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 Lead shot was originally made by pouring molten lead into moulds and later more economically mass-produced using a shot tower.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:
“There was ... a large, shaggy dog, whose nose, report said, was full of porcupine quills. I can testify that he looked very sober. This is the usual fortune of pioneer dogs, for they have to face the brunt of the battle for their race.... When a generation or two have used up all their enemies’ darts, their successors lead a comparatively easy life. We owe to our fathers analogous blessings.”
—Henry David Thoreau (1817–1862)
“There is only one element that can break the Afrikaner, and that is the Afrikaner himself. It is when the Afrikaner, like a baboon shot in the stomach, pulls out his own intestines. We must guard against that.”
—P.W. (Pieter Willem)