these days of leiderhosen

I won a five dollar bet off the Steven over dinner last night (five bucks being the standing bet amount). The Unlikely Topic: Civil War Munitions. 58 caliber muzzle loaded rifles were the primary weapon of the Civil War causing long awkward gaps between shots while both parties had to arduously reload their weapons while attempting to kill each other. I'm not an expert in weaponry or Civil War history, but awkward pauses... that I am familiar with. In battle if the rifle did not discharge properly, it could not be reloaded without disassembly. Two superimposed loads would cause the barrel to explode in the shooter's face. In the case of a misfire, the soldier would have thrown the gun aside for another weapon, which might be picked up by someone else looking for a rifle for the same reason. The misspent cartridges would have been discovered only in tamping down a fresh shot. Discard, scramble for new weapon, repeat. In the Battle of Gettysburg of the 35,000 muskets recovere...