Best turkey loads for a 20 gauge, and the pellet counts that changed the argument

The short version

A 20 gauge throws less payload than a 12, which used to settle the argument. Tungsten reopened it: an 18 g/cc pellet carries a lead pellet's energy at a much smaller size, so a 1 1/2 oz 20-gauge payload now holds more pellets than a heavier lead 12-gauge load does.

So the 20-gauge decision comes down to what you are willing to spend per shell:

• Tungsten (TSS): published counts of 544 to 590 pellets, and a gun that is honestly good to 40 yards and beyond. Expensive per shell.
• Premium lead: 1 1/4 to 1 5/16 oz of copper-plated shot, far cheaper, and a shorter practical range.

Every figure below is published maker data, read 2026-09-26 and linked. There are no buy buttons on shells here, because Amazon does not sell ammunition; the picks further down are the 20-gauge chokes and the pattern targets that decide what any of these shells actually does.

Six 20-gauge loads, side by side

Federal also lists a 2.75 in 20-gauge HEAVYWEIGHT TSS at 1 1/8 oz and 1,000 fps, and HEVI-18 a 2.75 in at 1 1/4 oz and 1,200 fps — useful if your gun is chambered for 2.75 in only. Apex lists a 2.75 in 1 3/8 oz as well.

Why a 20 gauge works now

Compare two published payloads. Winchester's 20-gauge Long Beard XR carries 1 1/4 oz of No. 5 copper-plated lead. Apex's 20-gauge TSS carries 1 5/8 oz of No. 9 tungsten at a published 590 pellets. The tungsten load is heavier and its pellets are far smaller, so the count is in a different league entirely — and Apex states the pattern claim plainly, saying the load turns the gun into a consistent long-range proposition.

The density figures behind that: Apex publishes TSS at 18.1 g/cc, Federal HEAVYWEIGHT TSS at 18 g/cc, against lead at 11.34 g/cc and steel at 7.86 g/cc. As Apex puts it, “when the density is increased, the shot size can be reduced without losing knockdown performance.” The NWTF makes the same point in terms a hunter can use: a No. 9 HEAVYWEIGHT TSS pellet carries at least as much penetration energy as a No. 5 lead pellet at all ranges.

That is why a 20 gauge is now a legitimate first turkey gun rather than a compromise. The whole gauge argument is in 20 gauge vs 12 gauge for turkey, and the guns are in best turkey shotguns for beginners and best youth turkey shotguns.

The tungsten loads

Three makers, and they publish different things, which is worth knowing when you compare boxes on a shelf:

• Apex publishes per-shot-size pellet counts on the product page, which almost nobody else does: 590 for No. 9, 410 for No. 8 and 358 for No. 7.5 in its 3 in 1 5/8 oz load at 1,175 fps. Apex also publishes how it patterns its own loads, including the gun and choke used, which is unusually transparent.
• Federal publishes 544 pellets for its 3 in 1 1/2 oz No. 9 at 1,100 fps and names the wad: a “FLITECONTROL FLEX wad [that] provides extremely tight, consistent patterns through standard and ported turkey chokes.” It also offers No. 7 and a 7/9 blend in 20 gauge.
• HEVI-18 publishes the highest velocity in 20 gauge at 1,250 fps for its 3 in 1 1/2 oz No. 7 and No. 9, and credits a friction-reducing spherical buffer.

Choosing between No. 7, No. 8 and No. 9 tungsten is the one genuinely difficult decision here. More pellets (No. 9) means a denser pattern; bigger pellets (No. 7) means more energy each, and fewer of them. Both work; the makers offer all three because guns differ. For a beginner in 20 gauge, No. 9 gives the most forgiving pattern, and the pellet counts say why. Shot-size guidance with sources is in what size shot for turkey.

The lead options, and their honest limit

There are two premium lead loads worth naming in 20 gauge:

Winchester Long Beard XR, 3 in, 1 1/4 oz of No. 5 or No. 6 copper-plated lead at 1,000 fps. Winchester's Shot-Lok resin means, in its words, “Shot launches from barrel near perfectly round for extremely tight long-range patterns,” and the company claims twice the pellets in a 10 in circle at 60 yards against traditional lead. Note that the 20-gauge version is listed only in No. 5 and No. 6, not No. 4.

