16ga.com ~ View topic - Ballistic Products Tin Plated Tungsten alloy shot

E mail from BPI today , they have what they call BPX Tin Plated Tungsten Alloy Shot for sale in 2 lb bottles. Shot sizes #1, #4, #5 and #6

Joined: 01 Oct 2007 Posts: 962 Location: Minnesota

I’m a dummy, what would one use that for?

Joined: 11 Dec 2017 Posts: 77 Location: South Dakota

It looks like more demilled factory ammo. They have been getting quite a bit lately.

The "BTX SpheroTungsten" as they call it is nothing but a tin plated tungsten shot. It is listed as 12 g/cc, which is what original Hevishot is.

Being as Hevishot doesn't corrode, I have no idea why it is tin plated. They mention some kind of tumbling or rounding process, and they do look much more round than Hevishot. Maybe tin is just a byproduct of that process?

They also have denser 15 and 18 g/cc versions which are not tin plated. This is all very hard shot, not to be used in guns not suitable for steel shot. I won't be shooting this in any of my guns.

Joined: 13 Oct 2015 Posts: 348

It's not hevishot at all. That stuff is slag.
Several other vendors, notably RSI, sold HeavyWeight 13 tungsten blend shot. It was really about 11.9 - 12.0 g/cc density, but quite round.
This stuff is even rounder. The tin plating is apparently used on some tungsten core to give very spherical shot. Advantage being better ballistics and patterns.

You would use this for any non-tox shooting, in place of HW13 or HeviShot. BPI sold a crushed together sintered product from TomBob called hmm ITX and ITX13 which were 10 and 13 g/cc respectively, but not round due to molding. This is the first 12-13 g/cc density stuff from BPI.

12g/cc is denser than lead with better ballistics, and is plenty for ducks and geese out to 65 yds or so using #6 or #4 pellets. You can fit 1oz of HW13 into a 28ga load at 1250 fps, delivering better ballistics than a 3.5" 12ga steel load for range and pellet count with comparable penetration. Of course 20ga and 12ga loads are no issue, and I use a 7/8oz 20ga load of HW13 for most of my duck work.

HW15, or SpheroTungsten 15 from BPI; and TSS or SpheroTungsten18 from BPI, provide denser options for smaller pellets and more pellet count giving comparable ballistics for range and penetration and lethality. I'd use it in .410 and 28ga or very low recoil 20ga loads. Tons use it for turkey for dense head shots. For waterfowl, neither of these is needed to meet to payload vs. hull-capacity issues, hw12 just denser than lead will work fine. Increasing density generally costs more.

I would not purchase this produce, as it looked to be about $33 per pound when I looked at the ad last week. You can get HW13 from RSI at $24/lb, or strip HW15 with 15g/cc density in shot #7 by stripping the Fed Mag-Shok stuff being sold off at discount everywhere, for about $15/lb if you catch the sales. I've got about 50 lbs of it sitting in 10ga 2oz shells right next to me now. So from a cost perspective, it's not a great deal. I'd look for $24/lb or less.

On the other hand, you can get it in smaller quantities than 10lbs, so you may like that for the premium price. If you got this, I'd get #6 for ducks, and #5 or #4 for geese.

Joined: 11 Dec 2017 Posts: 77 Location: South Dakota

Yeah, it's denser than lead, but when You are comparing lead at around 11.25 vs this at 12.00, the difference is basically moot.

If I were to want to spend that much on shot ($35 per pound), I would much rather go right to the king TSS 18 g/cc which can be had for $42 per pound.

But I'm not made of money, and I like to hunt ducks 30+ days a year, so I make my own bismuth shot for around $7 per pound. Plus it is safe in any of my guns, including my muzzleloaders.