How common was lead shot back in the day?

[MountainSmoke]

Hello all. You always hear about the amazing versatility of the smoothbore and how you can bag a quail one minute and a bear the next but at the same time I read a lot of accounts that say how scarce lead was in many cases. So just how common was it really in the late 18th and early 19th centuries for the average person to obtain lead shot? Would it have been actual round shot or more like swan shot? Also if lead was indeed scarce would a person really want to use an ounce or more of shot to bag a squirrel when the same amount of lead melted down in the form of a ball could take a deer or bear? It seems to me that if lead was at all hard to come by that using shot would simply be a waste of a valuable resource unless in an absolute emergency. Thanks in advance for your help. David

 

[tenngun]

Swan shot is used sometimes for home made shot that is tear drop or swan shaped. Swan is actually a size of shot. A bit bigger then #4.
Shot came pre made and sold all over the americas. Swan, goose, beaver, snipe, and buck ect was how it was sold as sized,
People did make their own, but very available.
Most people that owned guns and hunted with them were small game hunters. There were long hunters and settlers who lived on the edge of the frontier. In terms of numbers few and far between. Most people lived in fairly settled areas where deer were few bigger game gone, so it was bunnies and birds that went in the pot. So shot was what most shooters shot.

 

[Old Hawkeye]

Lead was quite common as far back as the Roman Empire, if not farther. I think it was only scarce with respect to your location. Alone in the plains or mountains your available lead would be what you could carry. Near "civilization" or a trade post lead was probably readily available. Recovered cargo from a steamship that sank in the Missouri river (circa 1840's or 50's, IIRC) near where I live contained tons of lead ingots, ball & shot bound for trade posts in the upper Missouri basin. Just my opinion, but I think more people back then survived off bunnies & birds than deer.

 

[Carbon 6]

Shot towers were built all across the country. Here is a short list.

https://www.oldindustry.org/shot_tower.html

 

[plmeek]

...I read a lot of accounts that say how scarce lead was in many cases...

As mentioned, shot was generally available. If lead was scarce in certain situations, snares and traps would likely be used on small animals and lead conserved for bigger game or protection. Right tool for the job.

To put some numbers to it, from T. M. Hamilton's Colonial Frontier Guns conscerning French shipments to Lousiana:

...in 1733, the annual shipment to Lousiana included 20,000 livres of bullets weighing 28 to 32 to the livre, 10,000 livres of shot and 20,000 gunflints...

That's 10.8 tons (US) of balls and 5.4 tons of shot.

The following year, in 1734, the French shipped in 20,000 livres of balls weighing from 25 to 28 to the livre, 30,000 livres weighing from 28 to 32 to the livre, and 28,000 livres of shot "for wild geese, ducks, doves, royal and demi-royal" and 100,000 gun flints...

That's 27.0 tons of balls and 15.1 tons of shot.

These shipments were for Southern Indians, but their use of shot in the period appears to be pretty much the same as whites. That is "for wild geese, ducks, doves" or in other words--fowl.

I'm sure there are lead ore deposits back east, but I'm not familiar with them. Missouri on the other has significant lead ore deposits, and the French first started mining and smelting operations there in 1720. Shot towers were built as early as 1813. The first major American urban shot tower was erected in Philadelphia in 1808.

As tenngun said, swan shot was a size of shot not the shape.

Again, referring to Hamilton's book, the first shot made was done by cutting sheet lead into cubes, then tumbling the cubes in a barrel to round the corners.

In 1665, a new technique called "Rupert shot" for Prince Rupert was developed by dropping melted lead through a colander-like vessel a short distance distance into water to solidify it. The shot made with this technique was not perfectly round, but slightly tear-drop shaped.

William Watts, of Bristol, invented the technique of making almost perfectly round shot by dropping lead through a colander or screens from a great height before hitting water to cool and solidify them. The extra distance the molten drops of lead fell allowed the surface tension of the lead to shape it into spheres. The dates I found for Watts invention varied from 1769 (earliest date the idea came to him in a dream) to 1782 (the date he received a patent for the technique).

 

[MountainSmoke]

Wow so the availability of lead in general and shot in particular was a lot better than I had presumed. I greatly appreciate the knowledgeable replies and the historic accounts are simply fascinating to read. I had read on here a while back on a thread talking about smoothbore in the fur trade era and most stated that they were relatively uncommon as compared to rifles so I was wondering if this was also true in the eastern US at a little earlier period. Again thanks for the information that has been provided. It has been most helpful.

 

[TFoley]

Latin for lead = Plumbum. It is an element that is obtained from a common ore called Galena. The city of Galena in Illinois is named after the mining activity that predates the arrival of the White Man by over a thousand years -

Quote - Galena is the largest city in and the county seat of Jo Daviess County, Illinois, with a population of 3,429 at the 2010 census. A 581-acre (235 ha) section of the city is listed on the National Register of Historic Places as the Galena Historic District. The city is named for the mineral galena, which was in the ore that formed the basis for the region's early mining economy.

