TG> Hmmm.  Muskets were muzzle loaders as I recall.  The ones that
TG> were rifled were beech loaders.  
Nope. Rifled barrels were around a long time before breech loading tech-
nology was available. Folks were using the .45's and .50's to "bark" 
squirrels long before the Civil War era. This is a practice wherein
a portion of limb directly beneath the squirrel is shot, thus killing
the squirrel by transferred shock without destroying the meat. Takes
more'n a mite of accuracy.
TG> I've a friend near Oak Ridge that has
TG> an authentic, operational Springfield.  According to him, it wasn't a
TG> very good rifle and couldn't achieve the velocity your speaking of.  
I can manage very close to 2000 fps with a .50 cal. muzzle loader with
 a .490 patched round ball and 100 grains of ffg black powder. 'Course,
the larger and heavier Minnie balls in use during the Civil War time
were slower, maxing out at around 1400 fps. There were, however, many
round balls fired in anger.
TG> At
TG> 100 yards, he couldn't hit a man sized target 8 0f 10 shots.  It had a
TG> great bayonet though. I think I have what your hinting. 
TG> Goliath died of shock!  Right? ;-) But.  Even as a 14 year old, I could
TG> break a shiplap siding board on a house at a hundred yards.  
Must have made the neighbors happy.
Direct to you from the keyboard of Larry Gault...
      
... I didn't make a mistake.  The computer misunderstood my request.
___ Blue Wave/QWK v2.20 [NR]
-*- SF-Quick/BW 1.00r [#48]
--- Alexi/Mail 2.02b (#10000)
---------------