Nontoxic shot choices

[16gauge]

Hello All;
I've always wanted to take a few ducks with my Cabela's 20 gauge trade musket. I have a bottle of #5 bismuth that I purchased a while ago, and was planning on using that since we are required to use nontoxic shot for waterfowl.....I wanted to be as traditional as possible, and bismuth was the only alternative that didn't require plastic shot cups, ect, ect.
Now I see that bismuth shot has gone up to $140/jug....if you can find it! :shocked2: Most places seem to have sold out of it, and the rumor going around is that the fellow who invented it died and they ain't makin' it no more!
Has anyone heard of (or tried) ecotungsten? The company says that you can substitute it for lead in lead reloading recipes, but I am a bit leery of trying it without some reload data and pressure testing.
[url] http://www.ecotungsten.com/shots.html[/url]

Seems that the only other substitute that I could use would be tungsten matrix, and that isn't sold as a reloading component in this country.

 

[BrownBear]

I haven't tried ecotungten, but you've got my attention. I always wanted to get back into ML duck hunting, which I did a bunch back in the lead shot days, but quit before bismuth came along. Reecent explosions in bismuth prices have really discouraged me from picking up another shotgun, however.

I can speak up for the effectiveness of tungsten matrix in conventional shotguns, however. The Kent stuff is pure magic on geese, with the #1's passing completely through large ones most of the time.

 

[No Deer]

Bismuth is expensive, but not as expensive as the ecotungsten apparently. IF you can get the bismuth that is. Wonder if the rumor is true.
[url] http://www.precisionreloading.com/bismuth_shot.htm[/url]

I got a 7 pound bottle of bismuth a couple of years ago, have used very little of it so far.

 

[ffffg]

If your after good sized ducks like mallards, definitly use number 4 bismuth.. Im giving up using bb bismuth on geese, it just dont have the power i need to not wound the large canadas we have around here... I may try tungsten b with shot cups, but its my last alternative in my circumstance.. If you get close enough, it shouldnt be a problem with either, but its a major ordeal getting good places to set up dekoys around here anymore(but one good way to get in close) ... dave..

 

[CZMark]

The Bismuth plant closed after the death of its owner, Robert Peterson. His family has put it up for sale, until and unless it is sold, it will remain closed.

Ecotungsten's Nice Shot is about your only alternative.Don't be shocked, though, when your $45 box of shot is about the size of a deck of playing cards. :shocked2:

 

[Russianblood]

As infrequently as I would shoot at waterfowl, I think I'll just stick with steel shot and use a cream of wheat buffer. :shake:

 

[mommicked]

I've been wanting to duck hunt with my ML: CVA 12 gauge double barrel. But the manual explicitly says NO STEEL SHOT. Any suggestions? I didn't know bismuth was even still in the picture.

Also, anybody have trouble with Wildlife Officials wanting to give a lead shot ticket while hunting with ML's? I can see a few of the ones here foaming at the mouth at the idea......we've got a couple here who would write you a ticket for littering because you were chewing gum and didn't have the gum wrapper in your pocket. :bull: :youcrazy:

 

[BrownBear]

From the volume of "golden decoys" and lead shot I saw being used across your state line in Virginia, it never occurred to me that enforcement would be so heavy in NC, Mommick. Count your blessings if you don't have to compeat with a few hundred pounds of corn in the blind next door each time you go out.

I'd be sure to use plastic wads and buffer if you go ahead and use steel, or at least have some in your pockets when you're checked. I'm starting to think tungsten matrix may be worth a little study, based on the price on the other alternatives and the way the stuff performs for me in shotshells.

 

[mommicked]

My GGDad was a market hunter, and my 'hunting upbringing' shows it. A decoy carver, I've all but quit duck hunting because I never learned to do it in a legal way, and had difficulty learning to appreciate a "good hunt" that didn't include too many birds coming home.

The corn is still thick on the bottom, but hunting today is different than when I was a kid(I'm only 33, but started duckin' at the wise old age of 6, going regularly by 8). Enforcement is stouter, and a fellow often intent on a legal duck, goose or swan hunt can now find himself in trouble. I don't carve anymore, and mostly deer hunt as the state thinks they are problematic, and I can bring home quite a few each season with no "fuss" from the law.

Ducks belong to the Dr.s, Lawyers, and politicians.