Would POI be different between a TSS shell (say an Apex) and your run-of-the-mill birdshot, like it would be shooting different rounds through a rifle? Or would you expect the POI to be the generally the same?

I ask because I've got a handful of TSS that I still haven't gotten around to patterning in my new-to-me 20ga....I have a couple each of about 3 or 4 different loads to try out before I buy a box to hunt with. Before I shoot them, I was going to shoot some bird shot to make sure the gun shoots generally where I point it, and have adjustable rifle sights to move POI if necessary....but if I "sight it in" with the bird shot, can I expect the Apex to hit generally the same spot or no?

I just don't want to fire an $8-10 TSS at a poster board and have part of the pattern off the paper....

It will be close enough to set sights.

I'm not a TSS expert but my experience with ammunition says "yes" they will pattern different. The TSS density is different from lead and should pattern differently.

I do the same. Sight in with an old lead turkey load and then check the tss. Mine has only required minimal poi movement to get to poa. If tss pattern wasn't so tight, I probably wouldn't have moved the sight s at all, except I'm ocd.

Yeah, now that I think about it was given some 20ga Longbeards when I got the gun, so I'll "sight it in" with those.....Maybe they'll be closer than regular old dove loads.

You can rough it in with dove loads at 10 yards. The problem is that the dove loads don’t hold together well enough for me to tell where it’s at anywhere past 20 yards. I rough it in at 10-20 with dove loads and then do my final adjustment at 40. Generally from what I’ve seen, if you rough it in at 20 with doves loads, the tss will be a little low at 40 yards.

Good deal.....I think I'll do that at 20 with the dove loads, then shoot the longbeards at 40 before shooting the TSS. Hell, if I can't get it where I need it doing that, I got bigger problems

Anytime I have sighted in a new red dot sight on a shotgun I would start with dove loads at 10 yards. Then I move to 20. The pattern with them spread too wide past that point but this has usually put me pretty close with the heavier turkey loads at 40 yards.

I have used the high brass rios. As others have said, it will get you real close out to 20yds or so, then you gotta spend some money.

I sighted mine in with cheap dove loads and then shot one tss...it hit high..soo i just been aimin at their waddels...kilt several now like that with nary a one gettin away.

Every gun I've shot with tss shoots high. Some more than others.

X2

Not me, mine are always low. I am left handed though, wonder if that makes some sort of difference

Probably, everything is backwards for left handed folks!

Dang! I'm a lefty...........this changes everything!

I use dove loads at 10 yds then check it at 40 yds. Mine was dead on using an 835, IC choke, and Apex 9s.

You don't "Sight In" a Damn' Shotgun....You PATTERN IT. If it throughs a good pattern with whatever but shoots high/low..left/right...You adjust the Drop or warp the Barrel. And optical sights on a Shotgun....God only mean't those for Deer Slug Hunters!! The Hunting World is Suffering....

Reckon how many turkeys you done missed with that warped barrel Festus?

And once again

Joe he doesn’t miss with that almighty 10 gauge! Kills em @70 yards all day

He’s a lead 4’s kinda guy.

The hunting world ain’t the only thing suffering if you toting around a ten gauge piece of railroad iron Festus!!

Dang, I was about to make the same exact comment!

Ill do my best not to drop and warp my barrel

Well, ol Chuckie is right about one point. You pattern a shotgun.
I really hate to hear someone talking about "sight in" a shotgun. That's not correct.

This is a dumb debate, but I'll bite....

I realize that you typically pattern a shotgun and sight in a rifle...but many turkey guns have rifle-style sights. Such was the case with my previous turkey gun....I tried several different shells. The best, most even consistent pattern was with Longbeard XR's....but the pattern, as a whole, shot a few inches high. So just like a rifle hitting too high, I adjusted the sights accordingly and now the pattern, as a whole, is dead on.

Explain to me how that doesn't qualify as "sighting in"....type of gun be damned.

Welp..i know you pattern one...sure do...but i was dialin on a scope..so i was sighting it in..to me. Im a pretty simple feller, and i just call it like i see it..im not a wingshooter...my daddy was..but not me. I can promise you tho, it will be sighting in from now on..just cause it bothers you

When I started and for years thereafter I never so much as heard of someone either sighting in OR patterning their shotgun. You grabbed some high brass shells, went hunting, and ate turkey. Now I chase numbers, attempt to sight in my shotgun, still eat turkeys, but miss my share of them. What went wrong???

Most all of us fell into the same trap. We fell for the marketing BS and thought we needed to latest greatest magnum, super power, ultra shot, go get em, turkey gear.
The best turkey hunter, I ever knew, was a great uncle who hunted in blue liberty overalls and shot a 22 Remington rifle.

I also started turkey hunting in the era when I just grabbed some shells and went hunting. That's what almost everyone did in the 60s. And we killed some turkeys, but I hate to admit that a lot of them got away. We called it missing, but most of them were actually wounded. Some recovered; some didn't.

I still let some get away, but in the past 20 years that number has gone way down. And it's not because I'm a better shot; it's mainly because I have better equipment and have learned to use it better. So I "sight in" my shotgun every season and then I usually get a dead turkey when I pull the trigger. I would really rather just put shells in the gun and go hunting, but wounding a turkey is such an awful experience that I'm willing to do everything I can to avoid it happening.

Why not just bore sight it then shoot one or two of the high dollar shells?

I’ve tried that myself. I was disappointed with the lack of precision. It will get you “on paper”, but ain’t worth much more. Works fine for rifles. Not so much for a big ole 12 gauge (3/4” diameter) or 20 gauge (2/3” diam.).

How big a piece of paper are you using?

Haha...a 3’x3’ sheet is plenty big. Just don’t expect repeatability/precision when using a laser bore sighter out of a shotgun. Chamber it once, bore sight and repeat. Next time you’re subject to being a foot off. At best it’s “minute of turkey.”