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Biting Bismuth Pellets?

1K views 2 replies 3 participants last post by  Kyle 1974 
#1 ·
I've never eaten birds killed with steel shot before. About a month or so back, there was a post showing a broken tooth acquired from steel shot in a bird and it got me thinking. As it so happens, I like my teeth very much and I'd like to keep them all the way they are. Is bismuth shot soft like lead when you bite it? It seems to me that I'd rather pay for Bismuth loads than some of the other steel-hard lead-dense loads if only to protect my teeth in the event of an accident. I'm going to try to go goose hunting a few times this season so the issue is now relevant. Or it will be if I stumble on to a slow goose or two.

Am I just spinning my wheels here worrying about something really rare?
 
#2 ·
I eat a lot of ducks shot with steel. Bismuth is just too expensive to buy for only 10 shells. A lot of ducks you shoot actually won't have pellets in the breast and if they do you can usually see them while cleaning them. However some will make it into the meat while cooking. It is really not that bad. If you have good strong teeth you should not worry about it. The only reason I can see this being a problem is if you have really bad teeth.
 
#3 ·
Syncerus,

There are a couple different ways to evaluate hardness. Usually you use the Rockwell test for metals.

One that's probably easier to understand is the Moh's scale (what they use for rocks and minerals). The range goes from 1 to 10. Talc is a "1" and diamond is a "10". It doesn't incorporate density, only the actual hardness of a material.

Stainless is around 5.5 to 6 on the Moh's, and Bismuth is around 2.2. It's harder than Lead, which is around 1.5. But, it's much softer than steel.

I guess you have to weigh the value of buying bismuth and how many birds you'll eat before potentially chipping a tooth with steel shot.

How good is your dental plan? LOL
 
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