I never got into reloading and have only shot lead. I can still use lead for upland and that is enough bird hunting for me. Not knowing a lot in life I turn to google to fill gaps. Thinking of barrels, shot and penetration I discovered the Mohs scale of hardness and paired that with density. Any shot less hard than steel and iron will not scratch steel or Damascus barrels. The more dense the shot the greater penetration at same velocity. I think all those statements are correct. So.....
METAL HARDNESS DENSITY g/cubic cm
Lead 1.5 11.34
Bismuth 2 9.78
Copper 3 8.96
Iron 4 7.86
Steel 4 - 4.5 8.05
Tungsten 7.5 - 8 19.3
Lead is least hard so won’t scratch barrels. It is more dense than all but tungsten so has good penetration. Tungsten will scratch barrels. It is almost twice as dense as lead so has far superior penetration. With Mylar tungsten should not scratch cyl/cyl barrels. Once choke restriction is a factor I would expect the Mylar to become compromised and potential for scratching of barrels at the restriction to increase.
That’s my thinking on the subject.
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Hunt ethically. Eat heartily.
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