I am not big into fads and when it comes to shooting even less so. However, when I see a product or innovation that intrigues me, I begin investigating. So, it is with Tungsten Super Shot or TSS for short. In the past few years, TSS has dominated the conversation when the subject of turkey and waterfowl hunting came around. But there is one thing that seems to be overlooked when hunters start looking or shooting TSS and, that is chokes.
For example, on a recent duck hunt I was shooting Winchester’s Last Call and found if I wasn’t right on the bird I’d miss it completely. Instead of the 30-inch circle pattern I would be surprised if I had a 12-inch circle pattern. I was using a modified tube and would have been better suited with an improved cylinder. I simply misjudged the hunting conditions rather than pass shooting as I had done in the past, these birds were coming right into the decoys at a max range of 30 yards.
TSS Patterns
TSS patterns tight, often times even tighter than lead, so a shotgunner who shoots TSS needs to pattern their shotgun to test the choke and TSS combination. In my observation and my own experience, most shooters when using TSS are over-choked. This can lead to “holes” in their patterns.
This is echoed by Winchester pro shooter and co-host of Prestige Outdoors, Foster Bartholow.
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“A Patternmaster, Briley or even a standard Browning choke tube shoots differently with TSS. I would be shooting one brand of choke for waterfowl with steel loads and when I switched to TSS I’d be blowing out the pattern,” says Bartholow, “the old school mentality of what size pellet you have to use to kill geese are BB’s, T’s or 2’s, for ducks you need 3’s or even turkey you need 4s, 5s or 6s is out the window. The new age of TSS has created a new normal.”
Open Your Choke
The more open choke you can shoot using TSS the better, no matter if its geese, ducks, turkey or even upland birds but especially when hunting over decoys.
With the development of TSS, Bartholow now hunts mostly with a .410 for both turkey and geese and has patterned it thoroughly and found the same results using TSS with sub-gauge as with his 12 gauge. Most hunters are over-choked.
“The improved cylinder choke especially hunting over decoying birds performs well. You don’t have to try and scrunch the pattern by shooting a full choke. The tightest choke I use in a .410 is a modified choke. I’ll put that in the bottom barrel if I need a follow-up shot which is usually a little longer range. If I need it, I have it,” adds Bartholow.
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Most experts, Bartholow included, recommend dropping down two choke constrictions when shooting TSS. So, if you are shooting a full choke with steel and switch to TSS an improved cylinder is a good starting point.
TSS hits well above its weight class. A #8 TSS pellet is nearly equivalent to a lead #2 lead pellet giving up very little to the lead in penetration testing. The #8 TSS also has nearly three times the pellet count of the #2 lead. The hardness of the TSS which is even harder than steel shot does not compress like lead when the shot hits the choke causing fliers or holes in the pattern.
“I traditionally shot a modified or improved modified choke,” says Bartholow, “once I started using TSS, which is a complete different animal, I am now contemplating switching over to a skeet tube (over decoys).”
Recommended TSS Chokes
When it comes to narrowing down the choices of chokes for shooting TSS, Bartholow recommends a hunter patterning three different chokes. “I’d shoot a skeet, an improved cylinder and a modified choke. One of these will perform just fine. If you are shooting anything tighter, I believe you are going to be over-choked,” concludes Bartholow.
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While there are many aftermarket chokes being produced for TSS, Bartholow has found the factory tubes perform well in his testing.
So, if you are switching to TSS, do yourself a favor and install an open choke then get to the range for a patterning session. The results will surprise you and you will have a new ammo called TSS.
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