How long did muskets take to reload

I guess one could do a test using some substitute to powder that couldn't ignite and time things from start of the process to simulated firing? Using a real musket with real ball would be a pain having to remove the ball with a worm every time. A dummy musket with an open breech were the ball and phony powder would just fall out would make repeated speed re-loading less annoying?

Just and idea but an old and not very valuable musket repro or a special dummy barrel could be used as a practice tool to refine and practice maximum speed reloading using the approved and safe moves: Might be useful as a training tool. Oh, might be a safe way to teach novices and get them to repeat the loading drill at speed a few thousand time. Like practicing loading an M1 Garand with dummy rounds in concept.

They might alternate the speed drill with doing it slowly for actual shooting. Most people would like to do some real shooting in between the drills! Sort of reminds me of " The Karate Kid " and polishing M. It depends, because the definition of "musket" seems to have changed with time.

In the 16th century it referred only to the Spanish moschetto , a heavy-duty specialist weapon that took forever to load and required rather considerable strength to use. This was considered a distinct weapon from the more popular general-purpose arquebus, which was both much lighter, much more practical, and could be loaded much faster. On a good day and wit hall possible shortcuts I managed to make three shots in a minute with the arquebus on several occasions--but with the musket three shots in two minutes was more typical for me.

A larger and stronger man would probably have required less time because he wouldn't have tired as quickly fro mthe weapon's weight and the damned huge recoil. In the 17th century, though, the word "arquebus" shifted in meaning to refer to the precursor of the cavalry carbine, and I got the impression that the old arquebus got lumped into the "musket" category--so when talking of a 17th-century musket, we can no longer be so sure of whether we're talking of the real huge musket or a firearm more closely resembling the moderate-sized arquebus of previous days.

Same with loading time. I'm a bit of an obsessive driller. On the bus or another public transportation vehicle--and when there's enough room--I often go through the motions of either archery or musket drills in the air. That has attracted more than a few odd ooks from people, but I don't really care.

Gordon Frye wrote:. This is a pretty amusing thread! When I say "Less than a minute" I mean to imply that a minute is somewhat longer than I need. I CAN shoot my matchlock rather rapidly As noted, I can get off four rounds a minute with a Brown Bess with cartridges However, with matchlock, and using bandoliers and the full de Gheyn drill manual, I'm sure that one every seconds is quite plausible. I just haven't timed it of late.

My "Bastard Musket" is about pounds, with a rather short 36" barrel of bore. Thus "Bastard Musket" seems to be the period designation that fits it best. But mostly I tend to shoot wheellocks and flint-ignition-locks anymore, since I'm not keen on the idea of dropping a burning match on my horse's neck Gordon Gordon Attachment: From my experience using drill based on DeGehyn, we get a shot every seconds with the muskets.

Now that is moving at a clip and with some of our guys that have been doing the drill for a season or two 3 months on 2 day a week practice. I've found that a new recruit averages about 75 seconds the first few times they try it out.

This is with bandolier and double lit match. When doing a competition against a bowman, I've managed about seconds with a matchlock. That isn't so much ramming as it is thumping the butt of the gun hard against the ground and hoping everything sets in appropriately though. Best- Chris " Hang fires are all fun and games untill someone gets their eye poked out Posted: Mon 11 Dec, pm Post subject:.

I saw in a site that one of the military reforms provided by the king Gustav Adolf reduced in one third the reload time of the musket. Considering that in the beginning the musket took 1 minute to reload, after that it took 20 seconds. I know that a ordinary soldier, after the flintlock revolution, could shoot 3 times a minute. Posted: Tue 12 Dec, am Post subject:. Guilherme Dias Ferreira S wrote:. DUE to the bullet being soft lead and moving relatively slow all of the KE is transferred directly to the human body.

These rounds were so destructive that standard procedure was to amputate the limb if it struck bone. A soft tissue injury in the torso with no bone involvement could be treated. In , common guns included muskets and flintlock pistols. Revolutionary war: weapons. Reloading too about 15 seconds to reload seconds. Most soldiers could load in as fast as seconds, easily supporting a three line, 10 second separation volley , including back line moving forward.

Historically, it took an average of 20 seconds to load and fire a smoothbore blackpowder musket. Load times for muskets varied by weapon type, the use of prepared cartridges, and the training of the individual shooter. The Professional British Army had contempt for Revolutionary Minute Men and their typical move was to march into firing range, unload a single volley into the ranks of the colonials, and charge with bayonets. However in the American Revolutionary War militia soldiers amateurs were required to supply their own weapons and Kentucky long riffles were just more readily available than the favored smooth bore muskets.

Colonial armies, unlike the British did utilized sharpshooters. Specialized troops such as the famous Morgan's Riffles named for their commander General Daniel Morgan. Another famous sharpshooter of the revolutionary war was Timothy Murphy who killed Sir Francis Clerke and General Simon Fraser in a single afternoon at the second battle of Saratoga. Kentucky Riffles had more than twice the range of smoothbore muskets and greater accuracy. Colonial sharpshooters used these advantages to target British officers prior to the main forces engaging.

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Learn more. Did it take 3 minutes to reload a musket when the second amendment to the US constitution was ratified? Ask Question. Asked 2 years, 1 month ago. Active 2 years, 1 month ago.

Viewed 20k times. When the second amendment was adopted and ratified, it took three minutes to reload your musket. Full discussion Question: Did it in fact take something like three minutes to reload muskets when the Second Amendment to the US Constitution was ratified? Improve this question. Community Bot 1. Let us continue this discussion in chat.

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And the Girandoni air rifle, used by the Austrian army and the Lewis and Clark expedition, and comparable in power to a contemporary musket, could fire up to 20 times per minute.

Considering the attack happened with a mobile shooter, in order to keep the comparison accurate, how long would it have taken to reload a musket while remaining mobile? To fire 4 shots in a minute, you need to be able to load in 20 second, provided that you start with a loaded weapon. Repeating arms were a thing in the s. DevSolar DevSolar It sounds likely then that the statement of "1 shot every three minutes" was a mis-remembered 3 shots a minute. Chris Compton. The difference is between 1 killed and 9 killed.

If you're one of the eight, you might disagree. WhatRoughBeast You lot still don't get it, do you? If, after one shot fired, it takes you 20 seconds or longer to reload, there will be no second shot fired. Somebody, knowing you are effectively unarmed except for a long stick for an appreciatable time, will have calmy walked up to you, taken that stick out of your hands, and smacked you across the face with it.