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Many of Daniel Morgan's men had the more modern "rifles" as compared to Redcoat smoothbores, at the Battle of Cowpens.

Did Tarleton's men notice the difference?


Cowpens: A Brilliant Victory | The Southern Campaign - YouTube


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Not a valid comparison as tactics play a large role in any military operation. Give me a trained battalion armed with 69cal smoothbores, buck n ball and bayonets, and you'll never take my ground with a militia armed with longrifles.

In the Revolution, the militia would often break a run after the first couple shots as they couldn't handle the close in fire from the British muskets followed by close combat with bayonets. Longrifles don't have a provision for those. Cowpens and Guilford Courthouse are great examples of how to use a militia so equipped.

Take the military part out of this equation, and the point is still valid. I've seen lots of guys at the range shooting from a bench and bragging about how good their gun is and how well they can shoot. The look on their face is priceless when you make them stand up or position shoot as most have never had any marksmanship training. That's why the Appleseed program is such a hit. Whoda thunk you need to aim tight and use fundamentals with a rifle.
 
Not a valid comparison as tactics play a large role in any military operation. Give me a trained battalion armed with 69cal smoothbores, buck n ball and bayonets, and you'll never take my ground with a militia armed with longrifles.

Tarleton had the same belief as yours above at the Battle of Cowpens...

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Tarleton had the same belief as yours above at the Battle of Cowpens...

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You keep bringing up Cowpens, but if you read the history of the battle, the militia were used as "bait" to goad the British into charging. The militia fired a couple shots then turned tail and ran as always leading the British to think "they came at us in the same old way" and charge when the militia ran. Poor decision making based on faulty intelligence on the part of the British who didn't locate the Colonial Regulars whom they knew to be present somewhere.

Again, poor, even arrogant, leadership on the part of the Brits in this battle. Learn from history.
 
You keep bringing up Cowpens, but if you read the history of the battle, the militia were used as "bait" to goad the British into charging. The militia fired a couple shots then turned tail and ran as always leading the British to think "they came at us in the same old way" and charge when the militia ran. Poor decision making based on faulty intelligence on the part of the British who didn't locate the Colonial Regulars whom they knew to be present somewhere.

Again, poor, even arrogant, leadership on the part of the Brits in this battle. Learn from history.

Every military commander wants the most effective weapon to put in the hands of his troops.
That decision involves accuracy, and reliability, and weight.
The majority of those weapons now have rifled barrels.

I am simply saying the same thing about muzzleloaders. Some of us want a very accurate high velocity muzzle loader to take deer reliably at longer distances.

You could kill a deer at 10 yards with a smoothbore muzzle loader.
You could also kill a deer at 300 yards with one of my smokeless muzzleloaders, which fires a 275 grain bullet right at 3,000 fps.
Even the best marksman in the world would have a very difficult time making that 300 yard shot with a smoothbore.

George Armstong Custer decided to leave his Gatling guns at home.
This is what I have learned from history.
 
You could kill a deer at 10 yards with a smoothbore muzzle loader.
You could also kill a deer at 300 yards with one of my smokeless muzzleloaders, which fires a 275 grain bullet right at 3,000 fps.
Even the best marksman in the world would have a very difficult time making that 300 yard shot with a smoothbore.

For deer reliably with my smoothbore, 50yd tops. Past that, I'm reaching for something with rifling. High velocity isn't needed when the bullet weighs 450+gr. With my 45/70 or 50/70, bambi is meeting frigidaire anywhere 300yd in. Tons of power are not needed, accuracy and knowing how to shoot are. I can get a deer with a Ford and it has far more power/energy than your whiz bang. I am advocating knowing how to shoot and that's a skill sadly lacking in many hunters.
 
How much does it cost to get a deer with your Ford? .
You assume I have a Ford. My post said- "I can get a deer with a Ford" Nothing about me owning one. As far as using a Ford to get a deer, they're disposable. You want something to last, drive a Toyota. My land cruiser has 450k on it and going strong.
 
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