Federal Grand Slam, 3 in, 1 5/16 oz of No. 5 copper-plated lead at 1,185 fps, with the FLITECONTROL FLEX wad and a buffering material Federal says cushions pellets during ignition.

The honest limit: 1 1/4 oz of No. 5 lead is not many pellets, and a 20-gauge lead load asks you to keep shots closer than a tungsten load does. That is not a reason to avoid lead — it is a reason to pattern it and then hold yourself to what the paper shows, which for many 20-gauge lead setups is inside 35 yards. How to think about range at all is in how far can you shoot a turkey.

The blended option

Federal's 3rd Degree exists in 20 gauge too: a 3 in 1 1/2 oz load at 1,100 fps with a published 285 pellets and the three-stage payload Federal describes as “20 percent No. 6 FLITESTOPPER pellets for forgiving close-range patterns; 40 percent copper-plated No. 5 lead for lethal performance at mid-range; 40 percent HEAVYWEIGHT TSS (18 g/cc) for extra-dense, high-energy patterns at 40-plus yards.”

For a 20 gauge that will be used by a young or new hunter, that spread is a genuine argument: the hardest shot to make with an extra-full turkey choke is a bird at 12 yards, and a more forgiving close-range component helps. The counter is that a mixed payload is harder to interpret on paper, because the holes you count came from three different pellet types.

Recoil: the reason people choose a 20

Nobody in this group publishes a recoil figure, and we will not invent one. What is published is the payload and the velocity, and those two plus the gun's weight are what set recoil. A 1 1/2 oz 20-gauge tungsten load at 1,250 fps out of a 5.4 lb gun is not a gentle thing; a 1 1/4 oz lead load at 1,000 fps out of a 6 lb 4 oz pump is.

So if recoil is why you are shooting a 20 gauge — for a young hunter, a smaller-framed adult, or anyone who flinches — look at the slower, lighter published loads first, and remember that a semi-auto action absorbs part of the impulse. The guns are in best semi-automatic turkey shotguns. And whatever you choose, fire a couple at paper before the hunt rather than discovering the recoil on a live bird.

The choke is not a smaller 12-gauge tube

A 20-gauge turkey choke is its own part with its own constriction, and choke makers publish which loads a tube is cut for. Carlson's sells a TSS-specific 20-gauge tube for the small, hard pellets; its Long Beard tube is cut for premium copper-plated lead; and Kick's rates its 20-gauge Gobblin' Thunder for lead, Hevi-Shot and TSS alike.

The 20-gauge tubes are ranked in best 20 gauge turkey chokes, and the general choke argument is what choke for turkey hunting.

Pattern it, and set a limit

With a 20 gauge this is not optional, because the margin is thinner than in a 12. Mississippi State University Extension publishes the method in How to Pattern a Shotgun for Turkey Hunting, the NWTF's 5 Ways to Evaluate your Turkey Pattern explains how to read the paper, and Apex publishes its own reasoning for patterning at 40 yards in 10 in and 30 in circles.

Do it at the distance you intend to shoot, from a seated position, with the choke you will hunt. Then write the number down and hold yourself to it. Our walkthrough is how to pattern a turkey gun.

The cost problem

We do not print prices, because they move. The stable fact is the ratio: tungsten costs multiples of premium lead per shell, and in 20 gauge the tungsten loads are the ones that unlock the range. That leaves most hunters with a sensible split — pattern with cheaper lead to learn the gun, then buy a single box of tungsten for the season and shoot two of them at paper to confirm the point of impact.

Availability is the other practical issue. When we read Federal's store on 2026-09-26, several HEAVYWEIGHT TSS SKUs were listed as currently unavailable. Turkey shells sell out in late winter; buy in the autumn if a specific load matters to you.

Shot rules vary by state

Your state sets the shot sizes and materials you may carry, and the rules differ. Missouri publishes its turkey hunting equipment guidance, New York its turkey regulations; both are examples, not national rules. Check yours before you buy.