Spent a day experimenting with bismuth.

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.

Thanks...good to know. Expensive BUT our sport means we are not firing 2-3 boxes of shells at every critter we see, by choice we ait for a sure shot and take it. Practice will be costly however!

Thanks again

That's good to hear! Thanks for sharing!!

Thanks for sharing these results NorthFork!

Best regards, Skychief.

Thank you for passing this along, I am sure that it will save a quite a few people some headaches!

Thanks for the results of your test!

azmntman said:

Thanks...good to know. Expensive BUT our sport means we are not firing 2-3 boxes of shells at every critter we see, by choice we ait for a sure shot and take it. Practice will be costly however!

Thanks again

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For hunting I agree. We only fire a 'few' shots per year. However if one partakes in the shotgun sports with their muzzleloader (trap, skeet, sporting clays) the cost for bismuth, ITX, etc can be prohibitive. One of the proposals that has been floated around the legislators in my state calls for the banning of lead shot for ALL activities. I think it's still a couple to a few years out but I'd rather be prepared now. My state has also gone to non toxic shot for most shotgun hunting on state owned public land. That happened a couple of years ago. I know there is a gentleman on this forum who has great success with one of the ITX variants. I think I'll stick to bismuth myself. At least we have choices for now in non toxic.

Skychief said:

Thanks for sharing these results NorthFork!

Best regards, Skychief.

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Hey thanks for sharing your discovery with all of us. I'm still amazed at how a simple wet wad loaded 'wrong' can tighten a pattern so much. With a little experimentation at the pattern board, a fellow can come up with loads that range from spreader loads to nearly full choke loads now. All from a cylinder bored smoothbore.

Hats off to you feller

Yes, bismuth is a valid replacement for lead. However it is not as hard as you think and once alloyed with tin is about as hard as magnum grade lead here in the states. I have been dropping my own for about 5 years now. It is just as easy as dropping lead shot. I shoot a lot so it is far more economical to make it. At 1 oz. loads it runs about 0.43 cents for the shot. I drop 7's for doves and quail. The 4's for standard waterfowl, squirrels and rabbits with 2's for the geese. These sizes work exceedingly well in all my muzzle loading smoothbores.If you are interested in learning how PM me and I will be glad to help you out.

:thumbs up::thumbs up: Great looking shot!

Better looking than the shot my shop cast with the scrap lead.

Historian said:

Yes, bismuth is a valid replacement for lead. However it is not as hard as you think and once alloyed with tin is about as hard as magnum grade lead here in the states. I have been dropping my own for about 5 years now. It is just as easy as dropping lead shot. I shoot a lot so it is far more economical to make it. At 1 oz. loads it runs about 0.43 cents for the shot. I drop 7's for doves and quail. The 4's for standard waterfowl, squirrels and rabbits with 2's for the geese. These sizes work exceedingly well in all my muzzle loading smoothbores.If you are interested in learning how PM me and I will be glad to help you out.

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Pretty cool. What does it weigh in comparison to lead. Could one cast roundball with it?

RotoMetals is offering busmuth for about $10 per pound. They also are offering their cast busmuth shot for about $15 per pound in 10 pound bags. ($149 per bag).

That most likely does not include shipping.

https://www.rotometals.com/bismuth/

Yes you absolutely can cast round balls with bismuth/tin alloy. Bismuth melts at 522 degrees F and Tin at 450 degrees F. The 95%/5% alloy I use melts really good and likes to pour at about 540 to 550 degrees F. The one caveat is bismuth will expand some as it cools so I keep the balls in my mold for min 30 seconds after I pour to let them start to harden before dumping them on a towel.

EDIT: You can also get bismuth from Zip Metals which is the foundry that Roto Metals uses if memory serves me correct. Both Loose shot and Ingots. As to the weight it is about 10% less than lead shot of the same size. 4's shoot like lead 5's. 7's shoot about like lead 8's. 5's shoot like lead 6's. so on and so on. Honestly it kills like lightening. No complaints here.

Historian said:

Yes you absolutely can cast round balls with bismuth/tin alloy. Bismuth melts at 522 degrees F and Tin at 450 degrees F. The 95%/5% alloy I use melts really good and likes to pour at about 540 to 550 degrees F. The one caveat is bismuth will expand some as it cools so I keep the balls in my mold for min 30 seconds after I pour to let them start to harden before dumping them on a towel.

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You can also cast a ball out of 95/5 tin antimony Oatley lead free solder. Haven't tried making shot with it though.

I've been curious about other lead free round ball options -- especially for home casting. I have to mail order lead-free bullets & balls, which are often on backorder for months. I saw Rotometals advertises that it can be used to cast bullets but I haven't read or seen anybody actually do it (die sizing) and actual results on game. Between limited time and limited opportunities to actually shoot game, I'd rather lean on somebody else's experience before taking the dive into casting. The last thing I want to do is run several batches of things that either don't shoot well or that don't hit well & still have to mail order my lead-free projectiles.

For what it's worth, pure tin is going for about $20 a pound.

95/5 tin/antimony solder is going for about $26 a pound at Lowes.

What is the weight of a .54 RB cast in Bismuth tin alloy? Add cost of material

What is the weight of a .54 RB of 95/5 tin/antimony? Add cost of material

That will determine the usage to me.

Zonie said:

For what it's worth, pure tin is going for about $20 a pound.

95/5 tin/antimony solder is going for about $26 a pound at Lowes.

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Reloaders and casters need to be scroungers. I happened upon 50+ pounds of lead free solder at a garage sale for $5
I got almost 5 pounds of tin from a couple faucet covers.
Reload , recycle, reuse.

nhmoose said:

What is the weight of a .54 RB cast in Bismuth tin alloy? Add cost of material

What is the weight of a .54 RB of 95/5 tin/antimony? Add cost of material

That will determine the usage to me.

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Much like Pyrodex, tin and antimony are lighter than lead so you get more shots per pound.

If I recall, a .440 round ball made of tin weighed about 91 grains compared to 127 with lead so do the math. Don't quote me though I'm operating on memory. I'd have to cast one and re-weigh it to be certain.