Original Item: Only One Available. This is as good as it gets when it comes to the Civil War ordnance category. This is a “complete” 3 Inch Canister Shot round as used during the Civil War on both sides as an anti-personnel type round. The round itself is in incredible condition for the age and does not appear to have been ground dug. As it sits, it’s 10 pounds but would have been closer to 12 pounds with the combustible content.

This canister is totally inert and is unable to be used as a destructive device. It is in complete compliance with the current BATF standards governing inert ordnance.

Not Available For Export

Canister shot is a kind of anti-personnel artillery ammunition. Canister shot has been used since the advent of gunpowder-firing artillery in Western armies. However, canister shot saw particularly frequent use on land and at sea in the various wars of the 18th and 19th century. Canister is still used today in modern artillery.

This example is still in wonderful condition and appears to be complete minus the explosive content. The wood is still in great condition but may be a later replacement to complete the outward appearance. The end cap under the crimped end is still present, though sits loose now that there is no powder charge present. The driving band is still present and does not show any signs of this round ever having been fired. The round has a diameter of 3” and a total height of 8 ½”.

A lovely, rather rare example ready for further research and display.

Canister shot consists of a closed metal cylinder typically loosely filled with round lead or iron balls packed with sawdust to add more solidity and cohesion to the mass and to prevent the balls from crowding each other when the round was fired. The canister itself was usually made of tin, often dipped in a lacquer of beeswax diluted with turpentine to prevent corrosion of the metal. Iron was substituted for tin for larger-caliber guns. The ends of the canister were closed with wooden or metal disks.

A cloth cartridge bag containing the round's gunpowder used to fire the canister from the gun barrel could be attached to the back of the metal canister for smaller caliber cannon. A sabot of wood, metal, or similar material was sometimes used to help the round during firing from the cannon.

Various types of canister were devised for specific models of artillery field pieces. In 1753, the "secret howitzer", a special gun with an oval bore—intended to spread shot even wider—was briefly introduced into Russian service, but ultimately proved unsuccessful. The Royal Artillery Museum at Woolwich, London, holds examples of two early 18th century experimental French wide bore cannon—flattened tubes intended to scatter canister wide but in one horizontal plane.

The United States Army developed a canister round, the M1028, for the M1 Abrams' 120mm smoothbore gun in time for the 2003 invasion of Iraq. The effect is to turn a large-caliber gun on an armored fighting vehicle into a giant shotgun. This can be used against enemy infantry even when in proximity to friendly armored vehicles, as the projectiles do not penetrate armor. In addition it can be used to create entry points to buildings, reduce wire obstacles and clear heavy vegetation, as well as strike low flying aircraft and helicopters.

When fired, the canister disintegrates and its shards and projectiles spread out in a conical formation, causing a wide swath of destruction. It was particularly effective during the Napoleonic Wars and the American Civil War, where massed troops at close range (usually less than 400 yards) could be broken up by artillery batteries firing canister. At times, particularly at very close range, artillery crews would fire an extremely lethal "double canister," where two rounds were loaded into the gun tube and fired simultaneously using a single charge. At the Battle of Waterloo, in 1815, Mercer's Troop, Royal Horse Artillery, fired a roundshot and a canister from each gun as a double-shot. The roundshot was loaded first with the canister on top. Canister played a key role for Union forces during their defeat of Confederate troops assigned to support Pickett's Charge during the Battle of Gettysburg in July 1863.

At times, trained artillerists would fire the canister shot towards the ground in front of advancing enemy troops, causing the conical pattern to flatten out as the balls ricocheted and skipped off the terrain. This in effect widened the killing zone. An example of this tactic was on the first day of Gettysburg, where Lt. James Stewart's Battery B, 4th U.S. Artillery on Seminary Ridge skipped canister shot at Alfred M. Scales's approaching Confederate infantry, breaking up their attack and forcing them to take cover in a depression.

Canister shot was also used to good effect by U.S. Marine 37mm anti-tank guns in World War II to break up Japanese banzai charges.

During the Korean War United Nations tanks experienced close-range massed infantry attacks from Communist forces. As a consequence a canister-type tank round was introduced to "sweep" enemy infantry off friendly tanks without harming friendly tank crews, who were behind canister-proof armor. UK weapons known to have fielded a canister round are the 76mm and 105mm tank guns and the 120mm MOBAT and WOMBAT recoilless anti-tank guns.