[true_blue_texican]

...smoothbore Kentucky rifles...

First of all, that is a contradiction in terms. The citizen usually possessed a rifle; the soldier possessed a smoothbore musket. In other words, the citizenry possessed better arms than the military!!

[El Gato]

The citizen usually possessed a rifle; the soldier possessed a smooth bore musket. In other words, the citizenry possessed better arms than the military!!

Better in some senses, not as good in others. Rifles of the era were much more accurate, but were much, much slower to reload. Until the advent of the Minié ball, which allowed rifles to be loaded almost as fast as smooth bore muskets, and produced better ballistic (interior and exterior) performance, the muskets were preferred by the military forces of the time. (Especially by the officers, who were often the targets of the "riflemen", just as they are targets of today's snipers.)