Frenchie-
Actually the individual in question considered his Brown Bess musket merely a prop and the steel of such inferior quality that it would burt on firing a ball. You should have seen his face when he learned that some of us not only shot our muskets (and flintlock rifles) for real, but were getting ready to do it again. He just knew one of them was going to explode like a bomb and blow us all up!
He is not the only one I've met of this mentality, but he certainly ranks as one of the worst informed.
US Scout
Bvt Brig. Gen., GAF