Also known as: Hotchkiss canister shot.
| Class | Close-range antipersonnel round (rifled) |
|---|---|
| Construction | Case of packed balls that bursts at the muzzle |
| Association | Hotchkiss line of rifled ammunition |
Canister for the rifle
Rifled guns still needed a close-range antipersonnel load, and the Hotchkiss line supplied a canister for that purpose. Like smoothbore canister, it packed a quantity of balls in a case that tore open at the muzzle to spread them like shot.
Canister of this kind gave rifled batteries the same last-ditch close defense that the smoothbores had long possessed, and it is recognized by the case-and-balls construction associated with the Hotchkiss system.
On this site
Sources & further reading
- Hackley, Frank W. Civil War Explosive Ordnance. Revised November 10, 1960. U.S. Naval School, Explosive Ordnance Disposal.
- CivilWarArtillery.com research archive: projectile identification pages, manuals, and reports.