Charleville muskets had a smoothbore barrel. Rifles were more accurate than smoothbore muskets, but military commanders favored smoothbores on the battlefield, since the round from a rifle had to fit tightly into the barrel and became very difficult to load after a few shots because the black powder quickly fouled the barrel. The longer range and better accuracy of the rifle was also considered to be of little value on a battlefield that was quickly obscured by black powder smoke. Like all smoothbore muskets, the Charleville flintlock musket was only accurate to about against a column of men, or forty to fifty yards (37 to 46 m) against a single mansized target.