Turkey hunters have been blessed over the past two decades with revolutionary advances in shot shell technology. Winchester/Olin first came out with its 12 ga., 2 oz. Supreme turkey loads, which far surpassed the pattern performance of earlier loads. Winchester improved their loads by switching from a paper base wad to a one-piece plastic hull and adding new components.
When Bob Bryan, former owner of Kick’s Choke Tubes, won the 1996 Turkey Shoot with Supreme loads, turkey hunters took notice. Floridian Chuck Smith won the 1997 Turkey Shoot in similar fashion with Winchester Supreme loads.
Turkey ammo technology got another boost in 1998 when Winchester introduced its 1 3⁄4-oz., high-velocity 12 ga. loads. Competitive shooters got on the bandwagon, and Comp-N-Choke’s Charlie Boswell won Turkey Shoot titles in 1998 and 1999 with high-velocity Winchester loads.
Over the past 20 years, ammo manufacturers learned a thing or two after retooling their steel waterfowl loads. The technology transfer is apparent in the performance of today’s high-velocity turkey loads.
“The high velocity turkey loads came about from what we learned from steel loads,” said Mike Jordan, Winchester’s manager of public relations and public affairs. “Wads, buffer and powders were improved and formed the basis for the high-velocity turkey loads.”
Federal Cartridge stepped up to the plate in 1999 when it appealed to turkey hunters’ desire for high-velocity turkey loads. Federal first offered 1 3⁄4-oz., l2 ga. loads in No. 4 and No. 6 shot, and then filled the gap in 2000 with the introduction of its high-velocity 12 ga. loads in No. 5 shot. To say that I then became a fan of the faster-but-lighter turkey loads would be an understatement.
The results of the next two NWTF World Wild Turkey Still-Target championships, in 2000 and 2001, foretold the next chapter in turkey load advancement. Randy Lewis of Morristown, Tenn., won the still-target title with Environ Metal’s Hevi-Shot, a tungsten/nickel matrix shot that also set a new still-target world record in preliminary competition when Claude Kinsler, of Morristown, Tenn., put 42 pellets inside the 3-inch scoring ring. The actual score would have been higher if the four pellets that cut the outer scoring were included in the final score. The former record was a 34 fired during the 1999 Turkey Shoot.
Hevi-Shot was initially introduced at the 2000 Shooting, Hunting and Outdoor Trade (SHOT) Show as an alternative non-toxic waterfowl load. Once again, the improvement of waterfowl loads helped wild turkey loads evolve.
In 1986, I first learned about non-toxic alternatives to steel shot. Over a cup of coffee, Tennessee native John Shannon shared his ideas for everything from polymer coated lead to using non-precious heavy metals to produce non-toxic shot. Over the next two years, Shannon tried and failed to get his polymer-coated Safety-Shot past the rigors of U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service approval. His next step was to switch to a tungsten-iron shot recipe, which he subsequently patented. After getting turned down by major ammunition manufacturers, Safety-Shot fell on hard times.
“Safety-Shot ran out of money in 1992, so I failed to renew the patent,” Shannon said. Federal Cartridge now owns a patent on tungsten-iron shot, which was retro engineered from Shannon’s formula for Safety Shot. Ironically, Federal Cartridge hired a Japanese metallurgy company to retro engineer Safety Shot, and Daryl Amick was the scientist in charge of the work.
During the late ‘80s and early ‘90s, Shannon told me about the exciting possibilities of producing tungsten-based shot for turkey loads.
“Theoretically, tungsten by itself could produce shot that is about 60 percent heavier than lead, so you could fit a three-ounce load in a two-ounce shot cup,” Shannon said. What he told me more than 35 years ago predicted the TSS loads popular today.
