There was an alternative to case shot which was known as grape shot, from the resemblance of the projectile to a bunch of grapes. In this the bullets were enclosed in a canvas bag through the middle of which ran an iron spindle attached to an iron tampion or bottom. The original form was known as quilted grape, as the bag containing the bullets was tied up with quilting line. In the middle of the 19th century quilted grape was replaced by tier grape shot in which the bullets were arranged in three tiers separated by circular iron plates. Although there are many references to the firing of grape shot in accounts of battles in the first half of the 19th century, it was not in fact fired from British brass ordnance owing to the damage that it would have caused to the bores. Nor does there seem to be any reference to grape shot in the tables showing the scale of ammunition for British brass ordnance. In the British Service grape was used mostly in iron ordnance in Coast Defences. From BRITISH SMOOTHBORE ARTILLERY by Maj.Gen.G.P.Hughes R.A. Back to Table of Contents -- Wargamer's Newsletter # 173 To Wargamer's Newsletter List of Issues To MagWeb Master Magazine List © Copyright 1976 by Donald Featherstone. This article appears in MagWeb (Magazine Web) on the Internet World Wide Web. Other articles from military history and related magazines are available at http://www.magweb.com