Bismuth

[westksbowhunter]

Anyone know where a guy could finds some Kent Bismuth or Hevi Bismuth in Iowa? I will be coming up hunting on the 18th and was hoping to find some along the way for my 12 gauge. I have some for my 20 but really wanted to hunt with my 12.

 

[Roy B]

You might try Jacobsons in Story City or scheels in Des Moines.

 

[Lefty76]

I haven't seen any around Sioux City in awhile. Fleet Farm has some Hevi, but nothing smaller than 2 shot. I was in Bass Pro Shop, Scheels, and Guns Unlimited in Omaha last week. Nothing there either.

 

[IsThisHeaven?]

I haven’t been able to find any around Des Moines lately.

 

[Hunt1GSP]

Look at the Boss ammonium web site. Call them and see if they can get you some shipped out. It sells out as soon as they post the inventory at 10 am daily but you might get lucky.

 

[Hunt1GSP]

Look at the Boss ammonium web site. Call them and see if they can get you some shipped out. It sells out as soon as they post the inventory at 10 am daily but you might get lucky.

Or look at their Facebook Fan page and ask and maybe some one will sell you a box

 

[Bob Peters]

I've shot boss the last two seasons. It works well, last year I shot 4s and this year 5s. My recommendation is to go with the 4s, more clean kills. I seem to have a few more runners this year.

 

[Iowa springerguy]

Was just at Fleet Farm in Ankeney and they had Hevi Bismuth 12 ga. 3 inch 4 and 6 shot.

 

[Bob Peters]

Seen a bunch in Fleet Farm in Lakeville, prices were sky high though. An extra 6-10% is expected due to inflation. 30-40% increases are price gouging. Hopefully things are more realistic by next summer/fall.

 

[scott county vizsla]

Bismuth 1¹/⁴oz of 4 shot is the way to go for non-tox, its as close as you are going to get to using lead no. 5. Kent got too pricey for me so I switched to Boss, I highly recommend using tighter chokes, every gun I patterned bismuth with threw a more open pattern than with lead.

 

[Rogue Hunter]

Bismuth 1¹/⁴oz of 4 shot is the way to go for non-tox, its as close as you are going to get to using lead no. 5. Kent got too pricey for me so I switched to Boss, I highly recommend using tighter chokes, every gun I patterned bismuth with threw a more open pattern than with lead.

Sorry, but how is Boss cheaper? Isn't the difference in the retail price the difference in 20/bx of Boss to 25/bx of Kent?

 

[scott county vizsla]

Kent used to be about $30-32 for a box of 25, now cabelas/bass pro lists it at about $42-45 for a box of 25. Boss was $200 for 200 shells, now it is $250 for 200 rounds and shows up in 2 days(if you sign up for notifications when in stock). Boss is $1.25 per shell, kent is going to run $1.68+. I only shoot non tox when required, bismuth kills fine but lead is far superior. $12 a box Remington or federal lead shells pattern better, retain more energy, and the pellets are much harder than bismuth. Also, Kent uses british shot sizes, which are smaller than American sizes. Almost every kent pellet i found imbedded in a rooster was fractured, made me wonder how many of the 200 were flying though the air split in two...

 

[Bob Peters]

$12 a box Remington or federal lead shells pattern better, retain more energy, and the pellets are much harder than bismuth. Also, Kent uses british shot sizes, which are smaller than American sizes. Almost every kent pellet i found imbedded in a rooster was fractured, made me wonder how many of the 200 were flying though the air split in two...

I agree with all of this, although I believe you meant the lead pellets are denser, not harder than bismuth(lead is pretty soft, although heavy). I shot a lot of birds with BOSS last year, and a lot of the pellets I found when cleaning were fractured. Bismuth is much better than steel, but lead is still better than both. Steel shoot 2s or 3s, bismuth shoot 4s, lead shoot 5s or 6s.

 

[scott county vizsla]

Lead is more dense, but also harder(in a decent upland load, bulk target ammo may not be). Save pellets of each out of birds and grab a pair of pliers test it out yourself, the bismuth pellets crush and break apart much easier. Or if you're feeling a little wild cut open a few perfectly good shells and do all sorts of tests. Boss pellets fracture as well but most I find are still whole, unless they hit a bone, then poof!

 

[scott county vizsla]

Boss is now up to $300 for 200 shells, damn inflation, or whatever you want to call whats going on these days...

 

[A5 Sweet 16]

Bismuth 5's are great much of the time, but this time of year I recommend 4's if you can find them. 1-1/8 oz minimum.
Muzzle velocity doesn't need to be high. 1250 will do nicely, as bismuth retains energy much better than steel at long range.
Bismuth is relatively hard & brittle compared to lead. (quite soft compared to steel or tungsten)
Lead is soft & malleable. High antimony levels help minimize deformation, as well as plating (esp. nickel), but don't make it harder than bismuth.
I feel most fracturing that we see in recovered pellets happens inside the bird. I just don't think there's any way a pellet broken in half inside the barrel would fly straight enough to hit the bird. Nor would it, in many cases, have sufficient energy to penetrate. My opinion is that fracturing, leading to pellets (& therefore energy) remaining inside the bird is part of what makes bismuth so potent. 100% of that pellet's energy is transferred to the bird. Shock kills.

 

[2setters]

What about reloading your own Bismuth. You can get the shot on line

 

[A5 Sweet 16]

What about reloading your own Bismuth. You can get the shot on line

That's another decent option if you're set up for it or want a new hobby/investment. I did quite a bit in the past, but not so much in the last several years. I found Ballistic Products had by far the best selection of bismuth load data.