Musket Analysis

[Magnus Kinnander]

Hi Mike,

I just finished reading your analysis of musket efficiency. Not only was it a good read but you also made several interesting points. Thanks for sharing it

I had some thoughts on why firing downhill frequently led to overshooting the target. Not knowing where the data came from this can only be guess though. Brown Bess and other guns that was "sighted" at longer ranges would present a greater challenge when fired downhill (and uphill as well) stemming from the following facts:

* Firstly, the effect of gravity on the ball would be at its greatest when fired horisontally, say some 20 inches at a range of 100 yards. when fired more vertically the effect would lessen as the angle approaches vertical. Thus more compensation downwards is needed when aiming.
* Secondly, if compensation is made by moving the aiming point to lets say the knees, the change in elevation of the barrel would be less than when firing horisontally as the target would present a smaller aspect when fired downhill/uphill.

These points would be the same when firing upwards, but are the examples you got maybe of troops firing Brown Bess downwards at troops firing a charlesville "sighted" a shorter range ?

Anyhow a great read, I'll recommend it to others.

[mwillegal]

The acceleration of gravity is the same regardless of what direction you fire the ball. When a ball is fired parallel to the surface of the earth, the acceleration by gravity is almost entirely downward, 90 degrees from the flight of the ball. When fired straight up, the entire acceleration of gravity is used to slow the ball down, but it's trajectory is not changed. Firing straight down has the opposite effect, speeding the ball up, but not affecting it's trajectory. In between angles split the effect. A weapon is normally sighted in high, based on a worst case horizontal trajectory. Raising or lowering the initial trajectory will lessen the percentage of gravity affecting trajectory vs percentage affecting velocity, causing overshoot.

Hope this helps,

regards,
Mike Willegal

[Magnus Kinnander]

You're quite right, I really meant to say that gravity's effect on the trajectory of the ball would differ, making it more or less straight depending on the direction. But still, this doesn't account for why shooters on hills would do worse than their opponents downhill. Could it be that the troops tended to level their muskets horisontally? They weren't taught to aim carefully after all. This would have different effect on the two troops, correcting the overshoot for troops downhill while exarberating the overshoot for troops uphill.

Regards Magnus