doublegunshop.com - home Forums General Discussion DoubleGun BBS @ doublegunshop.com Comprehensive survey of non-toxic shot choices?

In recent years I have been buying 12ga 3 and 3,5 inch waterfowl loads containing #5 bismuth shot on gunbroker, etc. These generally have 1 5/8 oz of shot, so for every two such shells I can load 3 28 gram 16 gauge loads. I now have so much bismuth it will last me the remainder of my hunting lifetime.

Have used both bismuth and Kent TM in 28 to 32 gram loads and much prefer bismuth. I find it kills much like Cu-plated hard lead shot I used back in 1970s and 1980s.

Niklas

I've been a big fan of Bismuth in my L.C.Smiths during the last few years of waterfowling. With the loss of Bismuth last year I too have been buying up as many non-standard Bismuth shells and cutting them open for the shot. I did buy some Nice Shot from EcoTungsten and must say it patterned and performed beautifully. 3 or 4 kilos of the stuff is enough for a season of goose hunting for me, so even though it is oh-my-god expensive, per shot cost is doable. It does make one knuckle down and shoot straighter!

Like several others have mentioned, the best prices I've found on the softer non-tox shot has been in the form of loaded shells, usually 3 1/2" 12 gauge, or 10 gauge loads. I think the guys with those guns are happy enough with steel.

One concern if you run in to some of the very earliest bismuth loads is that they can be very brittle. A buddy of mine found out the hard way. Couldn't kill anything with them. When he eventually patterned some loads on paper, all he saw were black splotches. The box was a gray traditional 25 shell box that had sat on a gunshop shelve for several years. At some point, and I don't know when, they started adding tin to make the pellets more ductile. I've been very happy with bismuth loads from more recent output (green boxes, 10 shells per box).

One thing I've wondered about is whether the tungsten matrix or tungsten polymer loads are abrasive enough to warrant some extra precautions while reloading: a longer shot cup or a sleeve. Anyone looked in to this, or have more info?

For the USFWS approved list of non-toxic shot circa 2006 see:

http://www.fws.gov/news/NewsReleases/showNews.cfm?newsId=45735D9B-65BF-03E7-2A3B0D75A0A06180

For very interesting (but 1990's dated) microscopic images and descriptions of some of the non-toxics then, see:

http://www.lab.fws.gov/shotpellets.php