# What do seconds in a duel do? How common?

**URL:** <https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-do-seconds-in-a-duel-do-how-common/236247>\
**Category:** Factual Questions\
**Created:** [March 25, 2004, 1:41am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-do-seconds-in-a-duel-do-how-common/236247 "2004-03-25T01:41:47Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 2\
**Page:** 2

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**Author:** ![Exgineer](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/a88e4f/32.png) [@Exgineer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Exgineer)\
**Post date:** [March 25, 2004, 7:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-do-seconds-in-a-duel-do-how-common/236247/21 "2004-03-25T19:25:24Z")

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I’m aware of the fouling problem, but my experience is mostly with rifles. As far as accuracy goes, I once got an eight inch group with a repro brown Bess after a little tinkering with the charge weight, and I’m nobody’s idea of an expert.

The smoothbore pistols surprised me, because it’s sort of counterintuitive.

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**Author:** ![Dogface](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/9d8465/32.png) [@Dogface](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dogface)\
**Post date:** [March 25, 2004, 7:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-do-seconds-in-a-duel-do-how-common/236247/22 "2004-03-25T19:43:17Z")

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> [@snorlax](#):
>
> Slight hijack but check out _Barry Lyndon_ by Stanley Kubrick if you want to see the workings of a duel and the involvement of the “seconds”. Given Kubrick’s legendary attention to detail I would suspect the duels featured in the film are reasonably accurate (and very tense as well).

If you want accurate, get “The Duelist” (Ridley Scott).

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