Were they really?

[Tom Herman]

Kevin,

I don't believe that everything today is better than it was then.
Yes, we can do much tighter machine work.
I believe lead and lead alloy quality and consistency was pretty good: Refining of lead has been going on for thousands of years, and it has been dialed in for quite some time.
I believe the older powder was better: It actually developed more velocity than new powder does.
Somewhere along the line, tribal knowledge in powder making was lost, and we haven't figured it out again yet.
Manufacturing is where Art meets Science, and there is a lot more going on than just getting the proportions right and wantonly grinding the powder.

-Tom