Which statement is true when comparing steel shot to lead shot?

Which statement is true when comparing steel shot to lead shot?

• A. Steel shot weighs about two-thirds as much.
• B. Steel shot weighs more than lead shot.
• C. Steel shot weighs the same as lead shot.
• D. Steel shot weighs twice as much as lead shot.

Answer: (A)

The weight difference comes from density. Pellets of the same size have the same volume, so their weight depends on how dense the material is. Lead is denser than steel, about 11.3 g/cm³ versus 7.8 g/cm³. If you compare pellets of equal size, the steel one will weigh roughly 7.8/11.3 ≈ 0.69, which is about two-thirds of the weight of a lead pellet. So steel shot is about two-thirds as heavy as lead shot. This lighter weight affects how the load behaves in a gun—ballistics, recoil, and how many pellets you have in a shell with the same total mass can change, which is why steel loads are designed differently.

The weight difference comes from density. Pellets of the same size have the same volume, so their weight depends on how dense the material is. Lead is denser than steel, about 11.3 g/cm³ versus 7.8 g/cm³. If you compare pellets of equal size, the steel one will weigh roughly 7.8/11.3 ≈ 0.69, which is about two-thirds of the weight of a lead pellet. So steel shot is about two-thirds as heavy as lead shot.

This lighter weight affects how the load behaves in a gun—ballistics, recoil, and how many pellets you have in a shell with the same total mass can change, which is why steel loads are designed differently.