kBob
Member
Well the Rotometals add that appeared at the bottom of the page today got my attention and dispite lacking funds I went for a look. Looking don't cost nothing, has no calories and generally won't allow you to pick up anything infectious that you would be ashamed of.
In the bullet casting section there was Bismuth. There were reviews. Apparently folks HAVE been using it in muzzle loading rifles as a patched ball. They report similar POI at 30 yards and one guy shot some goo or another and it penetrated more than his pure lead balls and broke up no worse.
Another rifle shooter that uses that there smokeless stuff reported using it to make bullets that head together in his rifle at 2400 fps.
I did not see the predicted horrors of the 2009 thread. I have to wonder if any small children have been carted off by California Condors saved from lead poisoning though
One round ball caster said his .490 round ball molds produced bismuth RB that when cooled was .496 and required as a result thinner patches that were being torn up in firing. The Smokless Rifleman stated his cast bullets weighed 39 percent less than lead cast in the same blocks.....wonder how he dealt with the over sized diameter.
That last got me thinking as I must assume he used a sizer to swage those puppies down ( did not say if he used gas checks or not).
I was wondering if anyone here HAD ACTUALLY tried RB Bismuth in a BP revolver. I was wondering if one did would it be better to have a cylinder with chambers cut to swage bullets or the "traditional" sharp edge for shaving. Also with the sort of swelling on cooling the one guy described one might need to go down one mold size like using the .451 for .454 chambered guns or the .454 for the .457 guns. Same same conicals.
Just thinking. Got no money to do a thing else.
-kBob
In the bullet casting section there was Bismuth. There were reviews. Apparently folks HAVE been using it in muzzle loading rifles as a patched ball. They report similar POI at 30 yards and one guy shot some goo or another and it penetrated more than his pure lead balls and broke up no worse.
Another rifle shooter that uses that there smokeless stuff reported using it to make bullets that head together in his rifle at 2400 fps.
I did not see the predicted horrors of the 2009 thread. I have to wonder if any small children have been carted off by California Condors saved from lead poisoning though
One round ball caster said his .490 round ball molds produced bismuth RB that when cooled was .496 and required as a result thinner patches that were being torn up in firing. The Smokless Rifleman stated his cast bullets weighed 39 percent less than lead cast in the same blocks.....wonder how he dealt with the over sized diameter.
That last got me thinking as I must assume he used a sizer to swage those puppies down ( did not say if he used gas checks or not).
I was wondering if anyone here HAD ACTUALLY tried RB Bismuth in a BP revolver. I was wondering if one did would it be better to have a cylinder with chambers cut to swage bullets or the "traditional" sharp edge for shaving. Also with the sort of swelling on cooling the one guy described one might need to go down one mold size like using the .451 for .454 chambered guns or the .454 for the .457 guns. Same same conicals.
Just thinking. Got no money to do a thing else.
-kBob
