wire cartridge

English

Noun

wire cartridge (plural wire cartridges)

1. (firearms) An early type of shotgun cartridge that had wire lining in the case to assist concentrating the shot.
   • 1886, Peter Christen Asbjørnsen, translated by H.L. Brækstad, Folk and Fairy Tales, page 89:

     When we arrived at the knoll, after having crossed the frozen bog, I took on account of the considerable distance at which the bird would have to be shot at, if he, as we supposed, would settle in the top of the fir tree the shot out of my gun, and loaded again with a wire cartridge.