Yes you are right about muzzle velocity, the .69 caliber round ball wins the drag race (speed just out of the barrel). What I'm reading is the Minie' ball hits the target down range (?100 yards ?) at a higher velocity than the round ball. Is this right or wrong? A confederate surgeon did a study on this in comparing smoothbore wounds to Minie' ball wounds in 1864. He looks like he's comparing shape of the bullets and their speed, round balls (slower) and Minie' balls (faster). He describes the effect of both on bone and tries to come up with a plan to treat both wounds.