Does Bismuth have similar hardness to steel shot?
John
No. It's soft. Suitable for "fine" guns and older guns that can't handle steel.
Two problems with Bismuth - one is that the early stuff tended to shatter into dust from the stress of firing. That was cured with later production, but you can still expect some shattering of the brittle pellets. The other is that it is lighter than lead, so penetration becoems an issue at any distance. That might not be an issue with close-up doves; on the other hand a .410 needs all the help it can get.
I don't use a .410 for any non-tox shooting - 20 gauge is the minimum. I much prefer tungsten matrix in "fine" guns - it patterns and kills pretty much like lead. Bismuth and TM are both awfully expensive to burn shooting at doves, and I expect that small bore non-tox ammo adds a premium on top of that.
