The Accuracy Of BlackMike Willegal - PDF document

The Accuracy Of BlackMike Willegal 20406080100120140507090110130 060080012001400 400600120014001600 050100150200250300 -450-400-350-1000 Sighting and the "Danger Zone"Sights on the brown bess consisted of a piece of metal mounted at the front of barrel. Some say thatthe sight was really just a mounting point for the bayonet.The danger zone is a term I have borrowed from naval warfare. When firing a weapon at a distancethe ball will have a chance of hitting a target at a longer range than expected. That is the target is notyond the target.Since I do not know at what ranges the various weapons tended to be sighted in for (I am using thisterm loosely, given the primitive sights of weapons involved). I have run some calculations on whatThere are several assumptions taking place here.Ñ The musket is fired from a height of 60 inchesThe danger zone is expressed in terms of the amount of deviation in degrees that the musket barrelmight take from true (aimed 8 inches below the top of the target) and still allow the ball to hit theSeveral things affect accuracy as the range is increased.1) There is less degrees of freedom because the target occupies a smaller angle in the fieldof view.2) The danger zone is smaller making the degrees of freedom smaller.fall short. -2012 Danger zone if sighted in at 75 (900 fps)Danger zone if sighted in at 75 (700 fps)rangeelev.highlowavetotalrangeelev.highlowavetotal750.280.22-1.28-0.531.5750.450.22-1.28-0.531.50.281.22-0.280.471.50.451.22-0.280.471.51500.280.47-0.450.010.921500.450.68-0.240.220.922500.281.080.470.780.612500.451.621.041.330.58Danger zone if sighted in at 150 (900fps)Danger zone if sighted in at 150 (700fps)rangeelev.highlowavetotalrangeelev.highlowavetotal750.62-0.12-1.62-0.871.5751.0-0.33-1.831.081.50.88-0.620.131.575 0.67-0.830.081.51500.620.13-0.79-0.330.921501.00.13-0.79-0.330.922500.620.740.130.440.612501.01.070.490.780.58Danger zone if sighted in at 250 (900 fps)Danger zone if sighted in at 250 (700fps)rangeelev.highlowavetotalrangeelev.highlowavetotal751.19-0.69-2.19-1.441.5751.91-1.24-2.74-1.981.51.190.31-1.19-0.441.575 (low)1.91-0.24-1.74-0.981.51501.19-0.44-1.36-0.9.921501.91-0.78-1.70-1.240.922501.190.17-0.44-0.135.612501.910.16-0.42-0.130.58 -201 -201 -2-1012 -201 U.S. .69 Cal. flintlock musket110 grains powder412 gr ball1500 fpsU.S. .69 Cal. musket120 grains powder1426 fps MUZZLE VELOCITYDISTANCEWINDDEFLECTION700100107700100201470020010307002002059700300107170030020142900100106900100201290020010259002002051900300105990030020118 Overshoot at 900 fps15 degrees30 degreesgeneral formula100 yards0.8523.349drop-COS(angle*PI()/180)*drop200 yards3.8515.14 Firer The final factor to adversely affect accuracy is the fact that soldiers of the era had little or no target15. I guess you could compare mus-ketry of that time, to the strategic bombing of the Second World War. You were not able to defeat aConclusionGibbon in his "Artillerist's Manual" points out the variations from shot to shot may often exceed 36"16. He was describing a best case target practice type situation. Hewrote his manual just before the American Civil War and was most likely referring to the US .69It is my conclusion that effective musket fire was not possible at ranges above 150 yards. Thisechoes the sentiment of some contemporary writers17. Furthermore given the poor field conditionsand the little or no target practice that the conscripts had, really effective fire could probably not be 1234 Predicted Effect Versus ActualAfter all of this discussion, we come to the crux of the matter.This chart shows the relative power of 6 muskets tested by the Prussians at 4 different ranges18. Wecan apply some thought and the previous discussions to the problem of determining why there areÑWhy the first musket seemed to perform normally at long range and poorly at the closer ranges of80 and 160 yards.ÑWhy performance of 3 and 5 increase from 240 to 320 yards.ranges.First of all lets discuss the results at 320 yards. Let's consider how difficult it must have been to hit atarget in ideal conditions at 250 yards, since we have some hard data for that range. Assuming you19. It is hard to say how the ricochets are detected when a company fires in unison, which iswhat appears that the prussians have done. Muskets 3 and 5 actually improved in performance between 240 and 320 yards. I suspect this is because some balls from those muskets actually wenthigh at a range of 240, but that would not be likely at 320 yards. Most all of the balls fired at theI would recommend we disregard any information from this longer range, as deflections may pen-etrate cloth, but would not have a great chance of seriously injuring a man. I personally know of onethis yourself!!!).Now lets consider the effectiveness of the first weapon, which starts out terribly, then catches up tothe rest of the pack at 240 yards. My feeling here is that this weapon is so bad the effect whichFinally lets consider the sixth weapon which seems to perform admirably, except, strangely enough,at the closest range. My feeling is that this weapon is ranged to fire at 150 yards compared to weap-The result of thesediscussions is a newchart with no 320 yardrange for weapon num-ber 1. The results nowmore sense although Isuspect weapons 2 and 3 6080120140 Finally by rating each musket at ranges of 80, 160 and 240 a picture of the theoretical effectivenessof each weapon becomes clear. This modified chart shows each weapons rating as compared to the1) A pretty marginal weapon, only 50 to 60 percent effective as the best weapon at under 160 yards.As noted before, worthless at longer ranges.2) A decent weapon although dropping to 85 percent maximum effectiveness at only 160 yards.Seems to lack muzzle velocity, a suspected bounce effect may be occurring at 240 yards.3) A decent weapon comparable to 2, but with better muzzle velocity. It drops to 75 percent maxi-mum effectiveness at 240 yards.4) An excellent weapon, seems to have no defects.we might expect from the ballistic data we have already considered. The only things that mayIDEAS FOR GAMERSSince I am a wargamer, I will throw out some gaming type suggestions. 123456 80160 1 BlackPowder Handbook, C. Kenneth Ramage, editor, 1975, Lyman Products for Shooters,Middlefield, Connecticut, page 142.