Originally Posted By: GLS
John, there are naysayers about the tungsten shot but only because of unfamiliarity or just stubbornness to hear of anything different than what they were born into. With a density almost double that of lead, only depleted uranium is denser, but barely. Time and time again, it has been demonstrated that #9 tungsten has more penetration than #4 lead shot with equal mv. It is not "trick" shooting to use it. With an oz. of tungsten 9's containing from 370 to 420 per oz. and lead #4 containing 130, per ounce, my 13/16 oz. of tungsten 9's delivers 159 pellets in a 10" circle at 40 yards. You won't get those numbers with lead 4's in a 2 oz. or better load. I restrict shots to under 40 yards, but my .410 is lethal at that range and beyond. Those turkeys depicted above were stone cold dead at 36 steps. Since using #9 tungsten at 40 yards and below over the past 5 seasons, I haven't had a bird run off. Most don't even flop. My big gun is now a 20 gauge for turkeys and I have been through the ropes with 10's and 12's in 40 seasons of hunting turkeys and I enjoy carrying a 3 lb., 3 oz. single-shot .410 that can kill turkeys reliably and ethically instead lugging around guns weighing from 8 to 12 lbs. loaded. YMMV. Gil


I knew it was dense but I didn't know it was that dense. Tungsten is some nasty stuff.