bean shot

Bean shot is refined copper that has been solidified into small, roughly spherical pellets by a controlled casting process. Molten copper at around 1,200°C is poured into cold water, where rapid quenching fractures the stream into droplets that cool into shot roughly 6 to 12 mm in diameter. The result is a granular product that flows freely and is simple to weigh, transport, and charge into furnaces or casting kettles.

The process serves a practical purpose in copper refining and brass manufacture. Rather than storing large ingots or billets, which are cumbersome to handle and slow to remelt, bean shot can be fed directly into induction furnaces, holding furnaces, or continuous casting systems. The small surface area per unit mass allows rapid, even heating during remelting. Scrap copper is often converted to bean shot to standardize its form before being fed back into production circuits.

Water temperature and pressure control the size and shape of the shot. Very cold water produces smaller pellets; warmer water produces larger ones. Incomplete quenching or irregular pouring creates irregular chunks rather than uniform shot, reducing flow properties and making downstream handling slower. The shot must drain and dry thoroughly after casting, or residual moisture can cause steam explosions during storage in sealed containers.

Bean shot differs from blister copper, which is the impure intermediate product from smelting, and from tough-pitch copper, which is the final refined product cast into large ingots. It is essentially a form and convenience product: the same copper, but optimized for logistics and melting speed. The term reflects its appearance, which resembles beans or peas rather than the traditional large ingot or cake.