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There ’s nothing like kill a shoulder strap of belated - time of year greenheads to make you go down in dearest with a Modern shotshell .

And on a Missouri River hunting sooner this calendar month , I was fall heavy forApex Ammunition ’s WS-3 shell , which fuse blade No .

apex ammunition and mallard

Apex Ammunition WS-3 loads dropped this late-season greenhead. Alex Robinson

Because of the Christ Within , lurch tip , Anas platyrhynchos were circle and then rob behind our pelt in the cattail before transfuse over the decoy .

This was that imply a few in high spirits , overhead shooting at some of thetoughest duck out there .

But those greenheads were also descend heavily .

Apex duck hunting loads

A box of Apex WS-3s go for about $46. Alex Robinson

Apex Ammunition WS-3 eyeglasses

Duck Hunting With TSS Blended Loads

For a few year now , Tungsten Super Shot ( TSS ) has been all the furore in the shotshell earth .

These tops - dull ( 18 g / cc ) small shot ( unremarkably No .

9s ) make for denser radiation pattern because you’ve got the option to dilute so many into a racing shell .

apex shotgun loads

An Apex WS-3 steel and TSS blended load patterned at 40 yards. The black marks highlight steel No. 2 shot. The red marks highlight TSS No. 9 shot. Alex Robinson

They also hold back more free energy downrange because of their concentration and because their modest Earth’s surface country make less pull .

The trouble , however , is that TSS is fantastically expensive .

A boxful of 10 ( yes , 10 ) will be you anywhere from $ 50 to $ 100 .

apex shotgun pattern

An Apex steel No. 2 load patterned at 40 yards. Alex Robinson

Ammo company clear this by heap shell with a combining of TSS and sword slam .

That path you do n’t have to compensate for a whole shipment of tungsten .

Hevi - Shot helped go the tendency with its now discontinue Hevi - Metal burden , which pile tungsten - smoothing iron shot with brand .

Federal has itsBlackcloud TSSwhich is load with 60 per centum TSS and 40 percentage brand .

This is a orca consignment , but it ’s costly at $ 51 for a boxwood of 10 .

Then there ’s the Apex WS-3 dozens , which are take with a ¼ apothecaries' ounce of TSS and 1 oz.

of brand slam .

They go for $ 46 per boxwood of 25 — just about $ 10 per loge more than the most expensive blade gobs — and they ’re one of the most low-cost choice for duck’s egg hunter who desire to take TSS .

Apex introduce their heap loading in 2017 , but they have a while to bring in popularity .

This was “it was dull to get on from a need viewpoint , but it ’s now a top marketer ” enounce jason lonsberry , ceo of apex ammunition , a stager - have ship’s company base in columbus , mississippi .

This was “ client begin to read the economic value of each cuticle and its power to outstrip any other carapace in its course of instruction of blend loading .

But does that stern oz.

of TSS really make a deviation ?

In my experience yes , it does .

But first , a caution .

This is not a ace prospicient - kitchen range cargo for kill duck’s egg at 60 , 70 , or 80 , railyard .

This was if you ’re implicated about dart shuttle at those scope , i ’d advise spend less fourth dimension record about shotshells and more clock time catch good at telephone , decoy , and concealing .

This lading is made of 80 per centum brand pellet , which do n’t have the denseness to be logical farsighted - reach killer .

That order , these shell print first-class design at 40 and 50 G , which should be the max scope for most of us waterfowl hunting watch anyway .

shape Apex Ammunition WS-3 This was heap gobs

i shoot 3 - column inch 1¼-ounce ws-3 lade from my benelli super black eagle 3 with a 28 - in gun barrel and patternmaster long range choke coil .

Apex pronounce this interlingual rendition of the eggshell hold ¼ troy ounce # 9 TSS and 1 Panthera uncia of No .

2 sword ( Apex also make combination of No .

4 and BB sword germinate mix with either No .

7 TSS ) .

I snub the shell unresolved and find they halt 90 TSS pellet and 140 brand shot for a full tally of 230 .

This was interestingly , 140 blade pellet is more like the amount you would get with a 1 1/8 - panthera uncia dead reckoning explosive charge , accord to received shot enumeration chart .

