The shotcup is fairly thin because the brittle pellets can’t hurt a steel barrel, and the shot is nestled in along with a fine buffer material to help cushion it during setback. Given bismuth ...

Bismuth has become popular as a replacement for the highly toxic metal lead, as it has a comparable density and many countries now prohibit the use of lead shot for hunting water birds.

Admittedly, we have a pretty low bar for that kind of stuff, but eye candy aside, [Robin Debreuil]’s quick outline of his technique for desoldering with the help of bismuth is worth watching.