Artifact: Shot from Naseby battlefield
Materials: Lead
Dimensions:
Date: 1645
Origin: Naesby, England
Collection: Lee Hutchinson via Wikimedia Commons
License: CC BY 2.0
Ledger Entry: Gunpowder & Shot
Department: Hunting
Customer: Richard Ransome Jr.
Ledger Page: 11
Imported From: Shot was simple to produce and was often made locally. The purchases of Bristol drop shot listed in the ledger were likely imported from Bristol, England.
Product Description
Colonial muskets and pistols required the use of small round balls of lead, or shot, propelled by an explosion of gunpowder. While shot could be sold by merchants such as Ramsay, many colonial men created their own shot in molds.
Citation: Ivor Noël Hume. A Guide to Artifacts of Colonial America. (Philadelphia: University of Pennsylvania Press, 2001), 221-222.;
Historical Price: 2 shillings, 6 pence for 1lb gunpowder and 4lbs shot; Modern USD: $28
Product Variations
The databases record fourteen purchases of shot, thirteen of gunpowder, and five of gunpowder & shot bundled together. Variations of shot include Bristol drop shot and swan shot. Shot was sold in quantities of two to four pounds, while gunpowder was sold in half to two pound quantities. When sold together, gunpowder and shot was consistently sold at two pounds, six shillings for one pound of gunpowder and four pounds of shot. Gunpowder ranged from nine to sixteen shillings per pound and shot ranged from three to ten shillings for four pounds.
