7mm Backcountry
Experience the world’s most advanced 7mm rifle cartridge.
30 Super Carry
Hits like a 9mm Luger. Carries like a 380 Auto. Designed exclusively for defense.
Raptor Steel
Built in collaboration with Rob Roberts Custom Gunworks, these loads put more pellets on target through Raptor Series chokes.
FireStick
There’s never been a muzzleloading system like this. See all the benefits that set FireStick apart to provide the most convenient, safe and consistent performance ever.
Hydra-Shok® Component Bullets
The bullet that’s defined self-defense for a generation is now available as a component.
Federal X Duluth Pack
Check out the all-new lineup of Federal-branded Duluth Pack apparel and gear.
Model 2020 Waypoint Special Edition
We worked with engineers from Springfield Armory to create Custom Shop loads specifically designed for the utmost performance from the new Model 2020 Waypoint rifle.
Decades ago, as turkey reintroductions took hold and new generation of hunters were reacquainted with gobblers, a revolution began in guns, chokes and the ammunition that fed them. Today, hunters have more—and more effective—turkey load options than ever before. The only downside is choosing one. But with an understanding of how these loads stack up to one another, it’s easy to find a turkey load that matches how you hunt.
One of the biggest breakthroughs to hit turkey hunting has been the integration of non-lead pellet materials, specifically tungsten. The benefits are many. Since these materials are much denser than conventional lead shot, the pellets retain velocity and energy farther from the muzzle. This, in turn, allows the use of smaller shot, increasing a given payload’s pellet count, which improves pattern density and extends lethal range well past 50 yards, depending on the specific gun and choke.
Federal Premium HEAVYWEIGHT TSS turkey loads lead this category. TSS stands for Tungsten Super Shot and is the highest-density tungsten-alloy material on the market. At 18 gm/cc, its density is 56 percent more than lead. The result is the most energy and highest velocities at extreme range. The loads’ rear-braking FLITECONTROL FLEX wad performs flawlessly through ported and standard turkey chokes for the most consistent, deadly patterns possible.
Turkey loads are notorious for punishing the shooter nearly as much as the gobbler, but the HEAVYWEIGHT TSS line also includes a low-recoil 20-gauge offering that bucks that reputation. Along those same lines, Federal offers two .410 TSS loads—one in No. 7 shot and one in No. 9. Although both are loaded with just 13/16 ounce of shot, the small shot sizes provide high pellet counts that yield pattern density similar to 12-gauge lead loads—all with less recoil.
In addition to a full lineup of the most popular 12 and 20 gauge options—as well as .410—Federal now offers HEAVYWEIGHT TSS turkey loads in two 28-gauge offerings, 2 3/4-inch 1 1/4-ounce and 3-inch 1 1/2-ounce, both with No. 9 shot.
As turkey guns and loads have advanced, the trend has always been toward extending range to knock down stubborn birds that hang up just out of reach. Although loads like TSS have accomplished that, there’s a cost: Patterns are often so tight it can be easy to miss a bird that sneaks within 20 yards. A gobbler’s last-instant head-bob or a bad cheekweld to the stock can turn a gimme shot into an airball.
That drove Federal to develop 3rd Degree. Rather than simply pattern tightly like conventional turkey loads, 3rd Degree uses a three-stage payload of No. 5 copper-plated lead, No. 6 FLITESTOPPER lead and No. 7 HEAVYWEIGHT TSS. The FLITESTOPPER pellets are ringed with a raised cutting edge that causes them to spread faster than typical spherical shot. This significantly enlarges the effective pattern at close range. And with standard copper-plated lead and HEAVYWEIGHT TSS pellets in the payload, the loads still provide the pattern density and power needed to kill birds past 40 yards. Hunters who prefer 20-gauge turkey loads will love Federal’s 1 ½-ounce 3rd Degree.
Despite all the changes in ammunition over the decades, lead payloads remain effective options in the spring woods, and modern advancements have made them even better. Although lead simply can’t beat most new loads in head-to-head comparisons of energy, velocity, pellet counts and maximum range, it does offer some practical advantages, especially for hunters who target birds in terrain and cover that limit shots to less than 40 yards—or for those who simply love to call birds in close before closing the deal.
For starters, there’s simply more lead turkey loads from which to choose, with a wider range of payload weights, shot sizes and gauges. Along those lines, lead loads are significantly less expensive than their tungsten and specialty counterparts, which makes it more manageable for hunters to experiment to find the one that patterns best in their gun. And by shooting more, hunters will also become intimately familiar with where their pattern’s center impacts, which will make it easier to drop birds in the field.
Federal Premium Grand Slam embodies all of these advantages while proving that lead turkey loads continue to evolve. Like Federal’s other turkey offerings, its FLITECONTROL FLEX wad system works in both standard and ported turkey chokes, opening from the rear for a controlled release of the payload and extremely consistent patterns. Grand Slam’s high-quality copper-plated lead pellets are also cushioned with an advanced buffering compound to reduce pellet deformation at ignition, which reduces flyers, keeping more pellets in the pattern’s core for more hits on gobblers. The classic 3-inch 12-gauge 1 3/4-ounce load of No. 6 shot is a proven gobbler killer.
And for hunters who want only the best, there’s Federal Custom Shop turkey loads. Unlike other commercially available ammo, Custom Shop turkey loads are handloaded to a customer’s individual order by Federal’s in-house craftsmen. All of the offerings feature TSS payloads in a variety of gauges and payload weights.
Federal’s Custom Shop also recently collaborated with legendary choke tube designer Rob Roberts Custom Gunworks on two all-new, heavy-payload, 2 ¾-inch 28-gauge loads topped with 1 ½ and 1 ¾ ounces of shot.
No matter which type of load you choose, it’s important to understand that, all things being equal, shot size and payload weight choices are tradeoffs. Although larger pellets carry energy father downrange than smaller ones of the same material, you get fewer pellets per payload. Smaller pellets improve pattern density, but they might not carry enough punch to penetrate tissue and break bone at longer distances—especially with lead shot. Larger payloads have more pellets, but more punishing recoil—and heavier ones don’t necessarily pattern better. The list goes on.
And that’s where the ball falls in your court. Every gun, choke and shooter combination performs differently. The best way to pin down what meets your needs is to shoot a variety of turkey loads from 10 to 50 yards and compare the number of hits within a 10-inch circle. Go with one that gives you the most hits at the ranges you expect to shoot, and you’ll be wrapping a tag around a hook-spurred gobbler leg before spring’s out.