PaperCartridges Compares the Rifle-Musket to a Smoothbore

For 200 years, the smoothbore musket (and especially its bayonet) dominated the battlefield. It’s accuracy, or lack thereof, influenced tactics and the entire Napoleonic system of warfare. But in the 1850’s, new advancements had made the rifle-musket just as fast and easy to load as the old smoothbore. The battlefield would never be the same again.
We compare a Pattern 1853 Enfield .577-caliber rifle-musket with one of its immediate predecessors, a Pattern 1839 smoothbore musket with a .76-caliber barrel. The target is a 4 foot square piece of steel up on the hill at 400 yards. Almost absurdly, against all odds, the smoothbore actually hits it once out of ten rounds (though judging by the sound it made, I think it hit the ground and bounced up into the target... but Chris insists it still counts).

[@ikistaer]

That hit with the smooth bore and the subsequent hysterics. Fantastic.

[@Derecq]

A fellow shooter once said "even a blind dog will find the ball once", in other words that was a lucky shot !

[@MrEric_API]

A great representation of the quantum leap forward in 20 short years in firearm and cartridge development. Love the content.

[@ks-dn6oj]

You guys should be getting a lot more views and subscribers. We already know there is an audience for this kind of content if channels like Forgotten Weapons, InRange TV, capandball, Shadiversity, etc etc, are anything to go by. I'm going to guess people are just not aware of this channel's existence yet. I'm not sure how we can advertise this channel to those existing fanbases but I think that it needs to be done, as this content deserves to be seen.

[@papercartridges6705]

I don't mind a smaller following, it keeps this a fun hobby instead of something that begins to resemble work!

[@knightman4574]

It was fun watching you two reload, getting relistic there. 👌

[@herbertarriola9564]

Chris, I believed in you. That one shot woulda been the number on ‘ol Wilford. That was awesome!

[@culloden23]

I saw the original painting of The Thin Red Line in Scotland. Sent a chill through me

[@yorkshirejoinery2869]

Reading the book, now to digest an entire KZbin channel! Looking forward to this……..

[@KW-qq7nu]

Great book, great video, thanks, K.

[@davefellhoelter1343]

Thank you Dillon for the loan! Love this STUFF! OH! the Irony of that Shot! along came #2! AND Then Number THREE, Ho no FOUR, Opps 5, started to get Un Sportsman like, then like #7 or 70% to 10%

[@keithhagler502]

These new percussion guns will never be popular.

[@papercartridges6705]

I know, right? Will never catch on.

[@keithhagler502]

@@papercartridges6705 lol...I have plenty of them and just recently went back to flintlock, but I'll probably be back to percussion next year. Depends on what timeline I happen to be in...lol

[@knightman4574]

@@keithhagler502 both are fun, but i also think its a bit of the speed?.. when in flintlock brownbess.

[@MrWeezy312]

You fellas in the high desert huh maybe I'll see you at the range someday:)

[@GizmoDuck_1860]

Can you guys change to a Figure-11, man-sized target for a future video. That'll be an interesting test

[@jeffreyrobinson3555]

I live a few miles from the Wilson Creek battlefield. This was in Aug 1861. The confederate army was little more the militia and the union poorly trained. Although the army was provided with rifled muskets much of the fighting took place at less then a hundred yards. I do think at such ranges a smooth bore flint lock could get off more shots and be as deadly at that range. In fact although Johnny Reb was armed with smoothbores and shot guns and own hunting guns near equal armies and Blue bellies had superior ground the confederates were able to get a victory.

[@jonahtaivalkoski322]

Makes sense, given how common buck and ball loads where.

[@tigerkrag]

Well... Apparently I've been loading my rifled musket wrong

[@johnfisk811]

Bravo Brett. If only that book were available on Amazon at $11.95. Oh. It is..... Buy it gentle viewers. Well underpriced in my opinion. Why the double ramrod thumps on the Pattern 1853? That surely should be on the Pattern 1839 which does need 'two sharp raps' to set the paper case into a sabot. Or maybe not given the hit it made at beyond 'musket shot' (@300 yards) range.

