Over 5,500 pieces of lead shot and bullets have been excavated from James Fort. Individual molds would have been used to make the bullets, which measure over 10 mm in diameter. The small shot was produced in two ways. One method was in a gang mold, which, as the name suggests, can cast a number of shot at one time, and usually in varying sizes. It is obvious that the colonists had these molds, as evidenced by the large number of the small lead shot wit

The other method of producing shot was by pouring molten led through a copper strainer into a pail of water. This was a process widely used from the mid-16th century through the 18th century.