Native Americans, primarily Mesquakie, Ho-Chunk, Sauk, and Menominee had mined galena in the area for more than a thousand years before European Americans settled in the area. Owing to these deposits, Galena was the site of the first major mineral rush in the United States. By 1828, the population was estimated at 10,000, rivaling the population of Chicago at the time. Galena developed as the largest steamboat hub on the Mississippi River north of St. Louis, Missouri. Galena was the home of Ulysses S. Grant and eight other Civil War generals. Today, the city is a tourist destination known for its history, architecture, and resorts.

Those who work in lead are called plumbers as a result. A plumb-bob is named after the material it is made from, and it hangs off a plumbline.

 

[plmeek]

I had read on here a while back on a thread talking about smoothbore in the fur trade era and most stated that they were relatively uncommon as compared to rifles so I was wondering if this was also true in the eastern US at a little earlier period.

That discussion was focused on how common was the use of smoothbores by mountain men in the Rocky Mountain fur trade which was relatively uncommon.

However, the smoothbore trade gun was the dominate firearm in the fur trade elsewhere. Northwest trade guns were almost ubiquitous but fowling pieces were used too.

In the east, fowling pieces were common in all classes of people for hunting fowl--both water and upland. I suspect that some used them for hunting small game like squirrels and rabbits, but the small caliber (below .40 caliber) rifles were popular for hunting small game too.

On the Lewis & Clark Expedition, Clark took a small caliber rifle, 100 balls to the pound, and an "eligant fusil" while Lewis took a fowling piece. Clarks's small rifle proved insufficient for some of the big game they encountered, something he might have expected since he spent his formative years on the Kentucky frontier and learned wilderness survival skills from his older brother George Rogers Clark.

Why did Clark and Lewis take the arms that they did? We'll probably never know for sure, but Lewis arragned for the soldiers and hunters on the expedition to have large caliber rifles and muskets for defence and big game hunting. One of the many tasks that President Jefferson asked Lewis and Clark to perform was to collect samples and provide descriptions of the flora and fauna they encountered on their trip. The arms that Clark and Lewis took would have been just right to collect samples of birds and small animals for this goal. It actually makes sense.

 

[Grenadier1758]

There is this essay that tries to concisely describe the firearms used by the Corps of Discovery.
https://www.lewis-clark.org/article...y a,to make it reliable for big game shooting.
Most of the firearms were the arms issued to the regular troops assigned to the first part of the expedition. I.e. the 1795 musket.

Lewis did bring 15 rifles from Harper's Ferry along with a supply of parts for maintenance. The caliber of those rifles was 54 caliber to deal with the large animals that were reported to be along the route. In addition he brought the air rifle of a caliber to take deer at short range and to impress the native Americans of the engineering prowess of the troops.

 

[tenngun]

Wow so the availability of lead in general and shot in particular was a lot better than I had presumed. I greatly appreciate the knowledgeable replies and the historic accounts are simply fascinating to read. I had read on here a while back on a thread talking about smoothbore in the fur trade era and most stated that they were relatively uncommon as compared to rifles so I was wondering if this was also true in the eastern US at a little earlier period. Again thanks for the information that has been provided. It has been most helpful.

The first American rifles were largely middle colonies mostly Pennsylvania prior to the French and Indian war. Between then and the revolution they expanded. After the revolution we became a nation of rifleman.
Still lots of smooth bored were to be found sent west. It was written that in the west French and Indian trappers reached for smoothbore a while ‘Americans’ reached for the rifle. There was about no single time when smoothbore were not equal to or larger then the number of rifles. .
Small game can be more handily taken with smooth over rifle. And buck shot makes a handy home defense load. For some one not living on the frontier and many on the frontier a smoothbore made a lot of sense
Between James town and the first American rifles a century after smoothies were almost all there was. Relatively few rifles existed before the revolution. And up through the Oregon trail days the scout and hunter for the party would have a rifle while the settler had a shotgun under his seat.

 

[Beaver Trapper]

The first American rifles were largely middle colonies mostly Pennsylvania prior to the French and Indian war. Between then and the revolution they expanded. After the revolution we became a nation of rifleman.
Still lots of smooth bored were to be found sent west. It was written that in the west French and Indian trappers reached for smoothbore a while ‘Americans’ reached for the rifle. There was about no single time when smoothbore were not equal to or larger then the number of rifles. .
Small game can be more handily taken with smooth over rifle. And buck shot makes a handy home defense load. For some one not living on the frontier and many on the frontier a smoothbore made a lot of sense
Between James town and the first American rifles a century after smoothies were almost all there was. Relatively few rifles existed before the revolution. And up through the Oregon trail days the scout and hunter for the party would have a rifle while the settler had a shotgun under his seat.

