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shotgun brass
A shotgun shell or shotshell is a self-contained cartridge often loaded with multiple metallic "shot", which are small, generally spherical projectiles. The shells consist of a paper or plastic tube mounted on a brass base holding a primer. The shot is typically contained in a small container inside the shell casing. Shot has traditionally been made of lead, but steel, tungsten and bismuth are frequently used due to restrictions on lead. A shotgun shell can contain a single, large projectile known as a shotgun slug. They can also be made with specialty non-lethal rounds such as beanbag rounds, and rubber.
Shotguns have an effective range of about 35 metres (110 ft) with buckshot, 45 metres (150 ft) with birdshot, 100 metres (330 ft) with slugs, and well over 150 metres (490 ft) with sabot slugs in rifled barrels. Other rounds include:
Ferret rounds: rounds designed to penetrate a thin barrier (e.g. a car door) and release a gas payload.
Bolo rounds: two large lead balls attached by a wire.
Piranha rounds: shells full of sharp tacks.
Dragon's breath rounds: shells full of chemicals that burn when fired, and can ignite a flammable target at close range.Most shotgun shells are designed to be fired from a smoothbore barrel, but dedicated shotguns with rifled barrels are limited to lead slugs or sabot slugs as "shot" would be spread too wide by the rifling. A rifled barrel will increase the accuracy of sabot slugs, but makes it unsuitable for firing shot, as it imparts a spin to the shot cup, causing the shot cluster to disperse. A rifled slug uses rifling on the slug itself so it can be used in a smoothbore shotgun.