# Steel shot blasting media

Cast steel shot identity, product-specific chemistry and hardness, sieve designations, and the boundary between blast cleaning and qualified peening.

Reviewed: 2026-10-29

Tags: abrasives, blasting, steel, reference

## Identity and process boundary

Ervin lists AMASTEEL shot in **S, M and L** hardness classes. Its **H class is listed only for grit**. [European AMASTEEL sheet, p. 2](https://www.ervin.eu/wp-content/uploads/2021/05/Ervin-AMASTEEL-EN.pdf) SAE J827 covers high-carbon cast shot and J2175 low-carbon cast shot. Both scopes include cleaning and peening. Process qualification requires separate evidence. [SAE J827](https://saemobilus.sae.org/standards/j827_201910-high-carbon-cast-steel-shot) [SAE J2175](https://saemobilus.sae.org/standards/j2175_202608-specifications-low-carbon-cast-steel-shot)

Cleaning removes material such as scale or foundry sand. Peening media fall under AMS2431 and intensity verification under J443. Surface appearance and an S-size label leave intensity, coverage, residual stress and fatigue performance unresolved. [SAE J792 scope](https://saemobilus.sae.org/topics/manufacturing/metallurgy/metal-finishing/surface-enhancement) [AMS2431](https://saemobilus.sae.org/standards/ams2431e-peening-media-general-requirements) [J443_202512](https://saemobilus.sae.org/standards/j443_202512-procedures-determining-verifying-peening-intensity)

## Forms that need separate identities

| Form | Distinction and applicability |
| --- | --- |
| Cast high-carbon steel shot | Ervin identifies AMASTEEL as a martensitic cast abrasive. Its US product page describes atomization followed by quenching and tempering. This manufacturing route is product evidence, not a rule for all steel media. [AMASTEEL US](https://ervinindustries.com/amasteel-shot/) |
| Cast low-carbon steel shot | Winoa's LC leaflet specifies bainite and describes attaining 40 to 50 HRC as cast without subsequent heat treatment. Low carbon does not imply the same microstructure as high-carbon shot. [LC leaflet](https://www.winoa.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/04/fiche_low_carbon_steel_shot_sae_en.pdf) |
| As-cut and conditioned wire | Frohn uses carbon-steel wire and distinguishes CW as cut, G1 single conditioned, G2 double conditioned, and G3 spherically conditioned. Its available chemistry and hardness options are separate selections; the page does not assign one alloy to every CW size. [Frohn cut wire](https://www.winoa.com/product/cut-wire-metallic-shot-peening/) |
| Stainless cast shot | AMACAST has austenitic microstructure, chromium and nickel additions, and a hardness that changes in service. It is a separate product from carbon-steel shot and stainless cut wire. [AMACAST](https://www.ervin.eu/products/amacast/) |
| Angular steel grit and chilled-iron grit | Ervin lists shot and grit separately, with different hardness availability and sieve tables. Winoa identifies chilled-iron grit as cast iron. Neither is an interchangeable name for round steel shot. [AMASTEEL sheet](https://www.ervin.eu/wp-content/uploads/2021/05/Ervin-AMASTEEL-EN.pdf), [chilled-iron grit](https://www.winoa.com/product/chilled-iron-grit/) |

## Exact-product property comparison

The following are supplier declarations, not measured lot results. Chemical percentages retain the sources' notation. The short product sheets do not state an analytical method or explicitly label the percentage basis.

| Product and source | Chemical composition as printed | Structure, hardness, and density |
| --- | --- | --- |
| Ervin AMASTEEL, European sheet, page 2 | C 0.80 to 1.20%; Si ≥0.40%; S and P each ≤0.05%. Mn 0.35 to 1.20% for S70 to S110, 0.50 to 1.20% for S170, and 0.60 to 1.20% for S230 and larger. | Uniform tempered martensite. Shot hardness classes S, M, and L are respectively 40 to 51 HRC / 390 to 530 HV, 47 to 56 HRC / 470 to 610 HV, and 54 to 61 HRC / 570 to 720 HV. Shot density ≥7.0 g/cm³. H hardness is listed for grit only. [AMASTEEL sheet](https://www.ervin.eu/wp-content/uploads/2021/05/Ervin-AMASTEEL-EN.pdf) |
| W Abrasives LC steel shot, one-page leaflet | C 0.10 to 0.15%; Si 0.10 to 0.25%; Mn 1.20 to 1.50%; Al 0.05 to 0.15%; S and P each ≤0.035%. | Spherical appearance; bainite; 40 to 50 HRC / 400 to 540 HV. The supplier labels ±3 HRC / ±40 HV as standard deviation. Density minimum 7 g/cc, typical 7.6 g/cc. No density test method is stated. The leaflet is explicitly informational and noncontractual. [LC leaflet](https://www.winoa.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/04/fiche_low_carbon_steel_shot_sae_en.pdf) |
| Ervin AMACAST, European product page | Approximately C 0.2%, Mn 2.0%, and Si 3.0%; Cr 16 to 20%; Ni 7 to 10%. | Austenitic structure; approximately 220 HV, below 20 HRC, when new; approximately 470 HV / 47 HRC for operating mix. Density ≥7.0 g/cm³. These are different conditions, not one guaranteed hardness interval. [AMACAST](https://www.ervin.eu/products/amacast/) |

