ARS Technica: What else can we learn from these types of experiments?
Joel Bohee: One great thing about the end of archaeology is when you find a fired ammunition. I am mainly volunteering with archaeologists in the Revolutionary Wars. One of my colleagues has been working on the Little Bighorn battlefield, firing pin impressions, to leave fingerprints, so he has made it possible to track troopers and Native Americans on the battlefield. and [the Revolutionary War]it’s difficult to do because it uses a smooth bore gun that doesn’t necessarily leave a signature on it. But it is the caliber that they leave, and they also leave the place. We gis and map all of these things. We still did last August that the changes people thought the battle had happened hadn’t changed yet.
Replica innovative war rifle being fired in the field.
GBH/NOVA
High speed camera captures close-ups of a shootout.
GBH/NOVA
High speed camera captures close-ups of a shootout.
GBH/NOVA
Replica innovative war rifle being fired in the field.
GBH/NOVA
High speed camera captures close-ups of a shootout.
GBH/NOVA
We like to combine it with live fire research. So we [conduct the latter]we take a shot, then we detect a metal shot, put it in a bag and tag it. We can record all the data we see in the musket balls we fire and correlate it with what we see on the ground when we are participating in an archaeological project. If it hits a rock, if it hits a rock, you can see how close the soldiers were when they fired, and whether they are all based on the transformation of the musket ball.
Ars Technica: What have you had experience filming a replica of a musket compared to a modern rifle?
Joel Bohee: That’s a very different thing. When firing a modern rifle, you pull the trigger and it’s very fast – millisecond problems and bullet down range. It’s similar in muskets, but it’s slow so you can predict the shot. By the time the cock is down, and by the time Flint hits the hammer, set the pan on fire. It passes through the vent to stop the charge. That will take more time. So you can predict and flinch. Like a more modern rifle, you don’t necessarily get the best shot. There are still many kicks and there is much more smoke due to the black powder used. With modern smokeless powder, there is almost no smoke compared to muskets.
