Today when you get shot by M-16 sort of rifle ( cal. .223) the bullet is liable to bounce off the bone in your right elbow and come out under your arm pit or your shoulder. It does horrible damage, but different damage than the smoothbore musket. With the musket the ball was liable to just take out a piece of bone and the surgeons had no idea, or means to do some kind of bone graft, so the arm would have to come off. The arm would be useless anyway because it would never mend. I don't envy soldiers from the "Good Old Days" one bit. Surgeons also had the idea that they had to get the bullet or ball out of the patient even if all that probing caused worse damage. I met a guy at the Tampa VA a few weeks ago who still had a bullet from a AK-47 lodged in the back of his head. If the surgeons tried to take it out at this point they might do a lot more damage to the brain. Of course, bullets today are metal jacketed so you can't die for lead poisoning.