On April 19th, 1775, Colonists and British soldiers used the same type of gun, a flintlock musket that fired a one ounce solid lead ball. Its effective range was one hundred yards, the length of a modern football field. These weapons were smooth bore, with no grooves in the barrel to spin the ball and make it fly straight, and the ball was undersized to allow quick loading. Because muskets were not very accurate, they were most effective when lines of soldiers fired volleys. Colonists firing individually along the Battle Road did not hit their mark very often, but they did keep up a steady, harassing gunfire. Well-drilled soldiers using prepared cartridges could load and fire three or more times a minute. They tore open the paper cartridge with their teeth and sprinkled a small amount of gunpowder into the priming pan, then placed the remainder of the cartridge, powder, ball, and paper wrapping, into the muzzle and rammed it down with the ramrod. When the trigger was pulled, the flint struck the steel frizzen and made sparks, igniting the powder and firing the gun. Flints often failed to spark, damp powder failed to ignite, and powder fouling made loading difficult, so Colonists carried swords, axes, or bayonets as backup.