Using as a standard, where 1.25 oz. of #9 TSS and 1.25 oz. of #4 lead shot begin to decrease to 1.5” of penetration with an initial muzzle velocity of 1100 fps the comparison of individual pellet expressed in ft. lbs. and energy density expressed in ft. lbs. per square inch:
If in fact Apex stated that #9 TSS has the better energy than #4 lead per individual pellet travelling at same velocity, that would be incorrect. However, at 1100 fps, a load of 1.25 oz of #9 TSS has 1.5” of ballistic gel penetration at 58 yards with an individual pellet energy of .78 ft. lbs., but an energy density level of 155.4 ft. lbs/square inch because there are 446.74 pellets of TSS in the 1.25 oz. load.
1.25 oz. of #4 lead contains 167.32 pellets. At 1100 fps, it has gel penetration of 1.5” at 59.6 yards with a final velocity of 531 fps with 2.04 ft. lbs of energy per individual pellet, but an energy density of 153.7 ft. lbs. /square inch.
While a 1.25 oz. #4 lead load has individual pellet energy greater than 1.25 oz. of TSS #9, it doesn’t have greater energy density than TSS.
Calculations based on KPY Shotshell Ballistics program.
https://kpyshotshellballistics.com/Gil
