Bismuth Handload

[Dakota Jeff]

I dont have as many years experience as J.B.but I think you would have good results with the #5s at the distance you described.I have had some testing done by Tom Armbrust,and by his recomendation and as stated above,1200 fps is a good velocity as it may produce a better pattern than faster loads.I like using cheddite hulls as per the hodgdon site they usually produce less pressure than most other hulls.They usually require a little more powder as they have a greater case capacity than most other hulls.The loads listed on Hodgdons site are plenty fast with this hull.I visited with Tom a couple nights ago and he is coming to my place for a visit in a month or so,and I talked him into bringing his pressure barrel along.We plan on testing some 10 and 12 gauge bismuth loads.With Toms permission I can post some of them on here.There are many good loads posted by the powder companys,but most are a little hotter than I want to shoot through my older guns.No sense beating them up.There are several sources for bismuth.I have purchased some from Roto Metals and thought it looked good.They sometimes put it on sale.If you want to get any shells tested,I have Toms number and address.Precision reloading in Mitchell S.D.also does testing.