Jump to content

Bismuth vs Lead


Recommended Posts

Hi all

I have used a few bismuth carts in my 16g this season, i wondered.....do they pattern the same as lead?

I think I understand that bismuth is slightly lighter that Lead, so a bigger shot may be required.

so many questions, it only occurred to me sitting watching the sun go down this evening on a flight pond. 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

14 hours ago, Zimtrout said:

Hi all

I have used a few bismuth carts in my 16g this season, i wondered.....do they pattern the same as lead?

I think I understand that bismuth is slightly lighter that Lead, so a bigger shot may be required.

so many questions, it only occurred to me sitting watching the sun go down this evening on a flight pond. 

You are correct that Bismuth is less fence than lead (9.8g per cm3 versus 11.g per cm3) as both are alloys adulterated with small amounts of other metals to modify their properties (to make Bismuth less frangible and lead harder).

With regards pattern, hard materials pattern more densely than soft materials as it is the damage caused under high pressure on during which distorts the pellets causing them to not fly true and therefore a wider pattern.

Bismuth is 85 on brnell hardness, lead is 8 to 12, whilst iron (for our steel pellets) is about 170. Most accept than steel shoots some 10% tighter patterns than lead, so there may be some better patterning from Bismuth theoretically but this will also be offset due to frangibility and not noticeable away from the pattern board.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I feel Lead and bismuth are roughly the same in the field, Lead gains on Its density but bismuth patterns better in my experience.

Buffering helps bismuth patterns  like lead but i find  bismuth responds slightly better to buffer than lead on %.

 I can onlty agree with the importance of patterning mentioned by Dave At Kelton is important, to get to know how it will work in your gun.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Join the conversation

You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.
Note: Your post will require moderator approval before it will be visible.

Guest
Reply to this topic...

×   Pasted as rich text.   Paste as plain text instead

  Only 75 emoji are allowed.

×   Your link has been automatically embedded.   Display as a link instead

×   Your previous content has been restored.   Clear editor

×   You cannot paste images directly. Upload or insert images from URL.

Loading...
 Share

  • Recently Browsing   0 members

    • No registered users viewing this page.
×
×
  • Create New...