Musket ball

A musket ball was an early form of ammunition used for loading muskets. Musket balls were generally made from lead (though at times stone musket balls were used), and were muzzle-loaded into the barrel of the musket, wrapped in a loosely-fitting paper patch and backed with gunpowder.

Musket balls were of a diameter considerably larger than today's modern rifles - the Brown Bess fielded a caliber of more than .75", and hence the ball could cause large wounds. The smooth bore muskets of the Brown Bess period had considerable hitting power and were able to penetrate the armor of the day, but had limited accuracy due to the lack of rifling in the barrel. In practice muskets were fired at close range in volley fire and rarely beyond 50 yards. The rifled muskets of the American Civil War were much more accurate and combat ranges of 300 yards were practical. The term 'ball' lingered on in that conflict as applied to the standard ammunition used by both sides - the Minie ball. However the Minie ball was not a ball, but a conical lead bullet designed to be fired down a rifled barrel. With the invention of the Minie ball and the development of the bullet cartridge, the musket ball became obsolete after the middle of the nineteenth century due to its inaccuracy.

Please note that the smoothbore flintlock musket could be loaded and fired in about ten seconds by a proficient infantryman. The rifled musket used during the American Civil War took about twice as long to load and fire. Accuracy and longer range was the main advantage with rifling.