Muzzleloader
![A pair of French cased duelling pistols by Nicolas Noel Boutet. Single shot, flintlock, rifled, .58 caliber, blued steel, Versailles, 1794-1797. The set of accessories includes a small hammer as rifled pistols used slightly oversized bullets.A hammer was needed to drive the bullet down the barrel when loading.[1]](/uploads/202501/28/French_cased_duelling_pistols,_Nicolas_Noel_Boutet,_single_shot,_percussion,_rifled,_.58_caliber,_blued_steel,_Versailles,_1794-1797_-_Royal_Ontario_Museum_-_DSC094773559.JPG)
A muzzleloader is any firearm into which the projectile and usually the propellant charge is loaded from the muzzle of the gun (i.e., from the forward, open end of the gun's barrel). This is distinct from the more popular modern (higher tech and harder to make) designs of breech-loading firearms. The term "muzzleloader" may also apply to the marksman who specializes in the shooting of muzzleloading firearms. The term of art includes rifled muzzleloaders and smoothbore muzzleloaders. The firing methods, paraphernalia and mechanism further divide both categories as do caliber (from cannons to small-caliber palm guns).