Combat Effectiveness of Buck & Ball Cartridges

[@gwheeler233]

I like the use of the drums to lead in each set. Also, that’s dedication wearing that vest in that heat.

[@capandball]

Excellent video Mike! I love your approach!

[@douglascox9996]

In the early engagements of our Civil War, some militia units showed up dressed in uniforms not unlike yours, with smooth bore flintlock muskets. Many other militias had percussion smoothbores from the Mexican War era. So, buck and ball loads saw combat again, because the same problem presented itself again of each side firing blindly through its own cloud bank of smoke into the enemy’s cloud bank. During the first volley of the engagement, when the air was clear, I suspect most of the men on line were aiming at the center of the opposing line, whether by doctrine to split the line or just to ensure a hit.

[@0neDoomedSpaceMarine]

Buck and ball remained with rear echelon units for the rest of the civil war, better guns were needed elsewhere and this loading was the best way to use smoothbore muskets.

[@douglascox9996]

It’s interesting to me that at least one ammo company has recently marketed a 12 Gauge shotgun loading of buck and ball.

[@SteveAubrey1762]

Excellent video! Our forefather knew what they were doing. The more holes poked throughout the bag the faster blood pressure drops.

[@ernestclements7398]

For a good reference on the effectiveness of buck and ball try to find something written by a member of the Pennsylvania volunteer regiment that faced Picketts charge at Gettysburg these troops were still armed with Flint lock muskets from the Pennsylvania State armory firing buck and ball, and they managed to decimate Picketts line!

[@45auto]

Good information. I can imagine the looks of the members who aren't familiar with your channel or written work.

[@peteandresenfamilyadventur8742]

Mike, this is genuine historical research, and it explains why buck and ball stayed in use for so long. This should be required viewing when studying the Revolutionary War. Well done! Thank you!

[@demonprinces17]

It was also cheap and easy to make

[@marctric]

All my respect to Your efforts bringing us so many interesting, technical and historical information. Thanks a lot for sharing.

[@notsosilentmajority1]

Thanks for dealing with the heat and humidity to produce a great video. I am a fan of Buck and Ball and think it is an asset to people that may not be the best riflemen. There were a lot of scared young men during these battles and their aim may not have always been on point. Also, it's easy to imagine a wall of lead being thrown at a formation of men that were relatively close together. KZbin needs to realize that this is HISTORY and different than modern gun channels. Great job Mike. Best wishes.

[@k9BroneknMark]

Hey, Don't stop. What ever you do... Mark from Oahu said that! Them gosh darn red coats Will stop com'in

[@GaryED44]

Very informative. I always thought Buck and ball was ridiculous but now I see how effective it was. Definitely clicking thumbs up! Thanks Mike

[@wittsullivan8130]

I love the thump sound a ram rod makes when it's packing the ball in place. :)

[@jonesclantd]

Excellent observations! Not a great ammunition for individuals shooting at point targets, but for heavy infantry tactics and rapid volleys it would be devastating

[@bwhog]

I gotta get a flint lock one of these days. :) From your little experiment, it seems like if you're not going to use musket balls that a straight buckshot load might be more effective than buck and ball when you're over 25 yards, although when you get out 100, in my mind, I'd have to question the effectiveness of buckshot, especially against a thick woolen uniform and much over that distance is just a wish and a prayer.

[@martinmeltzer2696]

Hey Mike! I have read of the Prussians firing at Company unit sized lengths of cloth so that they could see how many musket balls from their volleys actually were effective and how many were "fly aways"... either into the ground or into the air! I understand, that later, man sized outlines were painted on the sheets to account for the space between individuals. Interesting experiment and thanks for conducting it!

[@rowanwhitewolf5712]

Thanks Mike. Clears up a lot of speculation and answered many questions. Kudos for sticking this out in adverse heat and humidity! Much Respect. Rowan.

[@kevinclift7369]

Great video, I agree that this would be highly effective in mass. I would love to see you try the double musket ball load that General Wolf ordered his men to do, at the battle of Quebec. The French ranks completely collapsed after the first volley.

[@Quincy_Morris]

It is interesting seeing the trade offs for the different types of weapons and ammo in this era. Such an interesting era tactically

[@joelerk6298]

Been waiting for this video. Great job!

[@johndalton1425]

Amazing Video as always. Brown Bess is One of my Favorites.

[@Teljar25]

Very good video. I am told some Civil War monuments are topped with buck and ball.