[@papercartridges6705]

It goes against good advice, but I really like to seat the bullet firmly and possibly expand it slightly. It gives me good results. The Platoon Exercise with the P/53 called for two firm taps, I give it two hard raps. For precision work, this will lead to crushed/compressed powder and bad groups. It's probably a bad habit I need to break, frankly. I've been doing it since I was shooting the old thick skirt N.O.E. bullets.

[@lawrencestanley8989]

Very interesting... So have you conducted any tests that would demonstrate the kind of damage inflicted between that of a round ball -vs- a Pritchett bullet at that distance? Maybe something along the line of a meat target similar to Paul Harrell's usual setup?

[@papercartridges6705]

They would both be pretty bad but the rifle bullet would have considerably more energy because it is so much heavier.

[@lawrencestanley8989]

@@papercartridges6705 I agree. Still be pretty cool to see though!

[@user-ho4nw5sf3w]

The smooth bore musket was the most advanced assault weapon of it's time. It was easier to reload than a rifled barrel,It was as accurate rifle at 70 yards,fighting range. When the constitution was written the founding fathers were well aware of assault weapons

[@gemmeliusgrammaticus2509]

whereabouts are you guys located at?

[@questofknowledge8788]

What is the effect of firing minie projectiles from a smooth bore? The projectile should self-stabalize shouldn't it?

[@libertyboy2743]

I hope you’re doing well, I had a question how do you sight in an 1853 Enfield pattern rifle. Does the rear sight base move left or right to obtain windage adjustment? My rifle groups about 3” groups at 200 yards. Just wondering if it could be adjusted. Any help will be greatly appreciated thanks.🫡🤔

[@papercartridges6705]

Can’t remember if I answered this somewhere else. The rear sight on military Enfields is fixed with no adjustment allowed for windage.

[@GizmoDuck_1860]

Looks like a trained shot could still harass an enemy column at 300 metres with a smoothbore. Kinda cool.

[@1337penguinman]

It's small caliber artillery at that point. Which, when massed, could be potentially effective. But a rifled musket is still leaps and bounds more effective.

[@mattefinnish8411]

A "predecessor" is something that comes before, not after.

[@papercartridges6705]

My sincerest contrafibularities for catching this. I'm anaspeptic, frasmotic, even compunctuous to have caused you such pericombobulation.

[@narutorasbat]

Out of curiosity, what would happen if you tried shooting a Pritchett Bullet out of a smoothbore? I've seen plenty of people coming up with theories and math about how using a Minie Ball would be either "better but not by much" to "absolute failure".

[@papercartridges6705]

Without a gyroscopic spin along its axis, a Pritchett or any other elongated bullet would immediately tumble when it leaves the muzzle. The spinning motion it takes from the rifling keeps it stabilized on its axis.

[@narutorasbat]

@@papercartridges6705 Yeah, I figured something like that, but considering how innacurate a smoothbore already is, would the difference be felt? How innacurate would it be compared to a regular musket ball?

[@papercartridges6705]

@@narutorasbat Probably less accurate since a Pritchett weighs about twice as much, so it would drop a lot faster. Sure wouldn't want to get hit by one, though.

[@davefellhoelter1343]

CHEERSE MATE! As an American I think I'll do a Beer with a Whiskey Backer?

[@Syngekhoomei]

This is great when is the algorithm gonna pick it up

[@papercartridges6705]

The algorithm probably shoots smoothbores…

[@shericontrary2535]

you need a UV sunbrella

[@ironmatic1]

What is your outro music?

[@papercartridges6705]

March of the Bowmen

[@justinbailey5590]

Where do you get some of your wonderful toys

[@TheMwarrior50]

Tmw smoothbore hits the 400 yard target first e.e

[@GREATRussia1990]

Oh c'mone!!! British fought only a small Russian force in Crimea! Why they didn't stay there for at least 4 months!? Because 800 thousand Russian soldiers from the western borders will come to Criema to meet the British and French armies!

[@HaNsWiDjAjA]

What are you talking about? The Russians sued for peace and accepted the Allies' terms. Thats why the war ended.

[@robertkalinic335]

Nobody said anything about how crimean war ended or who should do what, he was only talking about difference in effective range between smoothbore and rifled musket. If you are right or wrong is irrelevant in the first place and also why are you butthurt about war that happened almost two centuries ago?