My summation of the round ball with spin imparted had me thinking of their casting methods back then & quality control and if the ball was not truely concentric then imparting a spin would exacerbate that imbalance but I guess the same would hold true for the minie ball having the same issue along its longitudinal axis. So I guess troops advancing in waves negated the inaccuracy problems as aiming at one soldier you hit the chap next to him but who cares you hit someone?
Thanks for sharing it is an awesome piece.