Bismuth To Be Shot

Sun., July 23, 1995

Associated Press

Hunting

The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service is finishing the paperwork to approve bismuth-tin shot for use during the upcoming waterfowl season.

Bismuth is softer, weighs more, shoots faster and hits harder than steel - currently the only type of shot approved for waterfowl hunting.

It also costs twice as much as steel.

The ammunition industry has been searching for a replacement for lead since the traditional shot was banned during the 1980s. Lead is toxic to waterfowl, which pick it up and swallow it while feeding on pond bottoms. It also is toxic to raptors, such as eagles, who finish off and eat the waterfowl dying of lead poisoning.

Bismuth, on the other hand, is the primary ingredient in popular remedies for stomach disorders.

Final approval to use bismuth this season is expected in August.

Temporary approval for the use of bismuth-tin shot was given for the latter part of the 1994-95 season after The Bismuth Cartridge Co. of Dallas submitted data from a short-term test that showed no toxicity.

Mason pointed out that bismuth is 91 percent as dense as lead, while steel is only 68 percent as dense. That means, he said, hunters can tune up on the trap or skeet range using lead shot, which costs about one-quarter of what bismuth costs, and switch to bismuth on opening day with only a tiny difference in performance.

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