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At the time, most military muskets were smoothbores. Hunters and a few specialist military units used rifled muskets, or rifles.

  • Musketeers did not fire aimed shots. Hitting a man-sized target at 100 or 150 metres was problematic. The musketeers would fire at close range, against a formation of enemy troops. Still, commanders liked to reserve their first volley as long as possible because those loaded in the heat of battle would be more sloppy. The order "Don't fire until you see the whites of their eyes" is sometimes attributed to preserving ammunition, but it also refers to the problem of double-loading, or failing to prime, and so on.
  • When loading a rifled musket, the bullet would be carefully hammered down the bulletbarrel so that it would fit tightly to the rifling. Rifles had a lower rate of fire, which explains why they were not universally adopted even if it was possible to hit a man with them.
  • Loading required powder, bullets, and wadding to hold them all in place.
  • For a military musket, there were paper cartridges to hold the powder and bullet. The musketeer would bite the cartridge open, pour the powder, and then use the paper as wadding.
  • A hunter preparing a long-range rifle shot would pour a carefully measured amount of powder, use greased, shaped patches for wadding, and apply it all carefully.

So sempaiscuba is right that a formation of smoothbore musketeers should be able to fire several volleys per soldier per minute.

But a hunter with a rifle who has to pay for powder and lead out of his own pocket, and who knows that the first shot will spook the game, should take mone or more minutes to load.

At the time, most military muskets were smoothbores. Hunters and a few specialist military units used rifled muskets, or rifles.

  • Musketeers did not fire aimed shots. Hitting a man-sized target at 100 or 150 metres was problematic. The musketeers would fire at close range, against a formation of enemy troops. Still, commanders liked to reserve their first volley as long as possible because those loaded in the heat of battle would be more sloppy. The order "Don't fire until you see the whites of their eyes" is sometimes attributed to preserving ammunition, but it also refers to the problem of double-loading, or failing to prime, and so on.
  • When loading a rifled musket, the bullet would be carefully hammered down the bullet so that it would fit tightly to the rifling. Rifles had a lower rate of fire, which explains why they were not universally adopted even if it was possible to hit a man with them.
  • Loading required powder, bullets, and wadding to hold them all in place.
  • For a military musket, there were paper cartridges to hold the powder and bullet. The musketeer would bite the cartridge open, pour the powder, and then use the paper as wadding.
  • A hunter preparing a long-range rifle shot would pour a carefully measured amount of powder, use greased, shaped patches for wadding, and apply it all carefully.

So sempaiscuba is right that a formation of smoothbore musketeers should be able to fire several volleys per soldier per minute.

But a hunter with a rifle who has to pay for powder and lead out of his own pocket, and who knows that the first shot will spook the game, should take mone or more minutes to load.

At the time, most military muskets were smoothbores. Hunters and a few specialist military units used rifled muskets, or rifles.

  • Musketeers did not fire aimed shots. Hitting a man-sized target at 100 or 150 metres was problematic. The musketeers would fire at close range, against a formation of enemy troops. Still, commanders liked to reserve their first volley as long as possible because those loaded in the heat of battle would be more sloppy. The order "Don't fire until you see the whites of their eyes" is sometimes attributed to preserving ammunition, but it also refers to the problem of double-loading, or failing to prime, and so on.
  • When loading a rifled musket, the bullet would be carefully hammered down the barrel so that it would fit tightly to the rifling. Rifles had a lower rate of fire, which explains why they were not universally adopted even if it was possible to hit a man with them.
  • Loading required powder, bullets, and wadding to hold them all in place.
  • For a military musket, there were paper cartridges to hold the powder and bullet. The musketeer would bite the cartridge open, pour the powder, and then use the paper as wadding.
  • A hunter preparing a long-range rifle shot would pour a carefully measured amount of powder, use greased, shaped patches for wadding, and apply it all carefully.

So sempaiscuba is right that a formation of smoothbore musketeers should be able to fire several volleys per soldier per minute.

But a hunter with a rifle who has to pay for powder and lead out of his own pocket, and who knows that the first shot will spook the game, should take mone or more minutes to load.

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At the time, most military muskets were smoothbores. Hunters and a few specialist military units used rifled muskets, or rifles.

  • Musketeers did not fire aimed shots. Hitting a man-sized target at 100 or 150 metres was problematic. The musketeers would fire at close range, against a formation of enemy troops. Still, commanders liked to reserve their first volley as long as possible because those loaded in the heat of battle would be more sloppy. The order "Don't fire until you see the whites of their eyes" is sometimes attributed to preserving ammunition, but it also refers to the problem of double-loading, or failing to prime, and so on.
  • When loading a rifled musket, the bullet would be carefully hammered down the bullet so that it would fit tightly to the rifling. Rifles had a lower rate of fire, which explains why they were not universally adopted even if it was possible to hit a man with them.
  • Loading required powder, bullets, and wadding to hold them all in place.
  • For a military musket, there were paper cartridges to hold the powder and bullet. The musketeer would bite the cartridge open, pour the powder, and then use the paper as wadding.
  • A hunter preparing a long-range rifle shot would pour a carefully measured amount of powder, use greased, shaped patches for wadding, and apply it all carefully.

So sempaiscuba is right that a formation of smoothbore musketeers should be able to fire several volleys per soldier per minute.

But a hunter with a rifle who has to pay for powder and lead out of his own pocket, and who knows that the first shot will spook the game, should take mone or more minutes to load.