Originally Posted by
paul075
I believe it would be more accurate to say it was effective up until well over a century ago. Even in the Civil War it was used to equip smoothbore troops in massed formations who were fighting other troops in massed formations. But it was already outdated then.
It was meant to give troops with inaccurate weapons an increased chance of a hit by at least one projo. And this was in a time in which many wounds that would today be survivable were at that time eventually fatal due to no germ theory, unsanitary conditions, the properties of the projectile and its speed, and crude medical techniques and tools.
It was and is a compromise. You would be better off today chosing to shoot a slug or buck and not trying to cram both into one round that doesn't do the job as well as either.
Death hangs over thee: whilst yet thou livest, whilst thou mayest, be good.
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