Waterfowl with a smoothbore

[62flint]

Any one on here hunt waterfowl with a smoothbore? I have thought about it but have been turned off because of the price of bismuth shot.
Not sure if the game warden can tell bismuth from lead in a shot snake and I don't want to find out the hard way. :grin:
If any one wants to try and take a trip to the Northern Neck of Va I would be happy to take em a couple of days. Beaver ponds,creeks or salt marshes. Should be able to get a couple of shots at a few Canadian geese or Mallards.

 

[roundball]

Any one on here hunt waterfowl with a smoothbore? I have thought about it but have been turned off because of the price of bismuth shot.
Not sure if the game warden can tell bismuth from lead in a shot snake and I don't want to find out the hard way. :grin:
If any one wants to try and take a trip to the Northern Neck of Va I would be happy to take em a couple of days. Beaver ponds,creeks or salt marshes. Should be able to get a couple of shots at a few Canadian geese or Mallards.

Heck, a 25 lb bag of magnum lead shot has skyrocketed up to $40+ / bag...Bismuth is not so far out of line any more

 

[bigbore442001]

You want to play you gotta pay. I too would not mind doing some fowling, when I have the cash for a fowler.

 

[Osprey]

I have a little bit, 10ga SXS Pedersoli, killed some geese with it and missed some ducks. Took it out one day last split, but nothing flew that day. I use steel, the bbls are chrome lined and factory safe for it in that gun, but if you're going to shoot a lot I'd get some of the plastic shot cups for steel.

 

[The Baron]

Yes, I have hunted geese with my Caywood Type "C" in .62. We field hunt out of layout blinds, so we get 'em close. I found the gun to be surprisingly effective with 80 - 90gr. 3F and 1 1/8oz - 1 1/4oz. Bismuth #4's. I load an overpowder card and a pre-lubed cushioned wad. I do not use a shot cup of any kind. Once the brain makes the necessary adjustments, you will be dropping geese stone dead inside 20 yards. It's a lot of fun!

 

[mccoy]

I have been unable to find Bismuth shot and just discovered that it's off the market for the forseeable future. I have enough to last another season or so, but if anyone finds a source I'd appreciate a PM.

 

[No Deer]

Don't know of anyone carrying bismuth right now, and does not look like it will be available again at all in the future. It looks like the next best thing is ecotungsten. Have not tried it yet, or know anybody that has, but it appears to be the only thing advertised that is in the same ballpark as lead and bismuth.[url] http://www.ecotungsten.com/shots.html[/url]

If anyone does have any experience with this, it would be good to hear about it.

 

[mccoy]

COOL!!! I have handloaded Bismuth for years, and I have loved it's performance. I'm going to order some of this new stuff and pattern as soon as they get #4 basck in stock. Thanks for the tip!

 

[roundball]

Did I read that chart correctly...$25/pound??
At 1+1/2oz per shot, that's only 10 shots per pound...$2.50 cents worth of "nice shot" per fired shot :shocked2:

 

[No Deer]

Yep, it is sure expensive. I just bought a bag of #4 lead to use for patterning and then try my bismuth instead of testing with the bismuth. Could do the same with the ecotungsten I guess. Would not be exactly right, but would probably get a close pattern and take less experimenting with the expensive stuff.

 

[roundball]

I'm no longer into duck hunting so I'm not faced with those non-lead issues...however, I did just buy a 10 lb bag of copper plated #6's from Midway and it was $35 just for that little bag.

I have a place where I hunt turkeys from the edge of a woods along side an open field by getting the Toms to respond to the call then when they see an upstart Jake decoy intruding into their territory in the open field, they go after him.

Just figuring the copper plated #6s will extend my .62cal's max turkey head pattern from 40 to maybe 45 yards over the magnum 6's I normally use.

 

[Alberta Black]

Hi Steve

There is a guy in Alberta who says that he is going to start manufacturing Bismuth shot. Me and my buddies are in contact with him and will post his contact information if he gets into production. He is thinking that it might cost $140 CAD per 7 lb bottle and he is thinking of starting with #4 and #5 shot.

For this year I robbed a bunch of 16 gauge Bismuth shells that a local dealer had laying around and I will rob the shot out of my remaining stock of TM if I have to.

I'll let you know

R

 

[The Baron]

Just figuring the copper plated #6s will extend my .62cal's max turkey head pattern from 40 to maybe 45 yards over the magnum 6's I normally use.

40+ yard turkey killing patterns with a .62 flinter? That's tremendous!! :shocked2: Jug choked, I assume? :hmm:

I have also stolen shot from some Kent Tungsten Matrix waterfowl loads to use in my 12ga. New Englander barrel. I just slipped the plastic shot cup and load out and droppped it into the ML. Not PC at all, and not very economical, but ML waterfowling is not a high-volume shooting sport so it can get you by for then odd hunt. :wink:

 

[roundball]

40+ yard turkey killing patterns with a .62 flinter? That's tremendous!! :shocked2: Jug choked, I assume? :hmm:

Yes, had a .62cal barrel Jug Choked Full...best $65 investment I've made in muzzleloading.
It dropped a couple turkeys in their tracks this spring, one at 40yds, one at 30.
Took it for a walk squirrel hunting a few weeks ago and had the same results...outstanding performance from this barrel