During the American Revolution the British army fought with muskets. The Continental Army and various state militias fought with a combination of muskets and rifles. The rifles were single shot weapons like the muskets , but had the barrels rifled for distance rather than the smooth bore muskets.

Obviously the Americans relied on rifles for fighting at a distance, but preferred muskets for close combat. Since they both fired only a single shot and were both muzzle loaders which required the same time to reload, why was the preference for muskets?

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