Rifled Musket

(noun)

A specific type of firearm made in the mid-nineteenth century that featured a rifled barrel instead of a smoothbore musket.

Related Terms

Examples of Rifled Musket in the following topics:

  • Modern Warfare

    • The most lethal change during the Civil War was the introduction of rifling to muskets.
    • In previous wars, the maximum effective range of a musket was between 70 to 110 meters.
    • Tactics involved moving masses of troops to musket range, firing a volley, and then charging the opposing force with the musket's bayonet.
    • However, a bullet from an aimed rifled musket could hit a soldier more than 1,300 meters away.
    • The use of rifles on the battlefield greatly increased casualties in the Civil War.

  • Colonial Armed Forces

    • Most used fowling pieces, though rifles were sometimes used where available.
    • Neither fowling pieces nor rifles had bayonets.
    • Some colonies purchased muskets, cartridge boxes, and bayonets from England, and maintained armories within the colony.
    • The long rifle was also well suited to this role.
    • The rifling (grooves inside the barrel) gave it a much greater range than the smooth-bore musket, although it took much longer to load.

  • The Battle of New Orleans

    • In the main attack on the right, the British infantrymen either flung themselves to the ground, huddled in the canal, or were mowed down by a combination of musket fire and grapeshot from the Americans.
    • The 95th Rifles had advanced in open skirmish order ahead of the main assault force and were concealed in the ditch below the parapet, unable to advance further without support.

  • The Boston Massacre and Military Occupation

    • White left his post, challenged Garrick, and struck him on the side of the head with his musket.
    • When they reached Private White on the custom house stairs, the soldiers loaded their muskets and arrayed themselves in a semicircular formation.

  • Intended Context of Reception

    • A woman personifying liberty leads the people forward over the bodies of the fallen, holding the flag of the French Revolution in one hand and brandishing a musket with the other.

  • The Early 20th Century

    • A ration party of the Royal Irish Rifles in a communication trench during the Battle of the Somme, July 1916

  • Single-Issue Interest Groups

  • The Economy of the Middle Colonies

    • The colony also became a major producer of pig iron and its products, including the Pennsylvania long rifle and the Conestoga wagon.

  • The United States and the World

    • In 1887, the Honolulu Rifle Company, a paramilitary force also known as the Honolulu Rifles, deposed the Hawaiian monarchy, forcing the King to sign a new constitution at gunpoint.

  • Ideological Interest Groups

    • Examples include the National Rifle Association (NRA), a gun rights advocacy group, or AIDS Coalition to Unleash Power (ACT UP), an LGBTQ group advocating around AIDS research and health.