[@krockpotbroccoli65]

This is pretty much exactly what I expected. A load thats very useful for 18th century combat tactics, ie mass volley fire, but not great for much of anything else. Great content. Thanks!

[@steveb1972]

A great, very informative job Mike! As always, many thanks for all your hard work! Bless you Sir and keep safe!👍🏻

[@gregggibson3109]

Most interesting field test, thanks for bringing it to us. It looks like buck & ball is devastating at 50 yards…I certainly wouldn’t want to stand in front of it.

[@olskool3967]

Mike i am in SC and the humidity gets nasty here. been here since birth in 1957, still ain't use to it,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,

[@jamespileggi6650]

Excellent practical on buck snd ball. I own a model 1855 Springfield smoothbore from the Civil War without rear sight, that was made for this load. So it is a 19th Century load, ss well.

[@mikepette4422]

glad I live where I do...it's nice n cool with intermittent rainy days. cools things off nicely till the sun gets going again. then after 2 or 3 days... more rain ! love that kind of weather. heat i can do without lol Edit ** I'd say my only critic is that camera was consistently held low and i missed seeing the upper 1/4 of the targets maybe in the future you can try to hold higher with your camera. but we still got the idea mosty.

[@Schlachtschule]

Yet another fantastic video, Mike, thank you very much. I am actually somewhat surprised with what I learned here, because before watching this I thought buck and ball to be somewhat gimmicky (like you, I am a rifleman, and prize the rifleman's approach), but this video made it absolutely clear that Washington was right about this load. I am especially surprised at its effectiveness at 100 yards, as I really expected the bullets to fly all over the place with fewer hits than if you had just used a regular ball at that range.

[@cal9064]

Many thanks for this video, Mike! Despite your reticence to perform this test, it proved to be a pretty interesting 'archaeological experiment', after all. Washington's wisdom in selecting buck and ball as a standard load would likely have served Continental troops very well, on the 18th Century battlefield.

[@Steve-cl7hr]

A great series on why buck and ball was used. Great teaching here regarding 18th century realities.

[@sooperdweeb1753]

I appreciate the amount of time and effort that you put into setting this up and commend you for the detailed information. Thank you Sir. Excellent work!

[@Verdunveteran]

Very interesting! Love this kind of experimental archeology!

[@rider-uj2kr]

Mike. Thank you so much for the forethought to the shooting experiment. And reference to historical battles. You are the best presenter on this historical period of firearms and tactics.

[@baird329]

I've wondered about the effectiveness of buck n' ball since reading about Washington's orders in grad school. I can now see how it is useful with an Army of vastly differing skilled volunteers with differing quality of equipment. Thanks, that was more of a gnawing question than pressing question like how the Brits used or ignored their advantages in Georgia during the war.

[@keithblume5159]

You have the highest quality content Mike!

[@nikitamckeever5403]

Buck and ball for soldiers of the line is the way to go . I would love to have seen 4 or five musket volleys on that target line 👍 thanks for download

[@lesterlesoine9225]

Hi Mike, glad you figured out what to do with the video setup after your intro video the other day

[@stevebuckskinner5482]

I can't really get excited about buck-N-ball myself, but this was a great video with great historic value. Thanks Mike for always sharing great content!!!

[@robertfarrow4256]

What a great history lesson. You truly earned a giant icy beverage! I have a flintlock I've never fired; perhaps I'll have to fire it up and try your test...

[@wittsullivan8130]

There are some war of 1812 British Army reenactors in New Zealand with a KZbin channel and they've done all sorts of tests with Brown Bess muskets and Baker rifles (duplicating stuff that's in the Sharpe's movies). One thing they did was set up a canvas tarp about 7 feet tall and 20 feet wide with silhouettes of ranked soldiers painted on the canvas with spray paint. They had 4 or 5 reenactors volley fire into the tarp from 100 yards multiple times to simulate a gun line and counted the the bullet holes. The videos I've seen make no mention of buck and ball. George Washington promoted buck and ball, saying it was the best load to use.

[@matthewgillespie9405]

I appreciate the drum sound effects. Interesting test as well.

[@pockets67]

That was interesting to see the effectiveness of B & B on a range after using it on War Of Rights.

[@danschneider9921]

One thing is for sure I need to get me a flintlock one of these days. I shoot cap and ball revolvers but these just look really fun.

