Shrapnel shell's innovation was to combine the multi-projectile shotgun effect of canister shot, with a time fuze to open the canister and disperse the bullets it contained at some distance along the canister's trajectory from the gun.
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Shrapnel shell's shell was a hollow cast-iron sphere filled with a mixture of balls and powder, with a crude time fuze.
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Explosive charge in the Shrapnel shell was to be just enough to break the casing rather than scatter the shot in all directions.
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The broken Shrapnel shell wall continued mainly forward but had little destructive effect.
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Shrapnel shell was effective against troops in the open, particularly massed infantry .
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Shrapnel shell was useful against counter-attacks, working parties and any other troops in the open.
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Shrapnel shell provided a useful "screening" effect from the smoke of the black-powder bursting charges when the British used it in "creeping barrages".
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Shrapnel shell was more expensive than a high-explosive one and required higher grade steel for the shell body.
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The shell had a modified fuze, and, instead of resin as the packing between the shrapnel balls, TNT was used.
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The Shrapnel shell functioned as follows: the time fuze fired, the flash traveled down the flash tube, the shearing detonators fired, and the forward body split into four pieces.
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