As the push for a ban on lead shot is sloooowly coming to possible head in my state I have been wanting to find an EASY solution for my smoothbore muzzleloader. There is always steel (actually soft iron) but I don't want to mess around with plastic and or mylar to protect the barrel. ITX and the various tungstens are interesting but many of them are nearly as hard as steel shot. Not to mention the high cost. I'm aware that there is a softer ITX shot available but I felt that there was a better answer. What I have been wanting is something the govt considers non toxic yet is as interchangeable with lead as much as possible in terms of load components and performance. Enter bismuth.
Quite awhile ago RotoMetals had a sale on 1# sample packs of their bismuth shot. Their alloy has a higher tin % than traditional bismuth shot. I assume to prevent pellet breakage in the barrel and on impact. I bought several packs in various sizes. It appears that one needs to only go up one size as opposed to two sizes for steel. It is soft. Harder than lead but still very soft. Falls roughly halfway between steel and lead in density.
Today I had a chance to try it out. I have patterned this 20 guage extensively with lead. I know what it is capable of. I wanted to see just how different this bismuth would pattern. The only changes I made was I went up one shot size. For example if I wanted to compare chilled lead #6 1.125 oz 3dram 2f SkyChief load to bismuth all I changed was i used bismuth #5. I shot SkyChief type loads, traditional 'square loads' without cushion wads, square loads with cushion wads, less powder/more shot, more powder/less shot, etc.
In the end, target after target, I found that bismuth patterned exactly like lead. If the lead pattern was even with no holes in the pattern and was XX% of shot in a 30" circle at XX yards then thats essentially what the bismuth did. If the lead load was poor, so was the bismuth. The only visible difference was slightly larger holes and fewer of them (result of 1 shot size larger). Very pleased with the results. A lot of reading and research went into the purchase of the sample sizes of bismuth and it appears to have paid off. The only downside is the high cost. The benefits for me though outweigh the cost. Easy on the barrel, no special wads, nearly the same terminal performance as lead, patterns like lead. Just thought I'd pass this along if you are in a state where lead is banned or in danger of being phased out. Or if you are looking for an easy non toxic for waterfowl.
Quite awhile ago RotoMetals had a sale on 1# sample packs of their bismuth shot. Their alloy has a higher tin % than traditional bismuth shot. I assume to prevent pellet breakage in the barrel and on impact. I bought several packs in various sizes. It appears that one needs to only go up one size as opposed to two sizes for steel. It is soft. Harder than lead but still very soft. Falls roughly halfway between steel and lead in density.
Today I had a chance to try it out. I have patterned this 20 guage extensively with lead. I know what it is capable of. I wanted to see just how different this bismuth would pattern. The only changes I made was I went up one shot size. For example if I wanted to compare chilled lead #6 1.125 oz 3dram 2f SkyChief load to bismuth all I changed was i used bismuth #5. I shot SkyChief type loads, traditional 'square loads' without cushion wads, square loads with cushion wads, less powder/more shot, more powder/less shot, etc.
In the end, target after target, I found that bismuth patterned exactly like lead. If the lead pattern was even with no holes in the pattern and was XX% of shot in a 30" circle at XX yards then thats essentially what the bismuth did. If the lead load was poor, so was the bismuth. The only visible difference was slightly larger holes and fewer of them (result of 1 shot size larger). Very pleased with the results. A lot of reading and research went into the purchase of the sample sizes of bismuth and it appears to have paid off. The only downside is the high cost. The benefits for me though outweigh the cost. Easy on the barrel, no special wads, nearly the same terminal performance as lead, patterns like lead. Just thought I'd pass this along if you are in a state where lead is banned or in danger of being phased out. Or if you are looking for an easy non toxic for waterfowl.
