That is the kind of information I am after. I honestly have not been able to wrap my mind around whether it is better to go slow/heavy or light/fast. Hard to know if the cripples we produced last year were due to not putting enough pattern density on the bird or the simply inferiority of steel shot (which can be lessened with greater velocity obviously). We are set to do some patterning this week which I think will help tremendously, but really curious if folks as a whole are more confident with slow/heavy or light/fast. It sure seems like to me, studying how many pellets are in various payloads, that if you're shooting 4's for instance, you would be better off going with light/fast given there are still plenty of pellets in a lighter payload. Whereas, if you're shooting 1's or 2's, there aren't very many pellets in a light/fast load. I dunno. The main thing I know is that steel SUX!

Another factor I think about (I am aerospace engineer so I over analyze everything) is the huge aerodynamic profile of the bigger steel shot, on top of a poor density, and I eventually conclude that those pellets HAVE to bleed off velocity big time relative to a more efficient projectile. That means poor velocity downrange and shooting behind birds (in my mind at least). That is another reason I have been thinking that maybe I wanted to go more toward light/fast. I had made my mind up that I was gonna spring for Remington Hypersonic shells then I read all of the horror stories so I quickly nixed that idea. Still searching for the best overall solution for various situations.

Steel going fast will kill better, however some say that the faster it starts out the quicker it also slows down. IDK

From a purely aerodynamic perspective, they are correct. The drag load on a projectile is a function of the velocity squared. Hence, the rate at which airspeed degrades will be greater.

However, not having run any calculations or anything, I would bet my bottom dollar a piece of shot fired at 1600 fps will still be going WAY faster at 40 yards than one fired at 1300 fps.

If I ever get serious about duck hunting, I may end up going down that rabbit hole you mentioned. However, as of now, a duck ain't even in the same zip code as a turkey for me personally. Hence (for now), ain't gonna be no high dollar TSS, reloads of any kind, etc. Of the forms of duck hunting I have tried on public land, in the timber where boats can't get to is by far my favorite. I like to get outdoors to get away from all of the noise and hustle and bustle of life and the open water hunting and mud motors running all over the place 45 minutes into shooting light aint my favorite by a long shot. For this year, I'm gonna shoot these Black Cloud high velocity shells (I can handle $13 a box after rebate) 3's (may pick up a box of 4's to try too given so many of you guys are high on them) through all of our chokes and just pick the best one and go have fun with my high school senior son before he is gone.

I haven't put the pencil to paper, but I wonder if the TSS route would be close enough to the cost of factory steel loads to make it worth trying? Buying the BPI shot and only having to run about a 1/2oz load and assuming the number of shots needed would be less. Maybe there's a breaking point somewhere, when you do decide to go down a rabbit hole. However, close timber shots in hunting situations like you described, the route you're going seems to be best.

I haven't put the pencil to paper, but I wonder if the TSS route would be close enough to the cost of factory steel loads to make it worth trying? Buying the BPI shot and only having to run about a 1/2oz load and assuming the number of shots needed would be less. Maybe there's a breaking point somewhere, when you do decide to go down a rabbit hole. However, close timber shots in hunting situations like you described, the route you're going seems to be best.

Dave in AZ has done a lot of work testing TSS for waterfowl. Here's one of his articles:

https://pipesf16.wordpress.com/tss-where-is-its-niche/

If you click on the menu button at the top of his page, it shows all the articles he's written over the years about loading steel. I have enjoyed reading his work because he bases it on actual testing instead of theory, and he doesn't seem to have an agenda.

I thought about all of that prior to last duck season. Even if you consider having to shoot each duck 3 times (which happened way more last year than I care to admit), I never could even get close to arriving at the conclusion that rolling my own with some form of heavier-than-lead (HTL) was a good business case. Maybe if I ended up with a much cheaper source for bulk shot from overseas if could be possible, but I just don't care enough to pursue it any further than I did last year. Heck, I couldn't even convince myself to buy steel and roll a superior shell (maybe) than what you can get off the shelf. Just too damn expensive for the shot itself. Would be better off buying some clearanced cheapo shells and stealing the shot out of them....but screw that headache too.

For your hunting situation, it would be more trouble than it's worth.

I found that out myself. Every shell is is PITA just like TSS. I justified it cause I wanted to load TSS for turkeys and dabble with steel shot loads. Steel powder doesn't drop efficiently so each powder drop is weighed. I bought an auto powder dispenser that has definitely sped things up. Each steel shot load is hand weighed. On a good day I can crank out a box of steel shot (25 shells) in about 35 minutes. Not bad if you're shooting HP rifles or TSS loads. But when your burning powder in the field it kinda sucks trying to keep up. I usually load most shells during the summer and early fall.

RSI affiliated Bucks Run has E Shot which is a heavier than steel shot that does pattern nicely. I use Longshot powder with that so it goes much faster loading those shells since Longshot drops nicely thru the charge bar. I've tried numerous duplex loads etc....

Sometimes its better to buy your shells and go hunt, trust me on that. That's what I did last year.