Also known as: case-shot.
| Class | Antipersonnel projectile |
|---|---|
| Contents | Musket or lead balls packed with a bursting charge |
| Action | Bursts in the air, showering the balls forward |
| Forms | Spherical case shot (smoothbore) and rifled case shot |
Purpose
Case shot extended the antipersonnel reach of the guns beyond canister range. The projectile held a quantity of lead or iron balls around a bursting charge; a time fuze burst it in the air so that the balls, carrying the projectile's forward motion, swept down over the target.
It was made as spherical case for smoothbores, usually fuzed with a Bormann or paper time fuze, and as elongated case shot for rifled guns. Solid shot, by contrast, carried no filler, and canister burst at the muzzle rather than in flight.
On this site
Sources & further reading
- Melton, Jack W., Jr. Civil War Artillery Projectiles: The Half Shell Book. Blue Ridge, GA: Historical Publications LLC, 2018.
- United States Army, Ordnance Department. The Ordnance Manual for the Use of the Officers of the United States Army. 2nd ed. Philadelphia: J. B. Lippincott, 1862.
- Benton, James G. A Course of Instruction in Ordnance and Gunnery. 2nd ed. New York: D. Van Nostrand, 1862.