Muskets Vs Rifles - Which Would You Have Used?

The musket--a smooth bore weapon with a polished surface inside the barrel--was not known for either distance or accuracy. An expert marksman would be lucky to hit a large target--such as a man or a deer--from 40 yards away. If the target was more than a hundred yards away, it was nearly impossible. Because of the weapon's inaccuracy, most fighting was done at close quarters, and the outcome of a battle was often determined by bayonet fighting. As much as 40% of the casualties in a typical battle using muskets were inflicted by bayonet.

A rifle, by contrast, has spiral grooves, or rifling inside the barrel. As a ball moves down the barrel, the grooves impart a spin to the ball which makes it fly more accurately toward its target. The barrel is narrower, so that gases from the exploding powder can not escape around the ball and more of the energy from the explosion goes into propelling the ball out of the barrel, carrying it a longer distance than a smooth-barrel musket can. With these advantages, a good marksman could hit a target with a rifle from several hundred yards away.

German gunsmiths perfected the technique of rifling in the 1500s. The concept was widely used by the early 1800s for hunting weapons, but not for military use. Why? It all came down to speed of loading and firing.

Both rifles and muskets prior to 1850 were muzzle-loaded. A powder charge and ball had to be put into the end of the barrel and pushed down the barrel to the Ignition mechanism. It 'been easier and faster in a smooth-bore gun, with his big barrel. Both powder and shot went slightly down the barrel shotgun. The pressure of the same ball for a closer-fitting barrel lasted longer and required a cast, so the shotgun and rifle have very different rates of fire.

A marksman could get fifty-two rounds per minute with a musket, but would be lucky to get a shot in three minutes to get a gun. While this was sufficientdeer hunting, it would be catastrophic in a battle where weapons of infantry were armed with bayonets Laden bearing down on you run into a dead end. By the same logic that the war made the gun more than a weapon, it was virtually useless as a hunting weapon at short range and poor accuracy. shells that are loaded through a slot near the ignition mechanism - the weapon because it is not commonly used as a military weapon to improving the technology of close-loading eventsrather than inserted through the muzzle.