Reply #129: All of those shots were at point-blank range...

[benEzra]

35 to 90 yards, well within the capability of a Revolutionary War era flintlock.

The .223 Remington is the LEAST powerful of all common centerfire rifles, and is only about half as powerful as a typical deer rifle.

FWIW, to see what a hunting rifle can do in the wrong hands, go back to the Texas Tower shootings, in which the shooter used a medium-caliber bolt-action hunting rifle, caliber 6mm Remington. Several victims in that shooting were shot at distances in excess of 500 yards.