HRC denotes Rockwell C hardness and HV denotes Vickers hardness. The paired values above are the suppliers' reported values; they are not a conversion rule. These sheets do not specify indentation load, specimen preparation, sampling, or the required fraction of particles within each interval. Frohn's separate wire table includes HV0.5/1 notation, which must not be silently reduced to an unspecified HV value. [AMASTEEL sheet](https://www.ervin.eu/wp-content/uploads/2021/05/Ervin-AMASTEEL-EN.pdf), [LC leaflet](https://www.winoa.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/04/fiche_low_carbon_steel_shot_sae_en.pdf), [Frohn cut wire](https://www.winoa.com/product/cut-wire-metallic-shot-peening/).

Density also needs its measurement basis. Winoa's high-carbon page names alcohol displacement for its minimum density, whereas the LC sheet does not name a method. The US Amasteel SDS gives 7.8 g/cm³ at 20 °C. None of these values is identified as loose bulk density, which includes space between particles. Synthesis is that they do not establish mass per hopper volume or bag volume. The SDS value and a technical-sheet minimum are different declarations, not competing measurements of one lot. [Winoa high-carbon specifications](https://www.winoa.com/product/high-carbon-steel-shot_abrasive/), [Amasteel SDS, section 9](https://ervinindustries.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/01/amasteel-us-2023.pdf).

## Size labels and sieve evidence

SAE J444_202306 defines cast shot and grit size designations. Its public scope relates a shot number to a nominal test-sieve opening in ten-thousandths of an inch with an S prefix. This is not a measured mean particle diameter, an alloy code, or a complete distribution. Ervin also uses S as a hardness-class label, independently of the S330 size designation. [SAE J444](https://saemobilus.sae.org/standards/j444_202306-cast-shot-grit-size-specifications-cleaning-peening), [Ervin hardness classes](https://www.ervin.eu/products/amasteel/).

Winoa's high-carbon page distinguishes SAE sizes from its WAE offering. The S330 and W S330 rows demonstrate why those names cannot be reduced to one diameter. These are selected rows, not a replacement for either full specification table. [Winoa size tables](https://www.winoa.com/product/high-carbon-steel-shot_abrasive/).

| Winoa high-carbon row | At 1.40 mm | At 1.18 mm | At 0.85 mm | At 0.71 mm |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| S330, SAE table | AP | 5% maximum | 85% minimum | 96% minimum |
| W S330, WAE table | 0 | <10% | >85% | >97% |

The page labels the tables as cumulative weight percentages. AP denotes all passing in Ervin's table legend. The interpretation of the ascending minima as cumulative retained mass is synthesis from the table layout: cumulative passing fractions cannot increase as sieve apertures decrease. On that interpretation, the SAE row limits material retained at or above the 1.18 mm sieve to 5%, while at least 85% is retained cumulatively through the 0.85 mm sieve. It does not say that 85% lies exclusively between those two screens. The WAE inequalities are strict as printed. [Winoa tables and footnote](https://www.winoa.com/product/high-carbon-steel-shot_abrasive/), [Ervin AP legend](https://www.ervin.eu/wp-content/uploads/2021/05/Ervin-AMASTEEL-EN.pdf).

The LC leaflet labels its table cumulative percentage but does not explicitly state mass versus particle count or define retained versus passing. Those details cannot be supplied solely by its S labels. Blank table cells do not mean zero material, and specification thresholds do not describe an actual lot's histogram. [LC size table](https://www.winoa.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/04/fiche_low_carbon_steel_shot_sae_en.pdf).

Winoa's LC webpage prose states 40 to 51 HRC with 500 to 540 KNH, while its specification table and leaflet state 40 to 50 HRC with 400 to 540 HV. The comparison above uses the leaflet and identifies this disagreement without converting KNH to HV. The page also limits this LC offering to North America. [LC webpage](https://www.winoa.com/product/low-carbon-steel-shot-cleaning/), [LC leaflet](https://www.winoa.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/04/fiche_low_carbon_steel_shot_sae_en.pdf).