[@jasonmelius4839]

Great job on these videos. Just a note: Pretty much everyone had to have 2 opposing teeth to chew and not starve to death. In the surviving recruiting instructions, officers were given pretty long lists of things to look for when inspecting recruits - none of them mention teeth at all.

[@labrat748]

Appreciate duelist1954 channel, always interesting.

[@bretthines1020]

You NEVER cease to Amaze

[@NW_Ranger]

Huzza… for experimental archaeology! Thank you, Sir.

[@cindycressler1239]

Back in 1975 I got my first deer with a Belgium Charleville .69 with round ball w/ 3- .36 on top.

[@conifergreen2]

Beautiful flintlock.

[@EBthere]

Late seeing this video but it was just outstanding. Thank you Mike.

[@anthonydeveno9028]

That was a great video Mike thank you for the look into 18th century fighting techniques

[@michaelpthompson]

Love it, thank you. Remember, units that used buck and ball in the Civil War, such as Stonewall Jackson and General Meagher, loved it for its close quarters capability, not its distance work.

[@KB4QAA]

MT: Clearly at 50 yards it is absolutely deadly.

[@demonprinces17]

There was a shortage of mimi balls and this was easy to make, both sides used it seems mainly in the west

[@mikemalliski8380]

Thanks for doing this firearms test with the Buck-and-Ball shots.......must have been a lot of work to get this all completed......I can only imagine, thanks for all your hard work.....

[@fancyultrafresh3264]

Thanks for braving the heat for such a cool test!

[@nikitamckeever5403]

Thank you Mike , very interesting . Been experimenting with a Indian made Hawken style 12g single barrel musket shooting 3 x 00 buck and a Lyman slug 1 1/8 ounce . Only 25 yds and again not as accurate as single slug but hits a 2 1/2 foot gong . Shot a 6 inch thick pine plank and the slug went through ( 80 grains of fffg black powder ) . 00 buck penetrates to about 2 inches . I would not like to be hit by that load . It would spoil your day 😮

[@callofthewillman4469]

Great series on buck and ball

[@bobafettslaundryroom755]

Thanks for doing this test. Very informative and entertaining.

[@joycehoppe2582]

We haven't been getting notified when your videos are up like in the past. Thanks for the hard work.

[@duelist1954]

Like a lot of gun channels, I seem to be getting shadow banned by KZbin. A lot of subscribers say they no longer get notifications.

[@DaGahbageMan]

@@duelist1954 Bill Raby, another black powder gun build channel, just had all of his videos nuked for "community guidelines violations" today. The channel itself is still up.

[@Billyd3846]

Thanks for the information. I was wondering about the reasoning behind the buck and ball loads.

[@BigFiveJack]

We all appreciate this test! Thank you Mike!

[@General.Longstreet]

Great video as always Mike. This channel is an absolute gem!

[@aaronankney4984]

Another reason why I think buck and ball would be a good load to use in a double barrel shotgun while hunting deer in the Eastern woodland it can be extremely thick cover with shots anywhere from 5 to 50 yards and half the time on the move so haveing the one large ball to cut through the brush and the three smaller ones to try to sneak their way through it you've got a much higher probability of you hitting your target

[@FreeAmericaChannel]

The best test of the legendary buck & ball in use that I have ever seen. Your test clarifies the reasoning behind its use in the Continental Army. Well done sir. new sub!

[@duelist1954]

Thanks!

[@TheGunfighter45acp]

Very well done!

[@tommywills4891]

Good video mike, can't help but comment on your comments about the weather. I live in central North Carolina, 92 and 100 percent humidity is a normal day in late spring and summer here. As a man who works outside, I would say a bandana is always a good thing to have.

[@robgibons1986]

Buck and Ball was used during the Civil War as well as the Revolution! My own Great Great Grandfather, a Captain in the 64th Illinois Infantry, was wounded by Buck and Ball at the Battle of Kennesaw Mountain on June 20th 1864.

[@jonathansongco4302]

Awesome!

[@monkeyship74401]

I was always told that the sentries got buck and ball so that if they had to shoot at something approaching that didn't reply with the password they would have a better chance of hitting in a lower light condition. Thank you for sweating for the oldies.

[@wayneantoniazzi2706]

Just caught this one Mike, and just so you know at the Battle of Gettysburg the 12th New Jersey armed with .69 caliber smoothbore muskets loaded with buck-and-ball cartridges stopped Pickett's Charge cold! Well OK, they DID have a little help from the rest of the Army Of The Potomac! Just a little. Spoken as a proud (former) NJ guy! 😉 By the way, the 12th NJ monument is topped with a buck-and-ball load!

