Troops issued with the Baker rifle were also occasionally required to "stand in the line" and serve as regular infantry if the situation called for it. The higher rate of fire (and therefore the volume of fire) of the musket was required when deployed as line infantry, even if this came with a significant loss in accuracy. For this reason, ammunition was issued in two forms: one, loose balls, in standard carbine caliber with greased patches for accurate shooting, with loose powder inside a flask equipped with a spring-loaded charger to automatically measure out the correct amount of powder; and two, paper cartridges similar to regular musket ammunition. The requirement for the Baker armed troops to be able to perform regular infantry tasks, such as form square against cavalry, or resist a bayonet attack, led to the rather cumbersome 23½-inch-long sword-bayonet which, when fitted, made the rifle-bayonet length some 65 inches, nearly the same as a bayonet-fitted musket. There were even talks early in the rifle's adoption of additionally equipping the riflemen with short pikes instead of bayonets; however, this impractical idea was never put into actual use.