Frank Greenough on 2 June 04 asked you why making a ball spin would make it more accurate. Imagine a ball with a small defect in one spot. Fired from a musket that defect would cause increased resistance in that one direction causing the ball to veer off a straight path. But if the ball is rapidly spinning then the defect is constantly in a different direction and thus evens out. So the ball flies straight. Since all balls (bullets) will some defect of shape or weight, even if minute, the rifle is more accurate than the musket. Daniel Thomas