Things were a little different north of the border. The North West Co. and Hudsons Bay Co. sold tens of thousands of smoothbore muskets across the continent for over 100 years. Arms in the Northwest

 

[MountainSmoke]

Thanks for the replies. I am not questioning the use of the smoothbore but more the actual use of lead shot as opposed to round ball and it's availability in the wilderness or on the frontier. Thanks to those who pointed out that swan shot was actually a size and not a shape. I had always heard that the home made tear drop shaped shot was called swan shot. It was stated that shot had different names according to its size, swan,goose,beaver etc. Does anyone here know about what size the beaver shot would have been? Just curious if it was a small buckshot or still what we call bird shot. Thanks

 

[George]

I had always heard that the home made tear drop shaped shot was called swan shot. It was stated that shot had different names according to its size, swan,goose,beaver etc.

The designation of shot sizes in the 18th century was a bit confusing. I've collected quite a list of examples, mostly by the size of game they were used for, but some just by number or letter.

Mustard seed
bird
dove
pidgeon
squirrel
turkey
high duck
low duck
goose
swan
deer
buck

And some by number or letters:
No. 1, 2, 3 and 8
No. 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, and B

I've never found beaver shot.

Spence

 

[tenngun]

Well, a censor can see porn where no one else can. And a conspiracy theorist can see connections where no one else can. However no single person can see the invisible as well as a fur buyer looking for flaws.
So you don’t want to shoot beaver as that cost money.( I did see a drawing from Canada about 1800 of an several Indians shooting beaver).
I’ve not researched it my self so I didn’t see the original. This was from Charles Hanson’s ‘Smoothbores on the frontier’ from Book of Buckskinning he has a bibliography at the end but not a link to where he found itIV

 

[MountainSmoke]

Thank you Spence and tenngun. That is very interesting information. Looks like they were using larger size shot than what we would use today for a given quarry.

 

[Beaver Trapper]

Well, a censor can see porn where no one else can. And a conspiracy theorist can see connections where no one else can. However no single person can see the invisible as well as a fur buyer looking for flaws.
So you don’t want to shoot beaver as that cost money.( I did see a drawing from Canada about 1800 of an several Indians shooting beaver).
I’ve not researched it my self so I didn’t see the original. This was from Charles Hanson’s ‘Smoothbores on the frontier’ from Book of Buckskinning he has a bibliography at the end but not a link to where he found itIVView attachment 35617

Not sure if you've seen this - Hudson Bay Co. Archives - Enter content title

 

[appalichian hunter]

There is a shot tower in Baltimore Md. near the inner harbor not sure of the date it was built, but would seem to me there was a need for it in quantity, also wonder if round ball was manufactured in the towers by using larger screens. Mass producing round ball vs casting ball would be a big advantage especially during times of conflict.

 

[Carbon 6]

I am not questioning the use of the smoothbore but more the actual use of lead shot as opposed to round ball and it's availability in the wilderness or on the frontier.

Shot increases your hit probability with a smoothbore.

 

[tenngun]

Thanks for the replies. I am not questioning the use of the smoothbore but more the actual use of lead shot as opposed to round ball and it's availability in the wilderness or on the frontier. Thanks to those who pointed out that swan shot was actually a size and not a shape. I had always heard that the home made tear drop shaped shot was called swan shot. It was stated that shot had different names according to its size, swan,goose,beaver etc. Does anyone here know about what size the beaver shot would have been? Just curious if it was a small buckshot or still what we call bird shot. Thanks

We like to think of of one or two steely eyes frontiersman out alone on the land with but what is on his back. A’la Gary Cooper or Fess Parker.
A 70 grain charge in your gun you will get almost a hundred shots to a pound. A hundred ball would weigh in at three pounds or so. A deer can feed you for a week or more, an elk better then a month. A rabbit a meal, a turkey a couple or three.Vs that same seventy grain charge and an ounce or more of shot
So if you have to carry a a load it’s most weight/ food produced if you shoot ball and only deer sized plus animals.
But,with very few exceptions, frontiersman were pretty well supplied and in good sized groups. Canoe, flat boats mule trains or wagons most people on the frontier were not so constricts by ammo/weight/food produced concerns.
Should your company or brigade have a hunk of smoothies shot made a ‘ton’ no pun intended, of shot. Shot can always be used for lots of small game, and melted in to ball with ease.
And people like variety. Buff and deer are good eating but turkey or sage hen, or a few quail is pretty good on the side.

 

[Va.Manuf.06]

The shot tower at Shot Tower State Park near Max Meadows in southwest Virginia:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jackson_Ferry_Shot_Tower
Photos:

https://www.google.com/maps/uv?hl=e...hUKEwjNib6C_tTqAhXFYjUKHRFhAiAQoiowCnoECBIQBg
Hope the above link for photos work, there are good interior images.