Let's see...if this is before metal cartridges, the gunmen pulls out his muzzle-loading flintlock pistol, bites open the cartridge, primes the pan, rams home the bullet and remaining cartridge, finishes cocking your pistol, and shoots the swordsman...
In the meantime, the swordsman has killed him, returned his sword to its scabbard, and taken his purse and gun.
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When discussing ranged weapons, it's all about the range. :-)
Even to this day, a good martial artist can knock out a gunman before he can draw his gun -- at the right range.
At the wrong range, about all you can do is sprint like crazy to get to the right range.... Robin Hood is either most or least likely to kill the others (aside from the fact he just generally makes friends with other "heroic" figures), depending on whether he's ambushing people from the trees at a distance, or on the ground fighting toe-to-toe with a sword (like the poll title suggests...)
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cap'n'ball is before cartridges, and you can carry loaded
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Do you mean "cap" as in percussion cap? iirc, they were invented in the late 18th or early 19th century. Cartridges predate percussion caps. It's just that they were paper cartridges, which included the correct powder charge, the ball, and the wadding.
Also, black powder is hygroscopic. It will absorb water from the air and stop being sufficiently flammable to work as a propellant.
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