Stupid question about muskets

Smooth bore
It is bite end off cartridge (some cartridges had ball in one end that you bit off with the paper)
Tip powder down barrel
Drop paper cartridge into barrel as a wad
Then ram to compress powder and wad.
Then ball goes in and should just run down to sit on top of compressed wad.
17th century matchlock - you prime first, then load, then position the match. Depending on the size of the hole through to the pan, in the Napoleonic period (again from Mr Cornwall) it was possible for a very quick reload, for short range only, to clean out the pan and close it, tip the powder in the barrel, drop the ball in, thump the butt very hard on the ground to settle everything and hope that the powder had gone through into the priming pan then fire (if the powder had gone through). But the powder was not as well compressed as wad plus ram, so short range in an emergency only.

Rifle - less sure, but I do know you had to get the bullet to engage with the rifle thread that was engraved up the barrel and I think the bullet had to be rammed in too because of that.


Not sure what you are saying regarding the magic.

If the powder is replaced by magic, then I'd say yes, you still need the rammer.

1: Pour powder/”magic”
2: Drop ball down barrel
3: Push paper into barrel
4: Ram down with rod

The process is called tamping and each part is important.

First, you need the thing that makes the power for the ball to go, either powder or “magic”. Powder is loose and should fill the bottom of the barrel. Second, you need the thing that does the killing. Before mass production and interchangeable parts, the ball for each musket was made custom for each weapon. Because of this, typically the ball was made slightly larger than the diameter of the barrel to ensure a good seal, but the ball wouldn’t always go all the way to the bottom where the powder was. Third, because the ball and powder was kept in a paper cartridge, the paper was used to both create another seal on top of the ball and to keep out water from the powder.

The closer the ball is to the powder/”magic”, more of the explosive power will be transferred to the ball and the tight seal of the ball and the paper help this.

Lastly, you ram down hard enough to seat the ball, but not so hard that you completely compact the charge. The powder does need some expansion room before it will push the ball; take a modern bullet and shake it, you’ll hear that loose powder doesn’t completely fill it.

Any other questions?

My understanding is that the ramrod was used to push the ball or bullet onto the powder. If the ball or bullet wasn't touching the powder you could get a misfire. You might even get the ball dribbling out if you were aiming slightly down.

Replace the powder with something magical and presumably you'd still need to make sure that the bullet/ball was in the right place.

Normally in a black powder rifle, a patch is put in the barrel, then the ball/bullet. Then it gets rammed down to the powder. The patch could be dry or lubricated. The patch helped the bullet fit snugly in the barrel and to help it engage the rifling if the barrel was rifled. Another purpose of the patch was to help keep the barrel somewhat clean with each shot although residue did build up from the powder after several shots.

You may not need a ball-starter for magic bullets, but it sure comes in handy for real lead.

After powder is measured into the bore, a ball is placed on a lubed patch and is set just below the muzzle with the short ball starter tapped with the palm of the hand. Then the long ball starter (protruding from the same wooden tool) sets the patched bullet another six inches down the bore. At that time, the ramrod may be used without as much risk of breaking it.

Yep, the patched ball should seat all the way down to compress the powder.

JimmyB27 said:

Ummm....pardon?

Click to expand...

Sorry. I like the idea of magic instead of powder. It's got to save time with needing no measure, not to mention smells better and be easier to clean the bore. I never see ball starters used in movies, because of the time involved, and they're a critical step in loading.

JimmyB27 said:

Thanks everyone! Seems like ramrods definitely still make up part of the loading procedure.


I know from Sharpe that they used leather patches to wrap he bullets in to help them catch the rifling. Should have figured from that I'd still need the ramrod.



Well, if the ramrod was required for some reason specific to the gunpowder, rather than the bullet, then replacing said gunpowder with magic might have negated the need for it.


Anyway, I have the answer now, so thanks again everyone!

Click to expand...

Just FYI, during the height of single shot long guns, most soldiers were armed with smoothbore muskets, not rifles. There were several reasons for this:

Muskets could be loaded faster. The soldier could essentially drop a round ball down the barrel since it didn't need as tight a fit as a rifled barrel. The ramrod was still used to make sure the ball was against the powder, but much less force was required.

Loading a rifle took longer as it was harder to push the leather wrapped "patched" bullet down the barrel. It was a tighter fit and took more force.

Muskets also were less suspectible to fouling than rifles. With every shot unburned powder would build up. The tighter fit of a bullet in a rifle barrel meant that there was less room for that debris and every seveal shots it would get harder and harder to force the ball down the barrel. The looser fit of muskets made this less of a problem. (It still happened, but it took more shots)

The upside is that musket armed troops had a faster rate of fire. They could fire more volleys than rifles over the same period of time than rifle armed troops. The muskets traded range and accuracy (rifles were more accurate and could be accurate out to longer range) for volume of fire.

The traditional tactic was for musket armed troops to close within 100 yards, or closer, fire a volley or two, and then charge with bayonets.

Meanwhile rifle armed troops were used as skirmishers. They'd fire more accurate shots, at longer ranges, as kind of a harassing fire. They'd retreat back to the main line when the enemy got too close as they couldn't stand up to a charge. (They were more loosely arranged in skirmish lines and didn't have as many men as an enemy muskt armed unit so they knew they coudln't stand up to a charge)

The development of the minie ball, a conical projectile that eleminated the need for the leather patch when fired by rifles, led to the "rifled musket" as used in the U.S. Civil War. These were muzzle loaders, with rifling, but they could be loaded about as fast as smooth bore muskets. They were much more effective and eventually changed tactics.

This may or may not be relevant with your magic gunpowder, but you should know it to figure out how much if it you want to incorporate.

JimmyB27 said:

Is it to sort of compress the powder, or to ensure that the ball is all the way down the barrel,

Click to expand...

Yes, and yes.

The primary purpose of the ramrod is to seat the ball against the powder. The secondary purpose is to put some slight compression on the powder.

Seating the ball the same every time using the ramrod means each shot is more like the last; that means your ball is more likely to go where the last one went.

Compression isn't a big issue with modern black powder. Many shooters (the cartridge guys, anyway) don't even bother. Some old-time and homemade powders can get noticeably more "oomph" from some compression. The length of the ramrod determines how much compression you're using, if any, and makes it consistent, so each shot has the same power, which makes the gun more accurate.