Newbie loads up some bismuth

[Silvers]

Well, I finally took the plunge and got into shotshell loading. I've loaded rifle and pistol ammo since Hector was a pup but never did shotshells. Over recent years a friend did all my low pressure shotshell loading and I thank him immensely. Anyway, I'm getting back into waterfowling and have some trips scheduled; decided I need to start doing my own thing especially with bismuth. Yesterday I bolted down a new press and had at it. A couple of phone calls later and I was in business with decent looking 12 gauge reloads, 1-1/8 ounce of bismuth 4's. Wife was working in her flower garden and she got upset when I went out in our woods to fire a few... see how they worked. She knew I was in new waters. No bulges or burst barrels on that Fox. Next I'll be working on loads with bismuth 2's. Can't wait to hear the geese honking! Silvers

[kcw12]

I reload for everything shotgun wise, but i normally buy mil surp for my rifles. Now what reloader are you using and whats the recipe for the shells my good friend.

[FOXsan]

In the 60s and 70s I used a similar load: 1 1/8th oz. of #5 Lubaloy and
32 gr. of Herco powder. The loading was done on a MEC 600 Jr. with sur-
prisingly good results. The load was very fast--around 1500 fps and was
very effective on waterfowl.

The shells were used exclusively in my A grade with 30 inch barrels full/full.
Tested patterns were in the mid 80% range. I shot hundreds of these rounds in the Fox. To this day faceoff is still less than 0.001 in. and
the gun is very tight.

What powder are you using and what is the specified pressure and velocity?

Hoping you have great shooting and a productive season.

FOXsan

[Silvers]

Thanks for the vote of confidence guys. My press isn't fancy, it's a MEC 600 JR. Bismuth and the buffer material are being reclaimed from BCC shells I bought earlier this year. I only have the 1-1/8 ounce lead charge bar right now so my next purchase will be an adjustable one. I made a dipper for 1-1/8 oz. bismuth using a reloading scale to verify the weight. Regarding the load I just went to the Hodgdon/IMR website, read and agreed to all the disclaimers, and picked out a load @ ~1150fps, in the 7k psi pressure range.

I hope you all have safe and productive gunning this season with your Foxes! Silvers

[birdawg]

That sounds great Frank but are you sure you shouldn't be feeding that Super Fox 1 3/8 oz, #4, 3 inchers?
I am looking forward to hearing your patterning results.
I need to get my wildfowl gun to the patterning board next week when I return from sunny Alaska.
jess

[Don Ay]

Frank,
if your looking for bismuth receipes try Precision Reloading,if its still available their Bismuth manual was very good
Ive used this one from that manual -Remington STS hull Fed 209a 23 gr. of 7625 Rem Sp12 wad and 1 1/8 bismuth. 8700 psi and 1202 fps
Ive had good experience with them,been using that one for quite few years
I do mine on a Jr. too.
the STS's seem to last forever,and load & crimp nice for me

[Silvers]

The bismuth loads I cooked up will be used in a regular 12 gauge on decoyed birds. I'll be experimenting with greater shot charges in 3" hulls over the next few weeks. Talked with the duck & goose guide over the weekend and plans are in place for some early season geese. Silvers

[fox-admin]

I have used the same load as Don Ay for years and it has worked very well for me also. Early season geese are not as tough as the later season birds when they feather up. The local geese will start using our marsh once the hunting pressure starts and crops get cut in our area, normally around the third week in September. The ducks are just starting to move here in western NY. This week I sighted my first blue winged teal, I expect wigeon to start showing up within the next two weeks. The migration is amazing and certain species show up in our marsh within almost the same day each year. Here is a fly over we just did of our marsh just a few miles north of the Montezuma National Wildlife Refuge in Central NY. The table is set!!