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Tell me about the target size being used at long range for a scoped rifle. I bet the relative size between a target size through a magnified scope and a target size for a naked eye aren't much different. The "large" target size has more to do with being able to actually see the target with the naked eye (and line it up with iron sights) than improving the score just by having a larger target. No different than asking a shooter with a modern sniper scope to use a target smaller than be seen through his scope.
I don't think anyone's arguing that the string of movie shots at the bucket is realistic (that's pure Hollywood). But, muzzleloaders and BP cartridge rifles can indeed be accurate at long ranges (where the shooter can see the target with the naked eye). The British proved that at Crimea against the Russians. The biggest and obvious issue is dealing with the massive arc of the trajectory of the bullet. As to the heft of the rifle, a shooter would overcome that with training - no different than English archers training to shoot bows with draw weights much heavier than bows used by current archers.
Our Sniper targets were the standard Army Figure 11, of course zeroing was done with standard competition Bulls Eye targets.
Unlike the average Sharps rifle shooter, English Longbow archers were trained from an early age (around their Teens) as specialist Archers village by village and by Law (even as late as Henry 8th reign) rather then whoever volunteered to compete as in the Quigley scenario.