Considering how long it takes to reload a musket, why didn’t soldiers from the 18th century simply carry 2-3 preloaded muskets instead to save time?
In: Engineering
Because muskets were expensive and they had to be maintained frequently. Most people couldn’t afford to own multiple guns, and keep them in fighting shape. That’s a lot of money and work to do.
Also, they were very inaccurate. Even if you had 2-3 muskets, it’s highly unlikely you would hit 2-3 people with those shots. Odds are that you would miss all 3 shots, and now you have to reload 3 guns.
It just wasn’t practical, financially or otherwise.
Because muskets were *heavy as fuck*. Most muskets in the 1700s (and well into the 1800s) weighed on the order of 30+ pounds. They were made from cast iron, which was so weak that the walls had to be quite thick, and the barrels had to be incredibly long both to capture all of the slow-burning gunpowder, and to ensure a reasonable level of accuracy without rifling. Carrying 3 of them would mean lugging around 100+ pounds, all for three shots, because as soon as you fire the last musket, you’re right back at your original problem, as in a battle you ain’t gonna have time to sit there and reload 3 muskets!
Outside of rank and file combat, if you had a musket you’d often also have one or two pistols tucked away just in case. They were accurate to about 6 feet, but it was better than nothing, and they were significantly faster to reload.
Fixing bayonets was also pretty common in the musket age, as that basically turned it into a spear… which is what the average infantryman was armed with for hundreds of years before muskets came along.
have you ever seen a musket? they’re big and bulky, even just carrying a second one would not be worth the hassle, you get one more shot and then you have to reload anyways. gotta deal with carrying around all that weight too.
They’d still need to spend time to reload those other muskets. You can’t shoot anybody if you’re using both hands to get black powder and a bullet down the barrel of another gun at the same time.
Weight and money.
Muskets aren’t light when you have to haul it around walking. Modern rifles tend to be lighter (until you reach higher calibers) and I can tell you from personal experience they start to feel a tad heavy after 8 hrs. 20 extra pounds feels worse than it sounds after several days and dozens of miles. The ability to maneuver and move forces quickly is a huge strategic advantage.
Muskets also aren’t cheap. Outfitting troops to carry 3 weapons instead of 1 is 3x the cost to fire 3 shots at the beginning of battle quickly, then have to reload anyways. And now the troops have to keep track of 2 expended weapons while reloading 1 and fighting a battle. Battles that can last hours or days.
Better to just train the troops to reload quickly and adjust tactics to account for it.
Weight and cost. Look at the [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Brown_Bess](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Brown_Bess) the British used from 1722 until 1838 its mass is 4.8 kg. When the fight reaches a short distance and you use the bayonet you would need to do that with the other muskets on your back.
Multiple firearms were something that was used. It was not uncommon for cavalry to carry two or even more pistols. That is in addition to a sword for close combat.
Simple:
* Muskets are heavy. Ammo is not.
* They were never alone. While one shoots the other reloads.
Muskets are too heavy and cumbersome to do that, plus you need to fire more than 2-3 shots in a battle, so you are back at the original problem.
But pistols? That was more common, expecially in skirmish combat, like boarding a ship. Think about classical depiction of pirates, with multiple flintlock pistols holstered in various places.
Besides weight and money. Then you simply have to reload three of them. There is almost no benefit, except the additional two shots at the beginning of „the fight“
Bevor the time of muskets, when people were still using crossbows, they did something like this:
If your castle was attacked, skilled crossbow men were firing down on the attacking force. They often had servicemen reload a second crossbow while they were shooting. This made sense, as both shooting and reloading is a skill and weight was not an issue.
I have no reference for this, but maybe something similar was done with muskets?
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