Shot is made in manufactories, as follows:--Arsenic is added to the
lead, in the proportion of from 3 lbs. to 8 lbs. of arsenic to 1000 lbs.
of lead. The melted lead is poured through cullenders drilled with very
fine holes, and drops many feet down, into a tub of water; 100 feet fall
is necessary for manufactories in which No. 4 shot is made; 150, for
larger sorts. If the shot turns out to be lens-shaped, there has been too
much arsenic; if hollow, flattened, or tailed, there has been too little.
Pewter or tin is bad, as it makes tailed shot. The Shot are sorted by
sieves; bad shot are weeded out, by letting the shot roll over a
slightly-inclined board, then the sho that are not quite round roll off
to the side. Lastly, the shot is smoothed by being shaken up in a barrel
with a little black-lead.
Slugs are wanted both for night-shooting and also in case of a hostile
attack. They can be made by running melted lead into reeds, and chopping
the reeds into short length; or by casting the lead in tubes made by
rolling paper round a smooth stick: whether reeds or paper be used, they
should be planted in the ground before the lead is poured in. The
temperature of the lead is regulated by taking care that a small quantity
of it remains unmelted in the ladle, at the moment of pouring out: if it
be too hot it will burn the paper. (See "Lead.")
HINTS ON SHOOTING.
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