Looking deeper into tungsten-based shot shell components reveals some exciting aspects of the heavier-than-lead element. Its hardness resists shot deformation when you pull the trigger, so it has the potential to fly truer than lead shot, which will deform. The hardness also helps penetration since less energy is wasted to deformation. Tungsten is denser than lead, but equal in weight and smaller in size. Tungsten also has less wind drag and penetrates soft tissue with less resistance. Simply put, it’s possible to get a No. 6 size tungsten-nickel matrix shot pellet to weigh as much—hitting as hard and penetrating further—as a No. 5 lead shot pellet.
“Tungsten is much harder than lead, so you must be careful how you load it,” Shannon added. “Hard shot, like steel or tungsten, requires a heavy shot cup to prevent it from scratching shotgun barrels and destroying chokes.”
In a twist of fate, Shannon’s Safety Shot company and its patents were dealt a death blow in 1990. Failing to gain traction with major ammunition companies, Federal Cartridge, Remington or Winchester, Shannon asked me to help. I hand delivered a Safety Shot investor prospectus to James Stewart, the CFO of Game and Fish Publications in Marietta, Georgia, when I worked as an editor there. The prospectus passed up the chain to then Publisher and company majority owner, Steven Vaughn, who passed on the opportunity. Simultaneously, Shannon had put Safety Shot in front of Bob Peterson, then owner of Peterson Publishing. Peterson agreed to purchase Safety Shot, but asked Shannon to do more testing prior to the sale. Testing non-toxic shot is an expensive endeavor, coupled with the enormous cost of producing small-run tungsten polymer shot at the time. Peterson effectively bled what he perceived as future competition dry of money, backed out on the Safety Shot deal and announced his purchase of the Bismuth Cartridge Company the next day.
Early Tungsten on Turkeys
During the first couple of years of the new millennium I patterned various tungsten-based waterfowl shot shells manufactured by Federal Cartridge and Kent Cartridge. Both companies repackaged some of their tungsten waterfowl loads as turkey loads, but they were slow to catch on among turkey hunters.
As a turkey hunter, I was hesitant to jump on the tungsten turkey load bandwagon. My limited experience patterning the Federal tungsten-iron and Kent tungsten-matrix ammo was promising, but not good enough to warrant a switch from high-velocity lead turkey loads.
My interest in tungsten-based turkey loads was renewed when I discovered Environ Metal’s Hevi-Shot waterfowl loads in the new products section of the 2000 SHOT Show. Company owner Daryll Amick’s claim that Hevi-Shot was 11 percent heavier than lead got my undivided attention. The potential existed for turkey load technology to make a significant leap in performance on paper targets and in the field.
One of my first phone calls after returning from the SHOT Show was to Amick in late January 2000. I learned more about his fledgling company and his history in the shooting industry. Ironically, Amick was the metallurgist who created the formula for what was then Federal Cartridge’s tungsten-iron and tungsten-polymer waterfowl loads.
After he retired, Amick said that felt that he could further improve tungsten-based shot shell loads.
Amick had Polywad load a few shells for me, giving me an opportunity to pattern them in early March 2000. A few weeks later, I shipped Turkey Call Magazine to the printer and began my spring gobbler hunting. Flying across the county, I began my hunting that spring near Atascadero, California. To the best of my knowledge, the Rio Grande longbeard I called up while hunting with then Peterson Publishing editor Bob Sarber, was the first turkey killed with tungsten Hevi-Shot.
Hevi-Shot Goes to the Turkey Shoot
Curious to learn how this new shot would hold up in competition, I explained to Amick the NWTF’s World Wild Turkey Still-Target championships. Amick’s confidence was evident when he soon elected to become a sponsor for the NWTF Still-Target competition. His company went head-to-head with other ammunition sponsors Winchester and Federal in August 2000 in Forsyth, Ga. Hevi-Shot’s win and new world record earned Amick some bragging rights, which has since sparked serious attention from shooters and manufacturers alike.
During range analysis with tungsten-based loads in early 2000, I compared Federal, Kent Cartridge and Hevi-Shot loads. I disassembled a Hevi-Shot round from the lot fired in the 2000 NWTF Still-Target competition to examined its contents. I weighed the shot charge and found that it weighed 1 1⁄2 ounces, rather than the 1 5⁄8 ounces that the loads were reported to weigh. The significance of the fact is that the shot charge weighed as much as one-quarter ounce lighter than the previous winning shot shell, but turned in better pattern performance. Another thing I learned was the variation in size of individual pellets.
