Another Split-Shot

Ed · 6th July 2024, 02:14 PM

I have not looked deeply into these things but all of the references that I have seen suggested that their use was naval. Though, I am sure, that they have been used in land warfare.

We have something called s bolo round for shotguns. It consists of two lead balls connected by a wire which is supposed to cause "devastating" damage. We carried them for a while and I looked into their performance. The word "marketing" comes to mind. Picture below shows a bolo projectile about 30 yards from the muzzle. As you can see the balls, if I might use the term, have not separated very much. This is consistent with other data that I have come across. Why would they separate? The gauchos twirl their bolos to get the balls separated. Firing from a gun simply shoves them in a general direction. I doubt very much that you see a 5" separation in impact.

That said, would a chain/bar shoot behave much differently? Why would they?

I think that if these things were "devastating" to rigging etc etc they would have been a lot more present in ships stores and therefore a lot more around today on the collectors market.

I think that they probably disappeared when rifled ordnance became common. I think that they were not common much after our CW.

I will check my references and see what I can turn up.

6th July 2024, 02:14 PM	#3
Ed Member Join Date: Feb 2005 Posts: 256	I have not looked deeply into these things but all of the references that I have seen suggested that their use was naval. Though, I am sure, that they have been used in land warfare. We have something called s bolo round for shotguns. It consists of two lead balls connected by a wire which is supposed to cause "devastating" damage. We carried them for a while and I looked into their performance. The word "marketing" comes to mind. Picture below shows a bolo projectile about 30 yards from the muzzle. As you can see the balls, if I might use the term, have not separated very much. This is consistent with other data that I have come across. Why would they separate? The gauchos twirl their bolos to get the balls separated. Firing from a gun simply shoves them in a general direction. I doubt very much that you see a 5" separation in impact. That said, would a chain/bar shoot behave much differently? Why would they? I think that if these things were "devastating" to rigging etc etc they would have been a lot more present in ships stores and therefore a lot more around today on the collectors market. I think that they probably disappeared when rifled ordnance became common. I think that they were not common much after our CW. I will check my references and see what I can turn up. Attached Images