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Bismuth Pellets

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13 April 2020, 05:48
TomP
Bismuth Pellets
There is a Russian technical paper that discusses bismuth airgun pellets, but I have not been able to find any. Do they exist in the western world?


TomP

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14 April 2020, 01:33
jdollar
Even if they are available, I would not use them. Rifling in Air gun barrels is very shallow. A steady diet of bismuth would quickly wear out a barrel....


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14 April 2020, 04:52
Bordertown Devil
I was thinking the same thing, jdollar.
06 November 2020, 01:44
packrattusnongratus
Barrels are easy to fit in some of my PCPs. I would try them. Be Well. Packy.
06 November 2020, 10:46
crbutler
Are you sure about the wearing out part?

I'm no airgun guy, but the amount of fouling (bismuthing?) in the barrel of a shotgun shooting bismuth pellets that are not fully protected by a shotcup is really impressive.

I think because it tends to shatter it will spread fouling easily. It might well not wear out a barrel, but I wouldn't be surprised if the accuracy degrades very quickly due to fouling, and require frequent cleaning.

It does clean up easily in the shotguns I have used it in, but even 2-3 shots and you can see streaks. Doesn't seem to do anything bad in shotguns, but a rifled barrel, that would be different.