One of the manufacturing characteristics of tungsten-nickel shot is that a wide range of shot sizes is produced from a single pour of molten metal. As with lead shot, it must be sorted according to size before loading. To meet Turkey Shoot rules, Hevi-Shot had to be thoroughly screened and sorted with no shot smaller than No. 6 making it to final loads. I measured a hundred individual pellets from the Hevi-Shot load and found that roughly 10 percent of the pellets measured .110, which is the size of a No. 6. The average shot size was .121, which is just slightly larger than a No. 5. Simply put, the Hevi-Shot in the competition averaged a full shot size larger than the traditional competition shooters’ choice of No. 6s. The old saying “less is more” certainly applied.
Jay Menefee, owner of Polywad, initially did a portion of the shot shell loading for Hevi-Shot when they launched, and he said, “Retained velocity is the key to Hevi-Shot’s patterning performance. When it slows down, it hits a critical speed where it naturally disperses. I compare it to the way a knuckle ball or curve ball breaks when it nears home plate. It’s passing that threshold of decreased velocity that makes the ball drastically change course. When the shot drops below the speed of sound the dispersion rate increases dramatically. Hevi-Shot’s tungsten-based load has greater density than lead and makes it retain velocity for a longer period of time.”
Patterning with Hevi-Shot in October 2000 produced promising results. Fired from 40 yards, I averaged 83 percent patterns in a 30-inch circle, including 81 pellets within a 10-inch circle from a MAD Max choke. A Strangler choke tube produced 89 percent patterns, which also averaged 110 pellets within a 10-inch circle. A Comp-N-Choke tube used in the testing averaged putting 103 pellets within a 10-inch circle and 87 percent of a load inside 30 inches.
In early October 2001 I again visited with Environ Metal’s top gun Daryll Amick. “Business has been far beyond what was dreamed,” Amick said. “By next week we will bring online more production capacity to keep up with business. Over the last 6 months we have tripled capacity.” Amick revealed that his company would produce a very large amount of shot next year.
Hevi-Shot was loaded initially by three custom ammo companies to meet demand. “Hevi-Shot loads bought through our web site can be from any of three loaders,” Amick said. “The red shells are loaded by Estate Cartridge Company, which is owned by Federal. The black shells are loaded by Remington, and the clear shells are loaded by Polywad.”
The differences between the red, black and clear loads were minimal when it came to results, but nonetheless important. Polywad loads were created with Italian-made Gualandi wads, and use a spherical shot buffer. The other companies used standard steel-shot wads and white, crumb-like polyethylene buffer. A major difference between later loads and early Hevi-Shot loads was the buffer. Amick said the buffer lowered barrel pressure and improved pattern performance. The Hevi-Shot-produced turkey loads are 1 5/8 oz. and loaded in 2 3/4 in. hull with a roll crimp, which makes them look like a 3-inch shell. The Estate shells, which have a 1 1/2 oz. load, were loaded in a true 3 in. hull and sealed with a star crimp. “When we went to Estate we dropped the loads by 1/8 oz. and velocities went to 1,225 fps,” Amick said.
“I remember what you (the author) told me was a good measure for comparing turkey load performance, a 12 guage putting 100 pellets in a 10 inch circle at 40 yards,” Amick said. “We started loading a 20 ga. shell prior to the 2001 Turkey Shoot, and we were consistently putting 100 to 110 pellets in a 10-inch circle at 40 yards.”
When the Turkey Shoot rolled around Hevi-Shot was ready to enter the 20 ga. division. “That little shell never lost a prelimary round,” Amick said. “The champion wound up being good old Jay Menefee.”
“It’s going to take us a while to convert people to shooting smaller shot sizes,” Amick said more than two decades ago. “The rigidity with the density (of the shot) is something people are not used to yet.”
