A Relaunched Turkey Hunt Favorite — HEVI-13

• 20 gauge, Remington 1187 with a Primos .570 choke and a Bushnell RXM-300 reflex sight  

• 20 gauge, Spandau S2 with a Primos .560 choke, no optics 

• 12 gauge, Remington with a Primos .650 choke, Vortex Defender ST reflex sight 

The ammo of choice for my 12- and 20-gauge shotguns was the recently re-launched HEVI-Shot HEVI-13, a throwback load from the company that was the first to produce denser-than-lead options that eventually led to TSS becoming the standard for the most lethal turkey loads on the market.  

Today — and when the load was first launched — HEVI-13 is advertised as offering 20% more effective range and energy than lead shot, as the HEVI-13 pellets come in at a density of 12.0g/cc versus 11.2 g/cc for lead shot. Oh, and the payload also is a non-toxic shot type, for those required to shoot such loads. 

20-gauge HEVI-13s 

12-gauge HEVI-13s 

A representative from HEVI-Shot said that a big reason for the return of HEVI-13 was demand from turkey hunters who were looking for a cheaper alternative to TSS loads while not drastically reducing knockdown power.  

Now the demand for the shells’ return comes as no surprise; back when I first started with the NWTF, a coworker gave me a couple boxes to add to my turkey hunting inventory telling me how effective they were. And at that time, HEVI-13s were also the record holders at the NWTF’s World Championship Still Target Shoot for the most pellets in a 3-inch circle of a turkey target at the distance of 40 yards in nearly all the classes. Those records stood until technological advances in shot shells led to new records, which was what the competition was designed to do — drive innovation.  

Even in a recent conversation with a hunting buddy of mine, Nash Greene — who was more that excited that these loads were back — he noted that they were and still are “the best loads I’ve ever patterned at 45-50 yards with my old Stevens side-by-side 12 gauge.” That gun has been in his family for a long time, and it has taken quite a few turkeys between both him and his dad since they began using it in the 80s. 

Back at the range, I spent the morning mainly focusing on patterning the 7s through the 20-gauges, though I did run a few rounds of 6s through the guns just to make sure they didn’t pattern too much differently. There was no real noticeable deviation. And, the 12 gauge, which got the fewest rounds of all the guns, was primarily fed 6s. 

The HEVI-13 in 20-gauge performed best out of my shotgun with the tighter constriction, holding a pattern at 40 yards that peppered my Birchwood Casey splatter targets, leaving an average of more than 30 pellets within the inner circle. The other 20-gauge wasn’t too far off, offering an average pellet count in the upper 20s, which is still enough for me to feel confident in killing a turkey this spring. The patterns for the 12-gauge also proved to be lethal, though I could improve each gun pattern through optics tinkering or adjusting point of aim for those guns without red dots. 

Regardless, I was pleased. 

Though I am sure that the temps will plunge back to more winter-esque conditions for at least a few days here in the South, with the NWTF convention right around the corner and turkey season coming in shortly after, there is no better time to start your turkey season preparations.  

So, make sure you’re getting your turkey calls out and your vest dusted off. And, if you’re looking to run a relaunched, more cost-effective turkey load (in relationship to TSS) with great knockdown power, check out https://www.hevishot.com/ to learn about their HEVI-13.