King Karl XI, that built up the Carolean army that was so successful during the first half of the Great Nordic War, considered fire a precursor to the charge rather than a viable tactic of its own.

The soldier instruction of 1694 (1694 års reglemente) proscribed that the battalion would march 150 men wide and 4 men deep, with the pikemen (1/3) in the centre and the musketmen (2/3) on both flanks. The battalion was not to return fire as the enemy opened fire at about 120 paces. Instead it was to advance to 70 paces and release its first volley. The first two ranks of musketmen were to remain while the rear two ranks advanced and took the front. The second volley, fired by the previously rear ranks, was to be fired at 30 paces, after which the entire battalion was to charge the enemy.

Reloading while under fire or in the face of the enemy was strictly forbidden. Karl XI and his son Karl XII considered reloading under fire unreliable. Ramrods were made out of wood and would often break when stressed troops tried to speed up loading and the chance of loading badly was much higher. Barrels would foul up with residue from black powder, flints would break, spitting the bullet down the barrel instead of using the cotton wad to keep it properly in place and other ways to reload faster increased the risk of misfires and other problems.

The only real change to the Swedish tactics during the Great Nordic War was that the number of pikemen decreased during the King's time in the Ottoman Empire 1709-1714 and that the number of paces the first and second salvo was fired was reduced from 70 and 30 to 20 and 10 in 1708.

So yes, shots were fired at very close range, with the Swedish standard muskets (m/1699) being 20mm in caliber, this was usually devastating. Troops were instructed to not reload until the enemy had been routed and no further pursuit was possible - reloading was to be done properly rather than quickly, for the next advance and charge to have the most potential effect.

Swedish troops in this era were supplied with 15-20 cartridges going into battle, and needing more than half of that was considered extraordinary.

The Swedish tactics were very successful during the early half of the Great Nordic War. Other European nations used platoon fire (to keep many small salvoes going constantly) and no pikes and were in most cases unable to respond when Swedish pikemen charged in formation with levelled pikes. There are many accounts of Swedish infantry formations closing, firing, charging and then "tumbling" over the enemy battalion as its men tries to flee, the formation becomes disordered and many of the men are killed in the pursuit.