The driving band or rotating band is part of an artillery shell, a band of soft metal near the middle of the shell, typically made of gilding metal,[1] copper or lead. When the shell is fired the pressure of the propellant swages the metal into the rifling of the barrel, providing a seal preventing the gases from blowing past the shell and engaging with the rifling to spin-stabilize the shell. In a small-arms rifle, the entire bullet is typically covered in copper or a similarly soft alloy, so the entire bullet is its own driving band.