Musket drill, circa 1791 According to this page, the American
1791 drill manual was almost a literal translation of the French
manual of the same year. Count on governments to make a
complicated process even more complicated. In place of taking
aim, the manual instructs: "Let the muzzle be below the level of
the eye a little, and the right elbow kept lowered, without
being pressed against the body; shut the left eye; look along
the barrel with the right eye; sink forward the head towards the
butt in order to level; and place the fore finger on the
trigger. 83. Apply, with force, the first finger on the trigger,
without lowering or turning the head more, and remain in that
position.” 1) I've seen the ORIGINAL of a late 17th century
manual on musket reloading, in Library of Congress Rare Books
collections. It had not a word in it, after the title page,
everything was huge (maybe 12 x 18") images of what the next
position looked like. I wonder for a while and then realized --
at that time, how many musketeers wo