Quote:
Originally Posted by Railstar
With the rotating drum, the break between the drum and the barrel might leak out some of the blast. Should that lower damage at all?
Malfunction rating? More chance of a misfire or hang fire if the spark and the barrel are not perfectly aligned.
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These are the big ones. The big problem with stuff leaking out the break in a loose powder breechloader isn't reduced damage, it's the jets of hot gas near your eye - more a problem for rifles you are trying to aim than for pistols I suppose, though burning your hands isn't desirable either. It's pesky enough out the touch hole. There's also the risk of chain firing.
And the problem with not having the barrel perfectly aligned isn't "misfire" it's "bullet hangs on the edge, and instead of the pressure of powder gases being relieved by expanding down the barrel, the gun explodes". Or "misaligned bullet tears off barrel" if you're lucky.
Really good machining makes both of these less of a problem - the parts fit better, so there is less leakage, and you can build a mechanical action that is accurate enough to align the chamber reliably - but good machining is *expensive* until the 19th century. Once the price falls you do start to see stuff like this (the first commercial revolvers were after all loose powder designs), but there's only about a 50 year gap between affordable machine tools and cartridges.