[@graywolf9876]

I like all of your video's keep them coming, this one was was very interesting and informative.

[@remko1238]

This is pure science 🎖

[@denniswilson1903]

So we now understand the flintlock submachine gun. These guys weren't stupid or unobservant. With the smoke from black powder, it would seem that using something with multiple projectiles going down range would be the optimum solution. Thanks for the video. I do really enjoy this kind of experimental history.

[@jeffreypeticca6178]

Thank you very much Mike! I am picking up my first Bess and excited about putting it thru it’s paces. Will be my first smoothbore. I am looking to possibly join a central PA club with a muzzle loading interest. I’m in Carlisle.Thanks again for all your educational info. Jeff

[@johnstacy7902]

Thanks Mike, kinda curious how that smoke pole of yours would do shooting bird shot on the Sporting Clay Range. I gotta think after the War of Independence lots of settlers took captured/surrendered Brown Bessies out to settle the frontier

[@marionriverwoodcraft]

The musket was not that much different from the regular fowling pieces of the day, though most fowlers tended to be of smaller gauge than "Brown Bess". I have shot both the British Short Land Pattern and French muskets at sporting clays before and you don't realize how slow the lock time is on a flintlock until you are trying to follow through on a bird! It is, of course, doable as hunters have been taking birds on the wing since there were firearms.

[@davidschaadt5929]

I think so .

[@tomcurran1538]

Great job Mike. Love this flinter and Revolutionary period stuff having grown up in Bucks Couty, PA where history was all around us and the Patriots were revered. I would not use this as a deer hunting load, but it's good for those Redcoats. Hazy, hot, and humid here in "Mayberry" NC after a real dry spell. No worse than Bucks County though.

[@ftargr]

great content. excellent hit probability between 50-100

[@brianmcgilp8519]

I'm going to try that with my Charleville one of these days. Thank you Mike. Love everything you do!

[@rogerharris8081]

Very informative and worthwhile video Mike. In battle, the object is to disable your opponents and buck and ball would have been very effective.

[@fergusonto201]

Again, many thanks Mike for enduring the heat! My only comment at this point is that we (Americans) where almost always out numbered and the good Ol Buck and ball help to even the odds at least some I think.

[@michael.w.salter]

Give me a Kentucky rifle over Bess with buck and ball any day. Great video Mike. Thanks for your dedication despite the heat!

[@jackdelvo2702]

A rifle at that time had less than half the fireinng rate and no bayonet. That's why so many militia fled the field after only one or two rounds. Muskets were to thin the ranks, bayonets won the battle.

[@hawssie1]

in Monmouth more soldiers were incapacitated by heatstroke then hostile action

[@Everythingblackpowder]

Great video and great information. Thanks Mike!

[@DJ-dt4kz]

Enjoyed this one much , real data 👍

[@KE0ZCO]

Thank You Mike.

[@J_C_Firelocks]

Very interesting experiment Mike!

[@P61guy61]

Excellent. Thank you for posting.

[@davidguerrero9270]

Great historical video, thanks!

[@duaneaubuchon9453]

I want to thank for all the videos you have all of them are great!!!

[@thelonerider9693]

Another awesome video. But I would not want to be wearing that getup in summer heat! I wanted to thank you for all that you do. Weather permitting going to my first black powder shoot tomorrow. Very excited and must thank you for all that you have done to educate people on these weapons and their history and use!

[@Ostenjager]

You answered my question about whether or not one loads the cartridge with the paper still wrapping the projectiles. Thanks!

[@KB4QAA]

Outstanding demonstration! Thanks.

[@James-dq3jo]

Very clever test method, well thought out & well done!

[@straightpipec6099]

Nicely done.

[@MrRedbeard762]

An excellent study with valid results, thank you.

[@harddriveusame7248]

Great Work and effort with this!

[@steveww1507]

well done .

[@DARIVSARCHITECTVS]

Screw KZbin. I love your stuff!

[@griffin5226]

If you're ever in eastern PA, I might be able to set you up with some ballistic gel and a Doppler chronograph for tests like these

[@kswan6581]

A great video and great information. Thanks.

[@rebeccaback3287]

I this video excellent shooting. I think that the buck and ball is verry accurate, and efectine.Like your videos.One of these I will have to get one of these muskets. David Back.