Luoyang Haocheng Abrasive Tools Co., Ltd

Steel Shot vs. Lead Shot: A Comparison of Hardness and Ballistic Performance Steel shot possesses significantly greater hardness than lead shot, fundamentally impacting their ballistic behavior. Lead, with its low Mohs hardness of approximately 1.5, is exceptionally soft—easily scratched or deformed, even by a fingernail. In contrast, high-carbon steel shot typically exhibits a Rockwell C (HRC) hardness ranging from 40 to 50, placing it orders of magnitude harder than lead. This dramatic difference in material hardness leads to distinct performance characteristics: Deformation: Lead Shot: Its inherent softness causes it to deform readily during the firing process itself (due to set-back forces in the shell and barrel friction) and significantly upon impact with the target. This deformation alters the individual shot pellet's shape. Steel Shot: Its high hardness makes it far more resistant to deformation both during firing and upon initial impact. Steel pellets tend to retain their spherical shape much more effectively. Shot Pattern: The tendency of lead shot to deform contributes to a wider, less consistent shot pattern downrange. Irregular shapes increase aerodynamic drag variations and pellet-to-pellet interactions. Steel shot's ability to stay round allows it to maintain a denser, tighter, and more uniform pattern over distance. This characteristic enhances the probability of hitting the target effectively within its effective range. Penetration: Mechanism: While lead is denser and heavier, its softness causes it to "mushroom" or flatten dramatically upon striking tissue or barriers. This rapid deformation creates a wider wound channel but dissipates energy quickly, potentially limiting depth, especially against resistant materials like bone or heavy feathers. Steel Advantage: Steel's hardness allows it to resist deformation upon impact, enabling it to cut through feathers, hide, or light bone more effectively rather than flattening immediately. This results in a narrower but potentially deeper penetration channel for a given pellet size and impact energy, particularly important for waterfowl hunting where feather penetration is critical. Weight & Compensating Strategy: Steel has a lower density than lead (approximately 7.8 g/cm³ vs. 11.3 g/cm³). Consequently, steel pellets of the same size are lighter than lead pellets. This lower mass, combined with the same powder charge, results in lower muzzle velocity and retained energy downrange for equivalent pellet sizes. To compensate for this reduction in kinetic energy per pellet and achieve similar terminal performance, hunters often use steel shot that is one or two sizes larger than the lead shot size they would traditionally use for a given application (e.g., using #2 steel instead of #4 lead for ducks). In essence: Steel shot's superior hardness promotes roundness, tighter patterns, and better cutting penetration through resistant surfaces, while lead shot's density provides more mass per pellet but suffers from deformation leading to wider patterns and rapid energy dump upon impact. The weight difference necessitates the common practice of using larger steel shot sizes.

Here’s a closer look at the most common abrasive media types, including a brief description and their typical surface finishing applications: Glass Beads: Glass is not as aggressive a blasting media as other materials, such as steel shot or silicon carbide. However, it is an excellent choice for applications that require a softer, brighter finish. It is well suited for stainless steel applications. Glass beads can also be recycled multiple times. Aluminum Oxide: Aluminum oxide is characterized by its superior hardness and strength. It can be found in applications like anti-slip surfaces, industrial applications as a blasting media and as a raw material in refractories. Aluminum oxide is designed for abrasive pressure blasting of almost any type of substrate: glass, granite, marble and steel. Due to its ability to deeply etch it is used in the preparation of surfaces prior to painting or coatings. Plastics: Plastic abrasive is a dry thermoset cleaning media made from crushed urea, polyester or acrylic. Each variety is available in a range of hardnesses and particle sizes. Plastic is generally regarded as the best abrasive material for mold cleaning, blasting of plastic parts or in applications where the removal of the substrate material is not permitted. Common industries that utilize plastic media blasting include automotive, aviation, boating, electronics and industrial applications. Silicon Carbide: Silicon carbide is the hardest abrasive blasting material available, making it the best choice for your most challenging surface finishing applications. It is available in various colors and purities. Its primary use ranges from bonded abrasive tools, lapping, polishing, glass etching and general-purpose heavy-duty blast-cutting applications. Steel Shot & Grit: Steel abrasive is a cost-effective alternative to other abrasives due to its toughness and high recyclability. It can be used on a variety of surfaces to effectively remove contaminants, to texture a surface for proper adherence of a final coating or in peening (hardening) applications. The correct size, hardness and shape play a significant role in the proper media selection. Starblast: Starblast™ is a mined loose blend of coarse and fine staurolite sands with extremely low levels of silica making it an ideal general-purpose blasting abrasive. It is perfect for removing scale and corrosion from steel surfaces while offering a low dust level for improved visibility. Walnut Shells: Walnut shell abrasive is a hard naturally occurring material made from crushed walnut shells. It is the harder of the soft abrasives, available in a variety of sizes for blast cleaning and polishing softer surfaces that could incur damage from harsher abrasives. Typical applications include polishing soft metals, fiberglass, wood, plastic and stone. It can also be used in tumbling operations for polishing gems and jewelry. Corn Cobs: Corn cob abrasive is a granular abrasive manufactured by crushing the dense woody ring of a corn cob into various grit sizes. It is the softer of the naturally occurring abrasives making it ideal for cleaning, deburring, burnishing and de-flashing applications. Common industries include jewelry, cutlery, engine parts, fiberglass and the removal of graffiti or debris from wood, brick or stone.