“Hevi-Shot lived up to its name and reputation,” said then Remington Press Relations Manager Eddie Stevenson. Hevi-Shot’s trademarked slogan “Heavier than lead. Not a lead substiture, a lead improvement” is evidenced through pattern density and penetration tests as well as performance on game. Stevenson reported that penetration tests were conducted by shooting Remington Hevi-Shot No. 4 loads at 24 ga. thick galvanized steel at 40 yards. In comparison, No. 4 lead loads dented the steel while the Hevi-Shot No. 4s passed through the steel.
It should be mentioned that extreme caution should be taken when shooting Hevi-Shot at hard surfaces. During early NWTF Still-Target competitions it was reported that the Hevi-Shot was striking the steel target holders and bouncing back to the firing line. Protective eyeware should always be used when shooting these or any other loads.
Hevi-Shot Turkey Loads Turn Green
Since its introduction in January 2000, HEVI-SHOT brand shot has revolutionized the high-performance shotshell market by producing loads delivering extremely tight pattern density and unmatched down-range pellet energy.
Just ask competitors in the National Wild Turkey Federation World Wild Turkey Still-Target Championships.
In 2000, HEVI-SHOT product managed to blow away the competition and beat the existing world record by placing an impressive 42 pellets inside a three-inch circle at 40 yards. Again in 2001, HEVI-SHOT loads out-classed the competition by taking top honors in five major categories of the NWTF competition.
The secret to HEVI-SHOT superior pattern density and down-range performance is a result of its tungsten-nickel-iron pellet construction. Early HEVI-SHOT pellets–denser than lead–results in a 7 percent heavier pellet than comparable lead pellets, that retains more velocity and energy at extended ranges.
Remington Arms Company, Inc., partnered with ENVIRON-Metal, Inc., after their wins at the NWTF Turkey Shoot, to produce Remington Premier HEVI-SHOT Magnum Turkey Loads and Premier High Velocity HEVI-SHOT Magnum Turkey Loads. Remington offered upland and waterfowl HEVI-SHOT loads, too.
Remington launched Hevi-Shot turkey loads January 1, 2002. All loads were packaged in 10-round boxes.
Stevenson also reported that the new Remington Hevi-Shot loads, when shot through a modified choke, were placing about 20 percent more pellets on target than conventional lead loads at 40 yards. The difference when comparing steel-shot loads was even more impressive. Hevi-Shot loads were putting approximately 49 percent more pellets on target than comparative No. 4 steel loads.
Remington ballisticians are also busy learning the best choke constrictions for use with Hevi-Shot. “The magic constriction is between full and super-full,” Stevenson said. All testing was conducted with a standard Rem-Choke barrel, which measures .725. A Remington full choke measures .687, while a super-full turkey choke measures .665. Stevenson shared that the Hevi-Shot chokes were manufactured with a .675 restriction.
The initial Remington turkey loads were available only in 12 ga., but 10 ga. and 20 ga. shooters got the option to try a few Remington waterfowl loads in turkey hunting applications.
After a couple of very successful sales years, the folks at Hevi-Shot asked for a raise. Remington replied with a big fat “NO” and the contract between the two companies expired. When Hevi-Shot relaunched their turkey loads they introduced Hevi-13. In comparison, original Hevi-Shot weighed 11 grams per cc, and the new Hevi-13 weighed 13 grams per cc.
It was possible to make tungsten shot even more dense, Amick told me during our last conversation. He said that it could go as high as 18 grams per cc in density. You should be starting to see a pattern here. Hevi-18 Tungsten Super Shot (TSS) is loaded by Federal Cartridge and other companies today. Today’s tungsten loads are significantly better than old lead turkey loads of the last century. They have extended effective range from 40 yards to 55 yards, and maybe a little further.
Editor’s Note: Learn more about turkey guns and loads from the author’s book, “Turkey Hunter’s Tool Kit: Shooting Savvy™.”
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