Smoothbore Musket Versus the Long Rifle in the Revolutionary War

While the development of the long rifle is a distinctly American invention, it’s use in our war of independence was more limited than many would believe. The Long Rifles of the American Revolution, made generally by German gunsmiths in Pennsylvania, were fine works of art, with barrels often over 4 feet long and covered in fine metal work and carving. The grooves inside the barrel, called rifling giving the weapon its name and long range, had to be carved by hand, and often individually.

While its advantages as a firearm are clear to most; a rifle is accurate to over 200 yards, skilled shooters being able to hit man-sized targets at ranges of 500 yards, and a few documented instances of shots of a thousand yards. This compared to the Smooth bore musket, where the victim of a shoot was considered very unlucky at any range over 75 yards.

It is, however, the weaknesses of the rifle that forced it into an auxiliary role in the armies of the late 18th century. At the time, all firearms were muzzle-loading, which means that the bullet (A round lead ball at the time), had to be pushed down from the end of the barrel. The British Brown Bess, the main firearm of the British Army, and the main weapon used by the Colonial Forces at the start of the American Revolution, was a 74 caliber, firing a 69 caliber ball. In effect, the round ball would simply drop down the barrel with little effort on the part of the loader. A wad of paper was used to seal the round in the barrel. Over several firings, a residue from the black powder would develop, resulting in more effort being needed to push the ball down the barrel.

By comparison, rifles were of lower caliber, and fired appropriately sized rounds, again lead balls. Greased leather would be used, instead of paper for the wading, guaranteeing a tight fit against the rifling grooves on the inside of the barrel. Because of this tight fit, it required a great deal more effort to force the ball down the barrel, and many rifleman actually carried wooden mallets to assist them.

The result was a trained British soldier was to be able to load and fire 3 times in one minute. Modern muzzle loaders have managed as many as 8 shots in a minute, though under ideal conditions. By comparison, a modern rifleman can rarely load and fire more often than every minute and a half, again under favorable conditions. We do not have reliable records of the loading times of the period.

The rifle also required finer, and more expensive, black power in order to fire effectively. As they were all custom made pieces, it they were damaged repair was really a matter of luck, as spare parts often had to come from other damaged rifles. The Brown Bess, while not produced on an assembly line and full of individual differences, were more likely to have parts available due to the sheer number in service, and similarity of design.

Despite these limits, rifles were used by both forces in the conflict. The Colonial Forces had units of Rifleman, used as light infantry, while the German troops the British employed were often equipped entirely with rifled weapons. Still the Smooth bore musket remained the main firearm of both the British and Colonial forces, with the latter being supplied with a smaller caliber French version later in the war.