Another property of tungsten vs. lead is its hardness which makes it suitable for use is in small sizes that wouldn't be considered in lead. Put a lead shot on an anvil and hit with a hammer. It deforms and doesn't spring back. Do the same with a tungsten shot. I don't know if it deforms temporarily, but it doesn't deform permanently. I've seen the largest wingbone on a gobbler shattered by a #9 tungsten super shot at 35 yards. I've seen complete pass throughs of turkey bodies with #9 TSS shot at distances under 40 yards. Density and hardness were the reasons solid tungsten rods were used in non-explosive sabot rounds to penetrate tank armor before depleted uranium was used. The hardness of TSS is one reason it patterns tightly even without buffer. I have purposely omitted buffer in some loads because of the extreme pattern tightness. Gil