how many of you CA residents plan to register your "assault rifles"

[Straw Man]

45. Somewhat true.

As I understand it, rifled muskets couldn't get off as many shots as smooth bore muskets, and the spiral grooves on the inside of the rifle barrel became fouled with black powder after a limited number of shots.

As far as muzzleloaders go, rifles are slower to load (tighter bore) and more prone to fouling than muskets. Arguably, those disadvantages are outweighed by the rifle's far greater accuracy at long range.

A rifleman could load at leisure if he was beyond the range at which a musket could be reliably accurate. The tactic for riflemen was sniping. For massed close-contact battle, yes, the musket would have the advantage, but a relatively small group of rifleman could wreak havoc on a column of infantry from behind cover at a safe distance.

It helped that many of the Continentals had hunting experience, with its emphasis on marksmanship. The British were trained to point in the general direction of the enemy and fire en masse: very useful against close formations, but at distance against snipers firing from cover, not so much. Snipers especially targeted officers, which the British considered low-class and unsportsmanlike.