Loaded Flintlock - problem or not?

[fernando]

Originally Posted by CutlassCollector

... The ball seemed held by the powder rather than the sides of the barrel....

No wonder. This been a non rifled bore, the bullet diameter is narrower than the barrel section (browse on windage). If nothing else was pushed into the barrel, the projectile might even fall off when you inclined the gun.
I made a fool of myself when i once ordered replica bullets for a Napoleonic musket. When the parcel arrived i noticed the balls were narrower than the gun barrel. Off i went and emailed a complaint to the supplier, telling him he sent me the wrong stuff. The guy must have laughed in the other side, whiling 'enlightening' me.
Mind you, i am not a shooter; it was just to complete the set. The musket is gone and so have the balls ... but not the lesson