Solid shot

“ The projectiles now in use are solid shot, shells, strap-shot, case or canister-shot, grape-shot, light and fire-balls, carcasses, grenades, and rockets.
Solid shot are now almost invariably made of cast iron, [35] formed in moulds of sand or iron. This projectile is used under almost every circumstance, whether in the battle-field or in the attack and defence of places, and is the only one that is effectual against the stone walls of forts. Hot shot are used against shipping and wooden structures of every description. ”

“ Putting the Shot.—The shot shall be a solid iron sphere weighing 16 lbs. It shall be put from the shoulder with one hand, from between two parallel lines, 7 ft. apart. Touching the ground outside either line with any part of person, before the shot alights, shall make the attempt "no put," which [53] counts as a "try." ”

“ A barrel, which recoils from being light, or from not being held firmly when fired, throws shot very weakly. So, on the other hand, barrels which have sufficient weight to break the recoil, or which are placed against something solid when fired, have their shooting power amazingly increased. ”

“ The town caught fire in several places, shells crashed and burst, and solid shot rained like hail. ”

“ As few sportsmen ever tried so small a charge of powder as 11⁄2 drachm with so heavy a charge of shot as 2 oz., or as large size as No. 2, we invite a trial of the experiment we are about to suggest, with any gun that may happen to be in their possession, not weighing more than 71⁄2 lb. With the above proportions of powder and shot—the shot being oiled—let the shooter fire at forty yards, with good elevation, because large shot droops more than small, at an unbound book nailed to a wall, with an open newspaper (double sheet) spread in front of it. ”

“ Therefore, shot which are of different weights, and impelled by the firing of different charges of powder, acquire velocities which are directly as the square roots of the charges of powder, and inversely as the square roots of the weights of the shot. By making use of shot of a heavier metal than iron (lead for instance) the momentum of the shot discharged with the same charge of powder would be increased in the ratio of the square root of the shot’s weight, which would both augment the force of the blow with which it would strike, and also the extent of the range. ”

“ For strong shooting, the wad over the powder should be much thicker than the wad placed over the shot. The several waddings now sold greased with some mercurial preparation undeniably retard leading—a great gain. If the long nozzle of the shot-pouch fits close within the barrel, on unloading your gun you can easily return the shot into the pouch without losing a grain. ”

“ Only, above all things, be careful not to mention drams in connection with anything but black powder, nor grains, except with reference to Schultze or E.C. A laboriously-acquired reputation as a scientific shot has been known to be ruined by a want of clearness on this important point.
"Shot." Conversationally much more valuable than powder. "Very few people agree," says a well-known authority; "as to what is the best size of shot to use, and many forget that the charge which will suit one gun, and one description of game, will not do as well for another. ”

“ We can’t afford to waste shots.’
So the three commenced to fire steadily and in turn, each waiting after the other’s shot to see if a man fell, each calling to the others in triumph if a man went down after their shot, growling angrily [101] if the shot missed. They made good shooting amongst them, the man in the middle of the road an unmistakable best and the Canadian second. ”

“ Let us but clearly see and understand aright the principle—knowing that the greater momentum the less the action of the atmosphere—and if 31⁄4 miles can be obtained with a ball 60 lbs. weight, 51⁄4 may be easily accomplished by a ball of 120 lbs. Powder is made, and can be had, that will do this.
The use of compound-shot has of late years become quite common in experiments: why lead, with its alloys, has not been more extensively used as a projectile for large guns, has always appeared to me extraordinary. ”

“ If a gun has been spiked with a Common steel spike, load with a charge of powder equal to half the shot’s weight: lay a leader of quick match along the bore, and double shot the gun, introducing the shot, however, very carefully. ”

“ Shot Groups.—Owing to errors on the part of the firer, and also to imperfections in the rifle and ammunition, it is found that a series of shots, even when fired by an individual under perfect conditions at a large, stationary, distinct target at a known and close range, do not all strike the point aimed at, but they form a group of shot-marks about this point, the density of which varies mainly with the skill of the firer. ”

