What can you tell me about loading modalities for Flintlocks (Pistols especially)?
Just about everything now pre-supposes a a patched ball but I am wondering if there was a time when simple wadding might have been standard. I have always heard that the earliest practice (up until the time of the Pennsylvania Rifles) was to hammer an oversized ball down the barrel but this has been called into question by recent researchers and enthusiasts.
Just about everything now pre-supposes a a patched ball but I am wondering if there was a time when simple wadding might have been standard. I have always heard that the earliest practice (up until the time of the Pennsylvania Rifles) was to hammer an oversized ball down the barrel but this has been called into question by recent researchers and enthusiasts.