Case Shot

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Case shot, or canister shot, consists of a number of wrought-iron balls, packed in a tin canister of a cylindrical shape. The balls for field service are regularly deposited in layers, but for most kinds of siege and naval ordnance they are merely thrown into the case until it is filled, when the lid is soldered on. Between the bottom of the canister and the charge a wooden bottom is inserted. The weights of the balls vary with the different kinds of ordnance, and the regulations of each service. The English have, for their heavy naval guns, balls from 8 oz. to 3 lbs.; for their 9-pound field-gun, 1/2 oz. and 5 oz. balls, of which respectively 126 and 41 make up a canister for one discharge. The Prussians use 41 balls, each weighing V32 of the weight of the corresponding round shot. The French had up to 1854 nearly the same system; how they may have altered it since the introduction of the new howitzer gun, we are unable to tell. For siege and garrison artillery, the balls are sometimes arranged round a spindle projecting from the wooden bottom, either in a bag in the shape of a grape (whence the name grape shot), or in regular layers with round wooden or iron plates between each layer, the whole covered over with a canvas bag.

The most recently introduced kind is the spherical case shot, commonly called from their inventor, the British general Shrapnel, shrapnel shells. They consist of a thin cast-iron shell (from 1/3 to 3/4 inch thickness of iron), with a diaphragm or partition in the middle. The lower compartment is destined to receive a bursting charge, the upper one contains leaden musket balls. A fuse is inserted containing a carefully prepared composition, the accuracy of whose burning off can be depended upon. A composition is run between the balls, so as to prevent them from shaking. When used in the field, the fuse is cut off to the length required for the distance of the enemy, and inserted into the shell. At from 50 to 70 yards from the enemy the fuse is burnt to the bottom, and explodes the shell, scattering the bullets toward the enemy precisely as if common case shot had been fired on the spot where the shell exploded. The precision of the fuses at present attained in several services is very great, and thus this new projectile enables the gunner to obtain the exact effect of grape at ranges where formerly round shot only could be used. The common case is most destructive up to 200 yards, but may be used up to 500 yards; its effect against advancing lines of infantry or cavalry at close quarters is terrible; against skirmishers it is of little use; against columns round shot is offener applicable. The spherical case, on the other hand, is most effective at from 600 to 1,400 yards, and with a proper elevation and a long fuse, may be launched at still greater ranges with probability of effect. From its explosion near the enemy, by which the hailstorm of bullets is kept close together, it may successfully be used against troops in almost any but the skirmishing formation. After the introduction of the spherical case shot, it was adopted in almost all European services as soon as a proper fuse composition was invented by each, this forming the only difficulty; and of the great European powers, France is the only one which has not yet succeeded in this particular. Further experiments, accidents, or bribes will, however, no doubt soon place this power in possession of the secret.