Lead shot is a collective term for small balls of lead. These were the original projectiles for muskets, and today are fired primarily from shotguns, although shot shells are available in many calibers in a configuaration called "Bird Shot" or "Rat-shot". It is also used for a variety of other purposes such as filling cavities with dense material for weight/balance. Some versions may be plated with other metals. Lead shot was originally made by pouring molten lead into moulds and later more economically mass-produced using a shot tower. The Bliemeister method has largely supplanted the shot tower method.
Read more about Lead Shot: Manufacturing, Sizes, Applications Outside Firearms, Non-lead Alternatives
Famous quotes containing the words lead and/or shot:
“Once lead this people into war and they will forget there ever was such a thing as tolerance.”
—Woodrow Wilson (1856–1924)
“When you have shot one bird flying you have shot all birds flying. They are all different and they fly in different ways but the sensation is the same and the last one is as good as the first.”
—Ernest Hemingway (1899–1961)