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Blunderbuss
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Blunderbuss
The blunderbuss is a Seventeenth- to mid-Nineteenth-century muzzleloading firearm with a short, large caliber, smoothbore barrel. The blunderbuss is flared at the muzzle to aid the loading of shot, which usually consisted of a dozen or so projectiles between .25 in (6.4 mm) and .35 in (8.9 mm) caliber. The blunderbuss could also be fired with other types of projectiles such as slugs and improvised projectiles like nails, rocks, glass, or tightly packed metal rods called "bundle shot." The blunderbuss is considered to be an early predecessor of the modern shotgun. It was effective only at short range, lacking accuracy at long distances. A blunderbuss in handgun form was called a dragon, and it is from this that the term dragoon evolved.
The term "blunderbuss" is of Dutch origin, from the Dutch word donderbus, which is a combination of donder, meaning "thunder", and bus, meaning "container, tin" (Middle Dutch: busse, box, jar, from Latin buxus, box tree).
The transition from donder to blunder is thought by some to be deliberate; the term blunder was originally used in a transitive sense, synonymous with to confuse or to make stupid, and this is thought to describe the stunningly loud report of the large-bore, short-barreled blunderbuss. The term dragon is taken from the fact that early versions were decorated with a carving in the form of a mythic dragon's head around the muzzle; the muzzle blast would then give the impression of a fire-breathing dragon.
Who invented the blunderbuss, where, and when, is a subject of debate. While the flintlock blunderbuss wasn't developed until the 17th century, the concept of the blunderbuss dates back to at least Germany in the mid-16th century, early examples of blunderbuss were either matchlock or wheellock firearms. A book published in Frankfurt in 1556 titled Von Kayserlichem Kriegsrechten ("On Imperial Laws of War") described a gun that fits the description of a blunderbuss: "a short-barrel smooth-bore gun shooting 12 or 15 bullets of musket bore". The blunderbuss appears to have spread from Germany to Holland by the late 1500s, the Westfries Museum in Hoorn, Netherlands has a matchlock blunderbuss that is dated to around 1600, with contemporary reports it may have been used in a battle at Zuiderzee in 1573. An inventor from Echten, The Netherlands named Henrick Theilmans was granted a patent on October 26, 1598 for a type of gun called the "Donderbus" (Dutch for "blunderbuss"), a gun that was intended for use on land or sea that was capable of firing 1 pound (450 g) of shot at a distance of approximately 500 paces, or about 1,250 ft (380 m).
The blunderbuss started becoming more prevalent in the mid-1600s after the invention of the flintlock mechanism, by then the blunderbuss had become common in places like the Ottoman Empire in Turkey and the Middle East. A major myth surrounding the blunderbuss is that it was commonly used by the early American Pilgrims, many depictions of early Pilgrims in popular media in the early to mid-20th century incorrectly showed Pilgrims armed with flintlock blunderbusses. This was especially true of depictions of the First Thanksgiving, comics and cartoons, such as Disney's Daffy Duck and Porky Pig incorrectly depict the Pilgrims using blunderbusses. While it hadn't become common yet, matchlock and wheellock blunderbusses did exist when the Pilgrims migrated from England to Holland in 1607 to escape religious persecution, and then sailed to North America in 1620. However, the flintlock blunderbuss that Pilgrims were depicted using in comics, cartoons, and films were not invented until about 30 years after the Pilgrims landed at Plymouth Rock in 1620. Further, there is no archeological or historical evidence that Pilgrims used blunderbusses. However there is ample evidence they used matchlock and wheellock muskets, which were much more suited to the wide open spaces the Pilgrims found themselves in.
The height of the blunderbuss was during the Golden Age of Piracy from the mid-17th century through the mid-18th century, when high unemployment and desperation in the wake of multiple wars such as the War of Spanish Succession turned more and more people to a life of piracy. Being perfectly suited for close quarters combat, the blunderbuss became a popular weapon for pirates, merchant crews, and sailors of the Royal Navy & Spanish Navy when hunting pirates. Blunderbusses were often mounted on a ship’s railing or gunwales via a mounting swivel, and used to rake the deck of an enemy ship with buckshot and other projectiles, and were excellent for repelling boarders in the confined spaces below decks. They were also mounted on the bow of dinghies and used as a defensive gun when boarding another ship, or going ashore. The blunderbuss' flared muzzle also made it easier to reload during the chaos of battle than a musket, as the user had to contend with the ship rocking back-and-forth, wet slippery decks, or being in a precarious place like the rigging or Crow's nest.
