• Friends, our 2nd Amendment rights are always under attack and the NRA has been a constant for decades in helping fight that fight.

    We have partnered with the NRA to offer you a discount on membership and Muzzleloading Forum gets a small percentage too of each membership, so you are supporting both the NRA and us.

    Use this link to sign up please; https://membership.nra.org/recruiters/join/XR045103

Does anyone use homemade Cut Shot?

Muzzleloading Forum

Help Support Muzzleloading Forum:

This site may earn a commission from merchant affiliate links, including eBay, Amazon, and others.
At either Jamestown or Roanoke, archeologists uncovered a grave of a young man that was unfortunate enough to have been shot in the knee/or leg and died horribly from infection. They were able to identify and remove a ball and cut shot made from chisel or knife quartered round balls. You maybe able to find the video on youtube. Nasty stuff no matter whether it is modern round cast shot or cut up material.
The kid (19 year old) they excavated on Jamestown Island was shot in the knee with a load that contained a caliver ball (@ 20 ga) and six pieces of shot. He didn’t “die horribly of infection,” however. Where he got hit, his femoral artery would have been severed. He was certainly dead within minutes.
Jay
 
I have documentation where an excavation of an 18th century home site was done and cut shot was found. So people have been using it since the 18th century for sure. I made some from cutting some flat roofing sheet lead into thin strips and then trimmed the strips into shot. It was all soft enough to do that with a pair of scissors.
Ohio Rusty ><>
 
The kid (19 year old) they excavated on Jamestown Island was shot in the knee with a load that contained a caliver ball (@ 20 ga) and six pieces of shot. He didn’t “die horribly of infection,” however. Where he got hit, his femoral artery would have been severed. He was certainly dead within minutes.
Jay
The wound showed evidence of infection that could not have existed if he bled to death. Of course I am relating what was said by the forensic pathologist and not first hand experience. Were you the forensic pathologist that examined the remains? Or were you going by second hand information? The point is that the wound was caused by a ball as well as "shot" though i guess you would dispute cast or cut as well.
 
Get your wife or girl friend to sit and snip flux less wire solder while she watches tv. Too tedious for me. I have no girl friend , and a wife that would tell me where to stick the solder , so my production staff is nil. Guess it's bag shot , or nothin'..
 
The wound showed evidence of infection that could not have existed if he bled to death. Of course I am relating what was said by the forensic pathologist and not first hand experience. Were you the forensic pathologist that examined the remains? Or were you going by second hand information? The point is that the wound was caused by a ball as well as "shot" though i guess you would dispute cast or cut as well.
No, I’m just going by what I’ve picked up from talking to the archaeologists and forensic anthropologists who dug him up and have curated the remains during the 20 years I’ve spent working at Jamestown. 🤷🏻‍♂️
Jay
 
No, I’m just going by what I’ve picked up from talking to the archaeologists and forensic anthropologists who dug him up and have curated the remains during the 20 years I’ve spent working at Jamestown. 🤷🏻‍♂️
Jay
If that is true then you would note that the one pathologist (kelso I believe but I am sure you will correct me right or wrong) that brought up the theory that death was quick said it COULD have severed the artery not did. You seem have left that word out. Interesting you seem not to have discussed the remains with the pathologist who thought there was evidence of infectious damage to the bone. Enjoy your superiority. By the way 19 in Jamestown is considered a kid?
 
Another interesting thread turned into an on-going argument and accusations. It’s almost to be expected any more.
You are quite correct. I appologize for my part and responding to the manner in which the opposing view was presented.
 
A neighbor took a roll of solder, cut the "wire" long ways and heated it with a torch. He let the drops fall into a pot of water. It was surprisingly round, but the size of the shot varied somewhat. But, he melted about a foot of solder (split in half) to get enough "pellets" for one loading. It was kind of a mixture of cut shot and drop shot concepts. He just wanted to get rid of a family of squirrels that moved in, and invite them to dinner. I don't know why he didn't just ask for a couple of shotshells to cut open. It worked pretty good on the squirrels. His smoothbore is an antique 16-gauge that usually is displayed in his living room, but he occasionally takes game with it. Trees aren't very tall around here, so I suppose the squirrels at the very top of the tree were 15-yards max.
 
I just finished writing a fiction novel set in the Revolutionary War. Several times in the book I have characters making shot squares by flattening musket balls and cutting them with a knife. In the book, this results in successful hunts for turkey and other small game. Never failed. (did someone say "fiction novel"? 😉
 
There's an older guy named Hovey Smith who has a YouTube channel related to guns. He has a couple recent videos devoted to this very subject. Pretty interesting. He did not have the best results past about 15 yards but I guess if it's all you had, you could make cut shot work, as long as you keep things up close and personal.

I think rather than cut shot, melting lead and pouring it through a coffee can with a series of small holes cut in the bottom, and letting the lead seep through and drop a few feet into a bucket of water. I recall a guy doing that. His shot was more teardrop shaped than round, but I'd bet it would work better than cut squares flying through the air.
 
Back
Top