haven't really tested that much so far. I have a set of waterfowl chokes and they don't do much for the TSS unless you want big patterns for fast flying birds at 40 yards or under. Even the pass shooting or long range are more open that a regular full choke.
Robert J Stokes

User avatar
SPEEDY
Moderator
Posts: 11282
Joined: Wed Jul 08, 2009 7:50 am
Location: Southern highland- Australia
Location: Albury, NSW, Australia

Re: Tungsten Alloy Shot

Post by SPEEDY »

That's surprising, as tungsten is harder then steel you would expect the same rules to apply to both.
I'm soft and I don't care. :dance:

User avatar
mchughcb
Moderator
Posts: 11147
Joined: Tue Aug 25, 2009 2:55 am
Location: Melbourne Australia

Re: Tungsten Alloy Shot

Post by mchughcb »

20191111_170717.jpg
Today walking around cabelas and seeing the TSS 20g loads for Turkey makes me wish i could import them back home.
You do not have the required permissions to view the files attached to this post.

User avatar
SPEEDY
Moderator
Posts: 11282
Joined: Wed Jul 08, 2009 7:50 am
Location: Southern highland- Australia
Location: Albury, NSW, Australia

Re: Tungsten Alloy Shot

Post by SPEEDY »

You would think someone would be importing them by now, not exactly a new thing and they import bloody sabot slugs and nobody shoots a rifled shotgun here.
I'm soft and I don't care. :dance:

User avatar
stokesrj
Moderator
Posts: 5918
Joined: Mon Jun 17, 2013 12:41 pm
Location: USA
Location: Mesa AZ, USA

Re: Tungsten Alloy Shot

Post by stokesrj »

Well I got a chance to use my Federal TSS #9 loads on sandhill cranes this week. The limit is only three birds so not a lot of experience to hang my hat on but what I did have was overwhelmingly convincing.

I was hunting in Arizona Wildlife Management Unit 30A adjacent to the Whitewater Draw wildlife refuge. This is near the famous OK corral which was OK by me :)

This was a group hunt with four other hunters from Tucson. We had 52 decoys and a pop up blind that we carefully placed between a corn and alfalfa field the cranes were using about 12 miles from the refuge.

There are between 20,000 and 30,000 cranes roosting on the refuge and they leave around 30 minutes before sunrise to feed in the farm fields of the sulfur valley where our blind was set. They arrive around sunrise and keep coming for a couple of hours before returning to the refuge. But it is a very exciting time seeing the sky’s filled with cranes coming towards you from a couple of miles out.

As they approach we call to them with our mouth blown calls to give them confidence. They typically fly by way beyond shotgun range overhead inspecting everything carefully. Even a spent shotgun shell glinting in the sun will wave them off to another field. But when everything works it becomes deafeningly noisy from their calls as the approach.

The consensus of the group I was hunting with was to use Kent Fasteel #2 #BB or # BBB 3.5” 1500 FPS loads. Since they had done this before and I had not following the crowd seemed like the logical thing to do. But after shooting and hitting four cranes but only downing one and watching the others doing about the same, I moved to my 3” 1 3/4 ounce #9 TSS loads.

The next flock came in centered on our blind and veered right at 40-45 yards when we popped the lid forward. I picked the lower right bird and absolutely crushed him followed quickly by the next nearest bird which was also killed instantly.

The ShotKam video shows the #9 shot exiting the birds and I found no shot in the birds all seemed to be complete pass through. The one I killed with the #2 Steel had several shot that only made it half way through.

All were doubtful of the #9s but after seeing what these TSS did, none are doubtful now. They overwhelmingly killed the birds more decisively than any loads they had seen before.
You do not have the required permissions to view the files attached to this post.
Robert J Stokes

User avatar
mchughcb
Moderator
Posts: 11147
Joined: Tue Aug 25, 2009 2:55 am
Location: Melbourne Australia

Re: Tungsten Alloy Shot

Post by mchughcb »

Great stuff. Have you got any video to share of the performance?

User avatar
stokesrj
Moderator
Posts: 5918
Joined: Mon Jun 17, 2013 12:41 pm
Location: USA
Location: Mesa AZ, USA

Re: Tungsten Alloy Shot

Post by stokesrj »

Yes I will post it as soon as I get a chance to edit it. Both the steel and the TSS which shows the very different results.
Robert J Stokes

User avatar
sav338
Meister der jagd
Posts: 2522
Joined: Fri May 03, 2013 6:25 am
Location: Australia
Location: Melbourne

Re: Tungsten Alloy Shot

Post by sav338 »

Nice one Bob,
I look forward to the video

User avatar
SPEEDY
Moderator
Posts: 11282
Joined: Wed Jul 08, 2009 7:50 am
Location: Southern highland- Australia
Location: Albury, NSW, Australia

Re: Tungsten Alloy Shot

Post by SPEEDY »

I definitely need to get some of that.
I'm soft and I don't care. :dance:

User avatar
stokesrj
Moderator
Posts: 5918
Joined: Mon Jun 17, 2013 12:41 pm
Location: USA
Location: Mesa AZ, USA

Re: Tungsten Alloy Shot

Post by stokesrj »

I still haven't found the time to edit any video's but here is a video from my iPhone the afternoon of the first day of the hunt. We didn't set a decoy spread because they don't normally go out in the afternoon but it had been raining a lot and it changed the feeding pattern for this one day only. https://youtu.be/tfBHxXhp8pI
Then Here is video from my ShotKam of the double I shot with the TSS #9 that filled my limit on the first flight of the day. I think I could have shot a third but my buddy was yelling your done, your done, stop, and I did. As you can see those #9s crushed those birds at about 45 yards.
https://youtu.be/MIDe35NPshQ
Robert J Stokes

User avatar
SPEEDY
Moderator
Posts: 11282
Joined: Wed Jul 08, 2009 7:50 am
Location: Southern highland- Australia
Location: Albury, NSW, Australia

Re: Tungsten Alloy Shot

Post by SPEEDY »

That's some bloody impressive hitting #9 shot, even at 1 3/4 Oz, I'd love to load up some 36gm or 42gm loads of #5 or #6 to shoot everything shy of pigs with.

I also had an idea, call me crazy (yes I know that's true, but anyway) of getting some .680 or .685 TSS round balls made in China.
I think that would make a very effective round ball load for dangerous game like buff.
Also being perfectly symmetrical and completely resistant to deformation it should be more accurate too boot.
I'm soft and I don't care. :dance:

User avatar
mchughcb
Moderator
Posts: 11147
Joined: Tue Aug 25, 2009 2:55 am
Location: Melbourne Australia

Re: Tungsten Alloy Shot

Post by mchughcb »

Holy cow Bob you smoked them. I got to get some of that for my triple barrel even if i have to reload it.

User avatar
stokesrj
Moderator
Posts: 5918
Joined: Mon Jun 17, 2013 12:41 pm
Location: USA
Location: Mesa AZ, USA

Re: Tungsten Alloy Shot

Post by stokesrj »

mchughcb wrote: Sat Dec 07, 2019 7:57 am Holy cow Bob you smoked them. I got to get some of that for my triple barrel even if i have to reload it.
Yes, the small dense shot defy the conventional wisdom of what is possible. It is hard to fathom until you see it with your own eyes.

Even though I knew from my testing what the Tungsten Super Shot was capable of, the results you see here was even more dramatic than I had imagined.
Robert J Stokes

Post Reply

Return to “Shotguns”