Kent Bismuth issue - always verify what you’re purchasing.

[Jesse Jaymes]

 

[flathead#2]

I was buying Hevi Shot till I cut one open.
That load looked like something a pre schooler made
or welding flux.

Now I'm wanting to cut open a round of these Federal Bismuths
I been stocking up on. But these things are $$$$!!!!

 

[CorbLand]

Oh no, that is terrible. Shoot me a PM and I will reimburse you for shipping it to my house.

 

[Billy Goat]

View attachment 790953

Damn dude, paper ain't that expensive.



Save your brain. I bought a 4' wide several hundred feet long roll years ago. Makes it easy, that's seems like a where's Waldo search after a while.

 

[ElDiablito]

I understand the being shorted argument of 248 vs 200. That is a big jump in payload on target, I’m a 20g shooter, so that would be a huge loss.

A couple things to consider:
-that BB count might be for a specific BB size/load and the marketing team isn’t tracking that on the load you bought.

-Depending on the bismuth source, they might be getting more of a #4.5 or #4 size pellet (USA sizing vs Euro), not that it justifies the incorrect marketing.

-average BB diameter and average load weight would be the great decider of the argument. It would tell you truly where they are coming up short, in the shot size or the load size.


Regardless, hopefully you find some resolution and end up happy with a type of biz.

And last question, have you tried to shoot birds with it yet? Does it hit as hard as the marketing says?

I’d be measuring the pellets to see what size they actually are and weighing to verify the pellet loads.

 

[ID2NM]

View attachment 791257

I’d be measuring the pellets to see what size they actually are and weighing to verify the pellet loads.

Alright, borrowed a scale from an friend and weighed payloads. 1.25 oz should be roughly 35 grams and average of three shells was 34 with a scale standard error of 2 grams. They aren’t shorting payloads.

So that settles it, they are selling 4 shot and labeling it as 5 shot while claiming 20% higher pellet counts than reality.

 

[ID2NM]

Same stuff?

Same stuff. Nice bird to boot.

I’m not insinuating 4 shot won’t kill a pheasant or duck. In fact, it’ll knock the dust out of them.

But I didn’t pay for 4 shot. I paid for 5 and they sold me 4 and called it 5.

 

[ElDiablito]

Shrinkflation

 

[ElDiablito]

Try some TSS and you’ll never look back….

 

[spur60]

I was buying Hevi Shot till I cut one open.
That load looked like something a pre schooler made
or welding flux.

Now I'm wanting to cut open a round of these Federal Bismuths
I been stocking up on. But these things are $$$$!!!!

Great thing about tungsten (hevishot) is that the pellet shape doesn't really affect anything all that much. Guys were chirping about the welding slag shape when hevishot started loading it that way years ago but there wasn't any noticeable difference vs. more expensive round tungsten loads from Remington, Winchester, or Kent.

 

[Jason Snyder]

Same stuff. Nice bird to boot.

I’m not insinuating 4 shot won’t kill a pheasant or duck. In fact, it’ll knock the dust out of them.

But I didn’t pay for 4 shot. I paid for 5 and they sold me 4 and called it 5.

Did you measure the shot diameter?

 

[ZNuke14]

Did Kent ever own up to this or give an answer? I’m in the market and I’m looking at kent or boss. Not that i need good CS for shooting usually, but it would be nice to know if it was a crummy run of ammo or ignorance.

 

[ID2NM]

Did Kent ever own up to this or give an answer? I’m in the market and I’m looking at kent or boss. Not that i need good CS for shooting usually, but it would be nice to know if it was a crummy run of ammo or ignorance.

They have never owned up and I’m currently trying to get a refund. Its all been a PITA. I’d buy BOSS if I were you. I’m done with Kent after this.

 

[ElDiablito]

I just opened up some Winchester and Federal steel shells. Neither had the amount of shot claimed and one had two different sizes (5 and 6) in a shell marked #6.

So, apparently this is pretty common…..

 

[S.Clancy]

I always just pattern shells then shoot em at birds. Never even thought about cutting one open.

I bet this is WAY more common. I imagine the cost to get the shot all the same size is pretty high. I'd just buy the next size smaller and fire away.

 

[TimberRunner]

Are these for sale?

 

[ElDiablito]

Are these for sale?

Yep.

https://www.cabelas.com/shop/en/kent-bismuth-upland-non-toxic-shotshells

 

[flathead#2]

Great thing about tungsten (hevishot) is that the pellet shape doesn't really affect anything all that much. Guys were chirping about the welding slag shape when hevishot started loading it that way years ago but there wasn't any noticeable difference vs. more expensive round tungsten loads from Remington, Winchester, or Kent.

The thing is, probably 50% of the shot were of various sizes and attached to another, forming a "glob"
effectively reducing the pellet count by 50%.
Not what I'm looking for.
Y'all buy whatever you want but I'll never buy anything with the Hevi brand on it.

 

[ZNuke14]

For anybody interested, I am still in the rabbit hole of choosing a bismuth shell. Luckily somebody is smarter and has more time than me and already did a deep dive in this world.

Here are some links to bismuth load analysis with a lot of detail:

(Kent vs Boss vs Hevi)

https://www.shotgunworld.com/threads/boss-vs-kent-vs-hevi-bismuth-loads.558437/#post-4945853

(Boss Warchief)

https://www.shotgunworld.com/threads/boss-warchief-bismuth-buffered-load-dissection-data-and-pattern-results.564348/

It looks like across the board, bismuth has inconsistent shot sizing. It must be due to a manufacturer process limit or even what the allowable variance is for them to state “#5” shot.

It looks like boss has the best consistency of materials, but everybody in the market has some variance.

Long story short: shoot what you like, hit a bird, and with bismuth it might die faster than with steel.

 

[TimberRunner]

JoeHunter does a lot of patterning and is very thorough in his reviews.

I have shot around 700 boss 12 ga and 20 ga loads the last 3 years. Would not shoot out of modified choke. Improved mod or full throw amazing patterns. In other words, choke it like you are shooting lead.