doublegunshop.com - home Forums General Discussion DoubleGun BBS @ doublegunshop.com Is there such a thing? 2 1/2 non toxic load?

Been thinking it's time to get the ole Remington out in the blind, but I can't seem to find any 12ga 2 1/2 inch non toxic loads. I don't mind paying premium prices to get the old Remmy out for a day or two. Are there any places that sell or make them?

RST loads NiceSHot at about $3.00/round

I don't know of any other OTC 2.5's in non-lead.

There you go.

http://www.rstshells.com/store/c/18-12-Gauge.aspx

Great people to do business with also.

I saw that but they have been out of stock for some time.

Check Kent Gamebore. Don't know what the status is on availability, but they load their Tungsten Matrix in 2 1/2" hulls. I have some, but I got them quite some time ago.

Vintage waterfowling has really become the realm of the handloader.
It is probably best to partner up with someone and split the cost of a few boxes.
The choices just keep getting fewer and fewer. And even if the shot is vintage friendly non-lead, then the cartridge pressures are still SAAMI max. Or the velocities are so high the recoil beats an old stock to pieces.

I have read where the cost of Bismuth has come down enough to warrant the making of shot again. But I'm not holding my breath.

Call rst and see what they have in stock and when they expect to have what you need. Web sites are often out of date. I use them like a catalog but go shopping on the phone instead of just waiting for inventory to appear on the site.

Reloading is the way I went to get non-tox shells that were safe and double friendly. Bismuth shot was my final metal used in place of lead shot. It performs nearly as well as lead did and does not put too much extra pressure or risk of choke damage in my old, too tightly choked doubles.

It took a long time to build up my shot inventory. One very large estate find and a dozen purchases from eBay gave me a wide variety of shot sizes. Load information gathered off the internet and a couple specialized reloading guides gave me enough different safe loads for almost any need. I have loaded about two thirds of it but sadly not gotten to use it very much hunting in my old doubles. But well stored ammo will be good for years. I loaded it now while I had good selections of powder and wads for the loads that are double safe. No point saving it for later only to find out wads or powder are no longer available.

It was funny that a trap shooter bought all the leads shot for about a quarters its true value but told the widow the bismuth was worthless. She offered it to me for free. Not being a jerk I refused it unless she would let me buy it. I paid more than her late husband paid for it and happy to do so. She was both several thousand dollars richer and certain her late husbands trapshooting buddy was a moron. She almost threw the shot out. What a waste and shame that would have been.

as said earlier - if you want 2 1/2 non tox- you will likely need to load it yourself -


RST's site is not out of date- but never hurts to call

the fact is - they have not been able to get nice shot to load with for a couple years, and there seems to be none in sight

Rio loads bismuth in 2 3/4 but not 2 1/2-

If we are honest about it, there is a very limited market for it - waterfowl hunters with vintage guns- I am sure there are British loads made- but to my knowledge none are imported to the USA

Eley VIP Bismuth is available in 2 1/2". Fiber wads. #4, #5, & #6. It works very well.

Dennis

Who sells Eley in the states?