No, I have no desire to get into black powder, but I had a random question concerning the Brown Bess musket.  The Brown Bess was of course the standard infantry arm for the British army for over 100 years.

Does anyone know the number of cartridges an average redcoat would carry?  I am sure there were variations throughout that 100+ year service life, but was there ever a 'standard load out?'

It varied, actually a great deal up to the cartridge area...

...That's just of the british stuff.

Okay, I will give the context of my question:

I was listening to the German song Fridericus Rex this evening, a patriotic song boasting about the superiority of his Prussian army.  The whole thing is a collection of 'we have this, they have that' with favorable comparisons throughout.  I was considering the one line: 'Und jeder Grenadier kriegt sechzig Patronen.', meaning, 'Every soldier gets  60 cartridges.'

If considered in the spirit of the song, that should be a generous load.  Since the Brown Bess' service was contemporary to the reign of King Freddy, (and since British military history is heavily studied) I assume the OP is the best question to ask, to find out just how good they (supposedly) had it.

I figured so, as that is 20 minutes of constant firing, at 3 rounds per minute.

So, kaso, forgive me for asking the obvious, but do you speak German?

Not really, aside from the very basic.  Which is why I listen to the song, and others.  If you listen to a person talk in a foreign language, they can move quite fast, and without terribly clear pronunciation.  Music can be much clearer.  Listen to a song over and over, (after familiarizing myself with the content, but Not memorizing it.) and pick out the words you know.  Over time your knowledge will grow to connect the dots, and you will have gained vocabulary and pronunciation.

Take this for instance:  Where else are you going to hear a foreign language spoken so (slowly and) clearly?

Only in music.  Plus it's a pretty song, and I like it.

Ah, Google translate, gotcha  .

Very interesting thread.

If each lead bullet weighed 1 ounce (just guessing but probable), that's at least 4 lbs of ammo. Add in the weight of the powder and wooden cartridge cases and they were probably carrying 6 or 7 pounds in just ammo load for 60 rounds.

 Dunno Kaso.....black powder's addicting:

Dunno Kaso.....black powder's addicting:

Exactly.  So is heroin.  I'll be avoiding both, and for similar reasons. 

I could order from Pedersoli, and easily make my new 'most expensive' firearm a black powder weapon. 

I don't think that black powder is quite as dangerous as heroin. Unless you just really dislike the idea of measuring powder. Even Jesse has said that it is pretty hard to get to dangerous levels in a handgun.

We are both talking English, but I don't think we are speaking the same language.

Not that expensive.  The used market is flooded with black powder. 

Expensive purchased new+hard to sell=cheap prices.

  That's a nice Charleville .69 clone and I only paid $400 for it unfired with a bunch of spare flints.

I also have a pedersoli "Kodiak" .72 double rifle that I only paid $400 for, also unfired, also with 2 bags of balls.   

Oh wow.  Somebody took a serious bath on those.

We are both talking English, but I don't think we are speaking the same language.

Oh, you meant expense  . Well dude, I don't know how expensive heroin is up there. You have to remember that local prices differ  .

I would have a hard time resisting a well made .36 caliber percussion squirrel rifle.   A friend had one years ago and that thing was ridiculously accurate when you did your part.  No recoil to speak of and when we'd take off for a shooting session out in the desert his daughters would shoot the thing as often as you could load it for them.  Lots of fun.   

From Sharpe's Eagle...

Sir Arthur Wellesley did not mind; he only cared that a soldier had sixty rounds of ammunition and a clear head, and if his trousers were brown instead of white then it made no difference to the outcome of a fight.

‘No, we’ll get on.’ He knew the men could be trusted not to sell more than a handful of cartridges. He looked at the huge Irishman. ‘How many cartridges would you have, Sergeant.’ Harper’s face was sublimely honest. ‘Eighty, sir.’ ‘Show me your powder horn.’ Harper smiled. ‘I thought you might like a drop of something tonight, sir?’ ‘Let’s get on, then.’ Sharpe grinned at Harper’s discomfiture. In addition to the eighty rounds, twenty more than the rest of the army carried, Riflemen also carried a horn of fine powder that made for better shooting when there was time to use it. ‘All right, Sergeant. Ten minutes fast, then we’ll march easy.’

Obviiously it's a work of fiction but Cornwell researches things extensively.