Most of the images are gone, but this is a good thread and I'll work on recovering them.

This is interesting. A 1975 patent for a shot dispersion control device
https://patents.google.com/patent/US4006688
"Robert S. Elliott, in his U.S. Pat. No. 579,429 (1897), described a shot-distributing wad in an effort to enlarge the pattern of shot formed and to make the shot pattern more regular and evenly distributed."

https://www.trapshooters.com/threads/elliott-brothers-shooting-park-opens.337233/

https://books.google.com/books?id=phF9AAAAMAAJ&pg=PA1837&lpg

[Linked Image from photos.smugmug.com]

https://sites.google.com/a/damascusknowledge.com/www/home