Grapeshot

Grapeshot - Quilted shot.
Image: © 2002 Aeragon; all rights reserved.

Grapeshot was a type of antipersonnel ammunition that consisted of a multiple of some type of usually round shot. The shot could be made of cast iron, lead or other metals or materials. The main difference between case shot and grapeshot was that grapeshot normally had larger and fewer balls and a different configuration. There were slightly different designs of grapeshot. One of the most common designs, pictured on the left, used 9 balls held together by a central bolt with plates or rings. Another common type, pictured in the center, had more, but smaller, balls and a central rod with a bottom plate of wood or metal. Quilted shot, pictured here on the right, consisted of essentially grapeshot with a fabric cover to hold the assembly together until firing. In many cases, the fabric cover was dipped in pitch or tar.

Various Models of Grapeshot, Circa 1863.
Photo: Mathew Brady Photographs.
National Archives and Records Administration.
Still Picture Branch; College Park, Maryland.