“ You can easily test the amount of choke in a 12-gauge gun. A new ten-cent piece will just go inside the end of the barrel of a full cylinder gun and just fail to go into one that has been slightly choked.
While it is impossible to give any written directions for shooting that are as valuable as actual practice, the important thing for a beginner is to get his form right at first, just as in golf or horseback riding, and then to make up his mind that every shot has got to count. ”

“ Shot made red-hot for the purpose of setting fire to buildings, shipping, etc. The charges for hot shot are from one-fourth to one-sixth the weight of the shot. With small velocities, the shot splits and splinters the wood, so as to render it favorable for burning. With great velocity the ball sinks into the wood, is deprived of air by the closing of the hole, and chars instead of burning the surrounding wood. ”

“ In the last resort, bore a hole in the bottom of the breech, drive out the shot, and stop the hole with a screw. When a shot is jammed in a gun and cannot be rammed home to the cartridge, destroy the charge by pouring water down the vent and muzzle until the ingredients are dissolved, and cleared out of the bore ”

“ Once I happened not to take a pistol in hand for a whole month: I had sent my own to the gunsmith’s. Well, what do you think, Count? The first time I began again to shoot I four times running missed a bottle at twenty paces. The captain of our company, who was a wit, happened to be present, and he said to me 'Your hand, my friend, refuses to raise itself against the bottle!' No, Count, you must not neglect to practise, or you will soon lose all skill. The best shot I ever knew used to shoot every day, and at least three times every day before dinner. ”

“ If the slightest movement occurs in the gun, the shot is projected from an unsound base or foundation. It is precisely similar to a man who, in the act of throwing a stone, slips his foot backwards: the effect is at once apparent on the stone. ”

“ The charge of shot is also started in a larger space than that which it afterwards has to traverse, and the column must of necessity become contracted and elongated before it can escape from the barrel. ”

“ In narrating long shots that I have made, I recount them as bright moments in the hours of sport; they are the exceptions and not the rule. I consider a man a first-rate shot who can ALWAYS bag his deer standing at eighty yards, or running at fifty. HITTING and BAGGING are widely different. If a man can always bag at the distance that I have named he will constantly hit, and frequently bag, at extraordinary ranges, as there is no doubt of his shooting, and, when he misses, the ball has whizzed somewhere very close to the object; the chances are, therefore, in favour of the rifle. ”

“ With the employment of a gas-check at the base of the shot to prevent windage and so secure the full force of the exploding charge, the use of studs in a shot appears to be unnecessary, sufficient spin being imparted to the projectile by the soft metal of the gas-check before named, which causes the shot to rotate after the manner of a Snider bullet. ”

“ It was hit by 44 shot, which not only failed to penetrate it at any point, but utterly failed also to destroy, or even in the least to diminish the ease and rapidity with which it worked round. So utterly, indeed, that the men employed at it declared (we should think with some slight exaggeration) that the pounding it had received had made it work, “if anything, rather better.” ”

“ In learning the art of shooting on the wing—and this is the only way in which a shot-gun should be used—the following suggestions may be of some help, but no amount of printed directions can teach you to shoot. ”

“ They who prefer large shot, and accustom themselves to fire at great distances, leave nearly as many languishing in the field as immediately die. Whereas, those that use small shot, and shoot fair, fill their bag with little spoil or waste beyond what they take with them from the field. ”

“ But when under seven pounds and a half, which is the heaviest gun we should think of using in hot weather, or for a long day’s woodcock shooting, they do not throw small shot as effectively as a short gun throws large shot. ”

