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Buck and Ball X-rays of muskets recovered from War of 1812 battlefields show that American troops seemed to prefer buck and ball rounds. Rather than the single ball of the Revolutionary War, buck and ball paper cartridges contained a single full-size ball above the powder. Above the single regular ball is a group of four to five smaller balls. These cartridges were placed in the barrel together with the paper wrapping them. When fired, buck and ball ejected from the barrel in a similar manner of a shotgun blast. The round increased accuracy (more chance of hitting a target . . . any target) and tended to have more stopping power than a single ball round. Buck and ball cartridges were manufactured at contracted factories and delivered to US troops in paper wrapped packets of ten. |
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