Cluster of small pellets thrown at gophers (9)
I believe the answer is:
grapeshot
'cluster of small pellets' is the definition.
(grapeshot can mean a cluster of ammunition)
'thrown at gophers' is the wordplay.
'thrown' indicates anagramming the letters.
'at'+'gophers'='atgophers'
'atgophers' with letters rearranged gives 'GRAPESHOT'.
(Other definitions for grapeshot that I've seen before include "Short page (anag) - ammunition for cannon" , "Small iron balls fired from a cannon" , "slugs?" , "Small projectiles fired from cannon" , "one could get peppered with it!" .)