Breech loading firearms can be reloaded much more quickly, they can be reloaded when moving, and they are easy to reload when lying down. The muzzleloader must be loaded when standing upright.
Weapon loads at the breech vs. the muzzle.
A 'muzzle loader' is any firearm (or cannon) which does not have a breech mechanism and which is 'charged' (loaded with powder and shot) from the muzzle end of the barrel.
Percussion cap ignition in muzzle loading firearms was introduced around 1830.
The vast majority of weapons at Gettysburg were muzzle loading percussion cap rifles. The artillery was rifled, muzzle loading, lanyard fired cannon. The Union cavalry used breech loading Sharps carbines, for the most part.
When using a muzzle loading gun it is important to ensure that it can handle modern smokeless powder because of the greater amount of force produced by smokeless powder as opposed to using the black powder that the muzzle loader was intended for.
Weapon loads at the breech vs. the muzzle.
A lot! Breech loading simply means loaded from the rear of the barrel, instead of the muzzle. There are "trapdoor" rifles, top break, bolt action, lever action, autoloading, pumps, "twist" action, and a few others that did not really work out.
Muzzle loading guns must be loaded in parts though the end of the barrel. The method of igniting the gunpowder in a muzzle loader is different than modern guns in that it uses a primer cap or pan instead of hitting primer inside of a bullet shell. Muzzle loaders are neither center fire nor rim fire.
Any gun that is loaded from the front (that is the muzzle). The firearms used during the American Revolution were mainly muzzleloaders, during the Civil War, they began to change to breech loading firearms. Type can include cannon, muskets, rifles, pistol and revolvers.
Black powder, or a black powder substitute such as Pyrodex. Smokeless powder (modern gun powder) should not be used in a traditional muzzle loading firearm.
The artillery consisted of muzzle loading rifled cannons. The infantry carried, primarily, muzzle loading Springfield percussion cap rifles and socket bayonets. Officers carried percussion cap revolvers and a sword. Cavalry troopers fired breech loading Sharps carbines and percussion cap revolvers, and carried sabers instead of bayonets.
The breech is the rear of the barrel, where a cartridge would be loaded. The muzzle is the front end of the barrel. When fired, a bullet is driven up the barrel, and out of the muzzle.