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Most men who fought in the American Revolution (1775-1783) fired smoothbore muskets, but there were units of riflemen in both the British and American armies. Rifles worked better than muskets because the bullet spun out of a narrow, spiral-grooved or "rifled" barrel. This made them useful for firing at targets that were far away. Colonel Daniel Morgan's riflemen used them to deadly effect when they shot down every British officer who advanced on Freeman's Farm in the opening minutes of the Battle of Saratoga. Rifles were not perfect, however. They did not always work and took far longer to load than muskets. Unlike most soldiers, riflemen did not often carry cartridge boxes with pre-rolled cartridges and gunpowder. They instead loaded rifles by ramming a wet or greased patch of cloth wrapped around the ball. They added gunpowder from a powder horn. This leather bullet pouch could hold extra flints, and cloth for cleaning the weapon as well as bullets and patches.

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