Muskets overall were quite inaccurate and unreliable at ranges over 50-60 yds. I was part of a test performed at a college event that demonstrated the ballistic differences between a flintlock musket and a flintlock rifle. First one would have to know the difference. Muskets have a smoothbore barrel that provides no spin to the ball, where as a rifle's barrel has rifling that provides a stabilizing spin to the ball. Both Rifles and muskets of the 1812-1815 era had the same flintlock firing mechanisms and the same fundamentals of shooting.
When we began to load the musket the ramrod was extremely easy to slide through the barrel when loading the powder, wading, and the ball and made for a quick reload. However, when the weapon was fired the ballistic trajectory of the ball was very unusual on all rounds fired. The ball had a spiraling, circular flight pattern that essentially mirrored a slinky that had been stretched a bit. This looping pattern varied from 8 inches to 2 ft in diameter before reaching the 50-60 yard mark. Next the rifle was tested; the rifle was slower to reload mainly due to the rifling in the barrel. The ball and ramrod would have to pass over the "grooves" in the barrel that greatly increased the reload time. The test for the rifle was quite boring to be honest as it performed much like a modern muzzle-loader, the same that I and many others use to hunt with during muzzle-loader season minus the flintlock system (I use percussion).
This test was performed using high speed cameras and laser precision measuring equipment and was not intended to measure the accuracy of the weapon but the trajectory that the projectile flew. However, with the data collected one could see how accurate (or inaccurate) a musket is, and the way the round travelled before 50-60 yards is a clear indicator that they were not accurate at range. This was something interesting that I was a part of that I thought I would share with you all.
When we began to load the musket the ramrod was extremely easy to slide through the barrel when loading the powder, wading, and the ball and made for a quick reload. However, when the weapon was fired the ballistic trajectory of the ball was very unusual on all rounds fired. The ball had a spiraling, circular flight pattern that essentially mirrored a slinky that had been stretched a bit. This looping pattern varied from 8 inches to 2 ft in diameter before reaching the 50-60 yard mark. Next the rifle was tested; the rifle was slower to reload mainly due to the rifling in the barrel. The ball and ramrod would have to pass over the "grooves" in the barrel that greatly increased the reload time. The test for the rifle was quite boring to be honest as it performed much like a modern muzzle-loader, the same that I and many others use to hunt with during muzzle-loader season minus the flintlock system (I use percussion).
This test was performed using high speed cameras and laser precision measuring equipment and was not intended to measure the accuracy of the weapon but the trajectory that the projectile flew. However, with the data collected one could see how accurate (or inaccurate) a musket is, and the way the round travelled before 50-60 yards is a clear indicator that they were not accurate at range. This was something interesting that I was a part of that I thought I would share with you all.