## Shape and defect criteria

A spherical appearance is not a numeric sphericity result or an accepted round-particle count. AMACAST advertises minimum 95% roundness without defining the measurement or denominator on its page. [AMACAST](https://www.ervin.eu/products/amacast/). Shape inspection, voids or hollow particles, shrinkage cavities, cracks, and microstructure describe different properties. The two short carbon-shot sheets above do not provide numeric acceptance limits, sampling denominators, or counting rules for those defects. Their general appearance and structure descriptions cannot establish a defect-free lot. ISO's public scope confirms that defect and structural requirements are part of the applicable cast-shot standards, but does not disclose the acceptance tables. [ISO 11124-3](https://www.iso.org/standard/66706.html), [ISO 11124-4](https://www.iso.org/standard/66707.html).

Ervin separately markets AMS-grade ASR and ASH shot. It declares tempered martensite with fine carbides, 45 to 52 HRC for ASR and 55 to 62 HRC for ASH, with certification to AMS2431/1 or AMS2431/2 as applicable. This declaration does not transfer those requirements to every AMASTEEL cleaning grade or certify an unidentified shipment. [Ervin ASR and ASH](https://ervinindustries.com/asr-and-ash-cast-steel-shot/).

## Standards, versions, and evidence limits

| Public publisher record checked | Scope and boundary |
| --- | --- |
| ISO 11124-3:2018, edition 2, confirmed 2024 | High-carbon cast shot and grit, including hardness, density, defects, structure, and chemistry. Applies to new abrasive as supplied, excluding material during or after use. ISO 11125 contains the test methods. [ISO record](https://www.iso.org/standard/66706.html) |
| ISO 11124-4:2018, edition 2, confirmed 2024 | Low-carbon cast shot in new condition, with the same distinction between supplied media and operating mix. [ISO record](https://www.iso.org/standard/66707.html) |
| SAE J444_202306; J827_201910; J2175_202608 | Respectively cast-media size designations, high-carbon cast-shot requirements, and low-carbon cast-shot requirements. J2175 was reaffirmed August 19, 2026. Supplier references without edition dates do not establish conformity to these particular revisions. [J444](https://saemobilus.sae.org/standards/j444_202306-cast-shot-grit-size-specifications-cleaning-peening), [J827](https://saemobilus.sae.org/standards/j827_201910-high-carbon-cast-steel-shot), [J2175](https://saemobilus.sae.org/standards/j2175_202608-specifications-low-carbon-cast-steel-shot) |
| AMS2431E, April 2023; J443_202512, December 2025 | General controlled-peening media requirements and a separate method for intensity determination and verification. Neither public scope makes an S-size label a process or equipment qualification. [AMS2431 revision record](https://saemobilus.sae.org/standards/ams2431e-peening-media-general-requirements), [J443](https://saemobilus.sae.org/standards/j443_202512-procedures-determining-verifying-peening-intensity) |

The manufacturer PDFs above have no visible formal revision identifier. Their URL upload dates do not prove issue dates. The Amasteel SDS prints January 15, 2023 and a May 11, 2022 review date. Its composition includes nickel below 0.2% and a silicon range of 0.40 to 1.50%, details absent from the European short sheet. These documents cover different purposes and regional presentations; the SDS is not a lot chemistry certificate. [Amasteel SDS, sections 1, 3, and 16](https://ervinindustries.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/01/amasteel-us-2023.pdf).

Synthesis from the scope limits above is that supplied-media properties cannot alone predict surface profile, cleanliness, media life, coating adhesion, corrosion performance, or a qualified peening result. Workpiece condition, equipment, operating mix, impact conditions, and the acceptance method remain independent inputs. Winoa's published arc-height examples explicitly use one wheel diameter and rotational speed; those examples are not media-only intensity guarantees or general operating recipes. [Winoa application-chart conditions](https://www.winoa.com/product/high-carbon-steel-shot_abrasive/).

The SDS also distinguishes the solid product from fine metal dust and contamination removed during blasting, which can present fire or explosion hazards. A new-media SDS does not characterize every spent abrasive or prove a residue-free surface. No customer equipment, production settings, qualification, or performance measurements were examined for this reference. [Amasteel SDS, sections 5 and 13](https://ervinindustries.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/01/amasteel-us-2023.pdf).

Related context is [Finishing process references](../../processes/finishing/index.md).