Shot is the term applied to all solid projectiles fired from any sort of firearms; those for cannon and machine guns being of cast-iron or steel, those for small-arms of lead. Solid shot of more than 3 lb. weight are no longer used as artillery projectiles except where the armament is obsolete (smooth bore or Armstrong guns). Even the Palmer chilled shot for piercing armour is not quite solid, having a small internal cavity. Bar-shot were two discs of iron connected by a bar, and used formerly to destroy the rigging and spars of ships. Chain-shot, for the same purpose, were two round shot connected by a chain. Case-shot (q.v.) or canister is used with all guns to ward off a sudden attack, as of cavalry or of boats; it consists of a tin cylinder fitting the bore of the gun, and filled with bullets. Grape-shot is obsolete. It consisted of small iron balls (1 lb. to 2 lb. weight) held together on a spindle by canvas or by iron plates so as to be easily inserted in the gun.
Small-shot for sporting purposes is of various sizes, from buck-shot, nearly as large as peas, to dnst-shot. It is made by dropping molten lead through a colander in rapid motion from a considerable height into water. The lead falls in small globular drops through holes varying in size according to the denomination of the shot, No. 0 requiring holes th inch in diameter, No. 9 th inch. A small portion of arsenic is melted with the lead to harden it, and the fusion in the colanders is maintained by those vessels being surrounded by burning charcoal. The fall through the air enables the lead to cool and harden before taking its plunge. The smaller sizes require less fall than the larger—100 feet suffices for sizes Nos. 4 to 9; the larger sorts demand 150 feet. The highest shot tower is at Villach in Carinthia, where there is a fall of 249 feet. After cooling, shot is sifted in successive sieves to separate the sizes. Misshapen shot are found by their inability to roll down an inclined plank; and finally the whole are polished by rotary motion in small octagonal boxes, in which a little plumbago has been thrown.