colonial shot sizes

[Stumpkiller]

It may be a Susquehanna/Chesapeake jargon. A Swan Drop is distinct from round swan shot. They look like cones with a rounded end - like a cartoon raindrop. They are made by dripping lead into water, not cast.

I don't have my meager library here, but the "Buck and ball" load was a cast ball and three swan drops from one account.

In the parlance of hunting, where the terms “buck shot” and “bird shot” have entered vernacular usage, there was a particularly heavy lead shot developed called “swan shot,” “swan post” or “swan drops,” for its ability to fell these heavy birds.

http://www.bayjournal.com/article.cfm?article=1695

 

[George]

It may be a Susquehanna/Chesapeake jargon. A Swan Drop is distinct from round swan shot. They look like cones with a rounded end - like a cartoon raindrop. They are made by dripping lead into water, not cast.

Back in the 1970-1980 period somebody began selling crudely made drop shot which frequently were teardrop shaped with a curved tail, and they had a vague resemblance to a swan's neck. Someone made a connection between that look and historic references to swan shot and decided the were the same. Those were sold as "swan shot" and there were several articles written detailing patterning sessions and hunting forays using them. If there is any literature of the period corroborating the connection, I've never found it, and I've looked. It's true that there are references to ball-plus-swan loads mentioned in the old literature, quite a few of them, but nothing is ever said about a swan shape.

I think it is a modern invention.

Spence

 

[Stumpkiller]

Hadn't heard of shot described by shape rather than intended use, but I guess that's possible. :hmm:

http://dennisneely.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/05/A-Charger-of-Shot.pdf