“ A gun thirty-one inch barrel, fourteen gauge, and eight pounds weight, is as useful an article as you can have. Never poke at a bird, that is, try to see him along the barrels. If you do, you never can be a good or a quick shot. Fix your eye or eyes on the bird, lift up your gun, and fire the moment it touches your shoulder. Practise this a little, and believe me you will give the pokers the go by in a short time. It is the only way to be a sharp shot. ”

“ Returning for a moment to our gun, we see that a certain amount of work is done on it in causing it to recoil; but the whole of the work done by the powder is, other things being equal, a constant quantity. The sum of the work done on the shot and on the gun in causing their motions is equal to the energy expended by the powder, consequently the more work we do on the gun, the less is available for the shot. ”

“ Much can, no doubt, be done to improve one’s shooting by regular practice. Some years ago I was discussing the subject with one of the old Highland proprietors who is a first-class rifle shot, and he told me that for many years he had been in the habit of practising shooting at a small wooden stag, which he had placed in all kinds of different positions and at different distances on the hill. ”

“ Some popular writer has said that, like the poet, the first-class shot with a gun, or the “dead shot,” as he is often called, must be born such—he cannot be made. Good shooting is a fine art, and in none of the fine arts can perfection be acquired where there does not exist a natural talent, or natural capacity, if the term be better. Any man with fair calculation and a reasonably good mechanical eye may, by practice, become a very passable shot, but without this peculiar natural requirement, which no one can clearly explain, it will be impossible for him to ever excel as an expert marksman. ”

“ He is made familiar with the weapon in the fullest sense of the word "familiar," for shooting is not altogether a matter of blazing away ammunition; the good shot is the man who has a thorough knowledge of the various parts of his weapon, and who has been taught to nurse it and care for it just as the Breton lad nursed and cared for his cow. The equivalent of the British Morris tube is requisitioned to instruct the conscript in the first elements of firing a rifle. ”

“ All other operations connected with the life of a gun, its manufacture, its transportation to the place where it is to be used, its aiming, its loading and all its functions and operations are bound up in the single purpose of actually firing the shot. ”

“ In order to excel, regular and temperate habits of life must be formed and maintained. It renders the senses more alert and trains them to act in unison and in harmony. But, above all, skill in shooting is a useful accomplishment.
Anyone possessing ordinary health and good sight may, by practice, become a good pistol shot. ”

“ To avoid flinching and other movements of the head and body, caused by the recoil, begin your first practicing with a light powder-and-shot charge, say, about 2 dr. of bulk measure, or its equivalent in smokeless, and 7⁄8 oz. of No. 8 or 9 shot. There is no advantage in using a heavier charge, and the recoil of the gun will appear much greater in deliberate shooting at a target than is likely to be felt during the excitement incidental to shooting in the field. ”

“ But when the shot begin to come like a shower of rain, we can no longer give each shot a bow, but become bold at once. The boom and roar of big shells excite in us no special sensation. When we know that by the time we hear these horrible sounds the projectiles have gone far past us, our courage is confirmed and, instead of bowing to an empty sound, we begin to think of standing on the breastwork and munching rice-balls to show off to the enemy! And the shot seems to shun those audacious ones as a rule, to go round them and call upon others!
[214] ”

“ It represented some view in Switzerland, but it was not the painting that struck me, but the circumstance that the canvas was shot through by two bullets, one planted just above the other.
"A good shot that!" said I, turning to the Count.
"Yes," replied he, "a very remarkable shot. . . . Do you shoot well?" he continued.
"Tolerably," replied I, rejoicing that the conversation had turned at last upon a subject that was familiar to me. "At thirty paces I can manage to hit a card without fail,—I mean, of course, with a pistol that I am used to." ”

“ The shooting was done at a target set up against a tree some distance behind the gymnasium building; and the boys did their practising under the direction of Captain Dale.
"It requires considerable practice to become an expert shot," said the military instructor. "Once in a while we find someone who is a natural-born sharpshooter, but that is very rare. Some of the best shots in the army are men who, at the start, hardly knew how to handle firearms." ”