Is my math right?

[Mike Franzen]

I am loading some 10 gauge shells with bizmuth #1 shot. I want to load 1 3/8 ounces to use on geese. According to my math that equals about 602 grains. I weighed this out and poured it into an old fashioned powder - shot measure. When I adjusted the cup so the shot was level with the mouth it was sitting on the 2oz marker for lead. Does that seem right? By volume, is 2 oz of bizmuth equivalent to 1 3/8 oz of lead?

[Mark Ouellette]

Mike,

Larger shot will always have more volume for a specific weight than will smaller shot.

Bizmuth is less dense than lead and will have more volume than the same weight of lead. Steel being even less dense will have even more volume.

Always load by weight. If using a charge bar measure what the bar throws frequently.

Mark

[Pete Lester]

Mike something seems wrong to me. With Bismuth there is a some inconsistency with the size of the pellets which complicates this. Bismuth is about 87-88% the mass of lead, in theory you would need about 12% greater volume from a lead measure to get the same weight of bismuth. Years ago I filed out a MEC 1 3/8 lead bar a little bit to get 1 1/4 ounce of Bismuth 4 to drop.

An accurate 1 1/2 ounce lead measure should be fairly close to 1 3/8 ounce of Bismuth (slightly on the low side).

Trust the scale before the measure, 602 grains is 1 3/8 ounce.

By volume I don't think you can get 2 oz of lead shot into a 2 7/8" 10ga but I do know you can get 1 3/8 ounce of Bismuth into it.

From the bottle of Bismuth #1 that I have it takes about 102 pellets to make 1 1/4 ounce and 112 pellets to make 1 3/8 ounce if that helps.

[Mike Franzen]

Thanks Mark and Pete. Pete, I too thought something was wrong when I weighed out 602 grains of Bizmuth, poured it into my shot cup and leveled it up. It read 2 0z lead by volume. I then read your post on the number of pellets in 602 grains and I came up with 115. Does anyone know how many #1 lead pellets would be in 602 grains? I'm thinking around 85. Also, this is a load I'm developing for waterfowl using 2 7/8 brass hulls and smokeless powder. I used lead shot for test firing and to determine the shot charge. I didn't want to test with Bizmuth due to it's cost. I'll pattern with bizmuth though. I'm seeing a lot of potential with these all brass hulls due to their capacity. Seems like there are going to be a lot of options for both lead and non-tox

[Pete Lester]

Thanks Mark and Pete. Pete, I too thought something was wrong when I weighed out 602 grains of Bizmuth, poured it into my shot cup and leveled it up. It read 2 0z lead by volume. I then read your post on the number of pellets in 602 grains and I came up with 115. Does anyone know how many #1 lead pellets would be in 602 grains? I'm thinking around 85. Also, this is a load I'm developing for waterfowl using 2 7/8 brass hulls and smokeless powder. I used lead shot for test firing and to determine the shot charge. I didn't want to test with Bizmuth due to it's cost. I'll pattern with bizmuth though. I'm seeing a lot of potential with these all brass hulls due to their capacity. Seems like there are going to be a lot of options for both lead and non-tox

As I said there is no consistency to the size of Bismuth pellets regardless of what they are marked. I have found the best way is to take 10 random pellets from each bottle, weigh them and divide by 10 to get an average weight of each pellet. From there I can calculate how many pellets will be in a particular load. The number of #1 Bismuth pellets for 1 1/4 and 3/8 ounce loadings I cited is from the bottle I have. Your bottle of #1 may vary from that. Again from my bottle, 112 #1 pellets was 1 3/8 ounces.

[Mike Franzen]

It's about the same for mine

[charlie cleveland]

remember to keep pressure on your wadding when glueing the overshot wad in especially since your useing smokeless powder or else you will have some squibs..since your useing brass hulls...keep us updated on the brass shells and the hunt...charlie

[Mike Franzen]

Ok Charlie will do. I'm not using your hot melt method because the overshot card is recessed about 3/4" inside the hull. The circle fly wads fit so tight that compression hasn't been an issue. I'm using Duco cement. I'm hoping to get to go goose hunting Saturday and use them. I'll keep you posted. Those 2 7/8 hulls have a lot of capacity and there is a lot of potential to develop some very effective loads.

[Craig Larter]

When I load #1 bismuth I weight each shot and do not rely on a charge bar. It is only way I could get a consistent load.