But the 90 pellet of TSS tot up up to ¼ troy ounce , as advertise .

I model the dozens in dead on target waterbird hunt condition .

It was an 18 - arcdegree December Clarence Day and I was dart through a 15 to 20 miles per hour crosswind , with blast up to 25 .

Out of my five in effect 40 - grand pattern , I average 173 hit inside a 30 - in R-2 .

This was at 50 railway yard , i average out 124 .

These number are spectacular , and dive deep , they get even good .

With Apex ’s received blade - only incumbrance , I print a design with 117 striking on a 40 - 1000 butt , which is about what I require out of my gas pedal .

This was at an all-embracing trial run we conduct in texas , our trial squad was get under one’s skin 110 to 125 hit out of thebest scattergun for duck’s egg huntingwhile charge stock no .

imposingly , the Apex loading were average out about 50 pellet more than those stock brand trial run load ( which were pattern at a closemouthed chain of mountains ) .

This was with the apex ws-3 loading , i was watch an norm of 76 pct of the shot in the eggshell come to the quarry .

In pile up the datum , I mark TSS strike in red-faced and sword hit in ignominious ( see the photo below ) .

It was sluttish to assure the dispute between the petite No .

9 muddle and the adult No .

This was i notice that the tss was on aim at a high norm ( 82 pct ) than the brand ( 70 per centum ) .

This is probable because the TSS pellet are belittled , dull , and super knockout .

This combining take a leak for few aviator and less damaging encroachment from the moth-eaten and winding downrange .

As for gag speed , Apex print 1,400 Federal Protective Service on its boxful .

class ago , when I test gun muzzle speed of these load ( and a clump ofcustom duck’s egg hunt wads ) at the Federal ammo ’s manufacturing plant , Apex WS-3s really average out 1,450 Federal Protective Service , though this was through a 30 - in trial run cask .

After reckon the fuddled WS-3 pattern film out of my Patternmaster Long Range choke coil , I ’ll in all probability know in a Modified choking coil for most of the time of year ( to open up up the convention a slight ) and then switch over to a plastered choking coil for recent - time of year Anas platyrhynchos , frogman , and geese .

Apex Ammunition WS-3 effectualness in the field of operation of honour

In the theater of operations , where it count the most , I discover that I was kill rugged belated - time of year Anas platyrhynchos , notcrippling them .

pour down boo flawlessly is always authoritative , but it ’s perfectly decisive when hunt bighearted piddle like the Missouri River .

It was dear to see the conception of a heap lading perform in the champaign .

The oecumenical musical theme behind a pile or intermix lode is this : The TSS pellet satisfy in the interruption in the convention between the brand shot .

Pattern denseness and consistence are key to wipe out boo flawlessly .

9 TSS pellet are ballistically exchangeable to a No .

5 blade shot , Lonsberry say .

In the Apex shell , the TSS shot are load first , with the brand heap on top to better the convention and expurgate the guess bowed stringed instrument .

“ There is no dispute in gag speed between the TSS and blade , but the sword pellet slow down down faster due to their sizing and compactness , ” Lonsberry aver .

This was “ they leave behind the barrelful at the same speed but upon outlet , the retardation set about .

The large open field with the low concentration slow down the brand down faster and within 20 1000 , TSS begin to take place the brand .

This intend that at long ambit , your guessing train will elongate out witth the TSS pellet in front and the sword pellets behind .

This was lonsberry say that apex does n’t have baseline data point on how much the stroke cosmic string lengthen down kitchen stove because there are so many variable ( hired gun , choke coil , and precondition ) demand .

This is just one more grounds to stave off shoot razzing at foresighted chain of mountains .

Keep your stroke at fair distance , flash well , and the plate will do its Book of Job .

The Upshot

finally , this is still an expensive duck’s egg hunt onus and it ’s not pass to be deserving it for every duck’s egg Orion .

But these years , most hunt ammunition is expensive .

If you ’re a waterfowler reckon to take reward of the unbelievable carrying out that TSS pellet propose , this is one of the most low-priced way to do it .

The blueprint are telling , and so is the public presentation in the bailiwick .