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One of the things I like about reloading is the ability to experiment. Always using a heavy dose of common sense in so doing. For some time, I've been interested in non-lead bullet materials. Anticipating a time when we may no longer be allowed to discharge lead content bullets into the environment. One alternative is the use of frangible non-lead bullets. Made of copper powder and polymer, for example. One product that was briefly offered was a bullet made of bismuth, by Hevi-Shot. I don't think this firm sells these anymore. I had a box of Hevi-Shot bismuth bullets in .451 size to experiment with. I've fired 50 of them in experimental loads. One of the last ones I attempted to fire the other day resulted in this:

P1200343.JPG

The bullet fractured as it was going into battery. One of the cautions in loading frangible bullets is care in seating the bullet. Very little if any crimping is advised. I like to make sure the cartridge case mouth doesn't have any sharp edge to it, so I gave these just a kiss of taper crimp. I really don't know if that may have contributed to the fracture. Or if the nature of self-loading puts these bullets at some hazard. Ramping into the chamber on an angle puts some momentary stress on the bullet; where the bullet goes into the case is a fulcrum of sorts. Which could also be a cause of fracture.

My conclusion is maybe bismuth bullets are more reliable in revolvers where stress from self loading isn't present.

Non-lead projectiles is already a big deal in California. Given the current political environment, this could expand to other states or federally.
 
Pure unalloyed bismuth is too brittle to use as a bullet. I have bismuth-tin alloyed shot, and still expect 10% pellet loss on setback. Buffer and lower pressure rounds help. For alloyed bullet use I'm not surprised by your result. I think you would see better results with solid copper.
 
Pure unalloyed bismuth is too brittle to use as a bullet. I have bismuth-tin alloyed shot, and still expect 10% pellet loss on setback. Buffer and lower pressure rounds help. For alloyed bullet use I'm not surprised by your result. I think you would see better results with solid copper.

I'm pretty sure these bismuth bullets from Hevi-Shot are alloyed with something. But I don't know what, specifically.

I have copper solids in 9mm and .38/.357. Also, a nice stash in .308. I bought lots of these when Midway was knocking them out relatively inexpensively as factory seconds.

The copper powder/polymer frangibles worked well for me in 10mm Auto.

There are also some jacketed frangible bullets. I have some of these in .224 that were made for the military.

Or zinc for that matter.

Yes, I've tried these as well. Made by Goldbelt-Wolf. I've fired them in 10mm Auto (some a few days ago). Also in .41 Magnum. I had good results from these once I got the velocities dialed in right. You've got to watch the speed on these, as they will shed material into the barrel (like leading with a lead bullet) if you try to push them too hard.

Lead-free bullets usually consist of materials that are lighter than lead. As a result, they often are physically longer for weight than lead. So the charge has to be such that it's appropriate for remaining internal case volume. You don't just substitute lead bullet data by weight for non-lead bullets.
 

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