By the turn of the 18th century, the blunderbuss had become a common defensive weapon carried by coachmen in England for defense against highwayman, the name given to thieves that robbed people who were traveling along roads, especially in the more isolated areas of the countryside. The blunderbuss' shot pattern made hitting targets from a moving coach much easier than a musket. This led to the blunderbuss being called "coach guns" or "coaching guns" in England, with the term later being adopted for shorter double barreled shotguns known as a coach gun. It was common for people of wealth and importance to carry blunderbusses for protection, in addition to their driver being armed, when traveling through the English countryside. By the late-18th century it was common for civilian owned blunderbusses in England to be equipped with a bayonet on a hinge near the muzzle, some were even configured to deploy the bayonet after the gun was fired as a secondary means of protection. The majority of surviving blunderbusses found today date from 1750 to 1830, many are ones that belonged to the aristocracy and wealthy of England, some of which are gold plated and feature very ornate engraving, which are the most sought after by collectors. With the invention of the double barrel flintlock shotgun in 1790 that could hold two shots, and the development of the percussion cap in the 1820s, the popularity of the blunderbuss began to decline. By the mid-1850s the invention of the paper cartridge allowed both barrels of a percussion cap shotgun to be loaded far more rapidly than a blunderbuss' single barrel, this made the blunderbuss fall out of favor even more quickly; and by 1870 the prevalence of short, inexpensive double-barreled shotguns and the advent of the centerfire metallic shotgun cartridge made the blunderbuss completely obsolete and extinct.
The flared muzzle is the defining feature of the blunderbuss, differentiating it from large caliber carbines; the distinction between the blunderbuss and the musketoon is less distinct, as musketoons were also used to fire shot, and some had flared barrels.
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Blunderbuss
The blunderbuss is a Seventeenth- to mid-Nineteenth-century muzzleloading firearm with a short, large caliber, smoothbore barrel. The blunderbuss is flared at the muzzle to aid the loading of shot, which usually consisted of a dozen or so projectiles between .25 in (6.4 mm) and .35 in (8.9 mm) caliber. The blunderbuss could also be fired with other types of projectiles such as slugs and improvised projectiles like nails, rocks, glass, or tightly packed metal rods called "bundle shot." The blunderbuss is considered to be an early predecessor of the modern shotgun. It was effective only at short range, lacking accuracy at long distances. A blunderbuss in handgun form was called a dragon, and it is from this that the term dragoon evolved.
The term "blunderbuss" is of Dutch origin, from the Dutch word donderbus, which is a combination of donder, meaning "thunder", and bus, meaning "container, tin" (Middle Dutch: busse, box, jar, from Latin buxus, box tree).
The transition from donder to blunder is thought by some to be deliberate; the term blunder was originally used in a transitive sense, synonymous with to confuse or to make stupid, and this is thought to describe the stunningly loud report of the large-bore, short-barreled blunderbuss. The term dragon is taken from the fact that early versions were decorated with a carving in the form of a mythic dragon's head around the muzzle; the muzzle blast would then give the impression of a fire-breathing dragon.
Who invented the blunderbuss, where, and when, is a subject of debate. While the flintlock blunderbuss wasn't developed until the 17th century, the concept of the blunderbuss dates back to at least Germany in the mid-16th century, early examples of blunderbuss were either matchlock or wheellock firearms. A book published in Frankfurt in 1556 titled Von Kayserlichem Kriegsrechten ("On Imperial Laws of War") described a gun that fits the description of a blunderbuss: "a short-barrel smooth-bore gun shooting 12 or 15 bullets of musket bore". The blunderbuss appears to have spread from Germany to Holland by the late 1500s, the Westfries Museum in Hoorn, Netherlands has a matchlock blunderbuss that is dated to around 1600, with contemporary reports it may have been used in a battle at Zuiderzee in 1573. An inventor from Echten, The Netherlands named Henrick Theilmans was granted a patent on October 26, 1598 for a type of gun called the "Donderbus" (Dutch for "blunderbuss"), a gun that was intended for use on land or sea that was capable of firing 1 pound (450 g) of shot at a distance of approximately 500 paces, or about 1,250 ft (380 m).
The blunderbuss started becoming more prevalent in the mid-1600s after the invention of the flintlock mechanism, by then the blunderbuss had become common in places like the Ottoman Empire in Turkey and the Middle East. A major myth surrounding the blunderbuss is that it was commonly used by the early American Pilgrims, many depictions of early Pilgrims in popular media in the early to mid-20th century incorrectly showed Pilgrims armed with flintlock blunderbusses. This was especially true of depictions of the First Thanksgiving, comics and cartoons, such as Disney's Daffy Duck and Porky Pig incorrectly depict the Pilgrims using blunderbusses. While it hadn't become common yet, matchlock and wheellock blunderbusses did exist when the Pilgrims migrated from England to Holland in 1607 to escape religious persecution, and then sailed to North America in 1620. However, the flintlock blunderbuss that Pilgrims were depicted using in comics, cartoons, and films were not invented until about 30 years after the Pilgrims landed at Plymouth Rock in 1620. Further, there is no archeological or historical evidence that Pilgrims used blunderbusses. However there is ample evidence they used matchlock and wheellock muskets, which were much more suited to the wide open spaces the Pilgrims found themselves in.
The height of the blunderbuss was during the Golden Age of Piracy from the mid-17th century through the mid-18th century, when high unemployment and desperation in the wake of multiple wars such as the War of Spanish Succession turned more and more people to a life of piracy. Being perfectly suited for close quarters combat, the blunderbuss became a popular weapon for pirates, merchant crews, and sailors of the Royal Navy & Spanish Navy when hunting pirates. Blunderbusses were often mounted on a ship’s railing or gunwales via a mounting swivel, and used to rake the deck of an enemy ship with buckshot and other projectiles, and were excellent for repelling boarders in the confined spaces below decks. They were also mounted on the bow of dinghies and used as a defensive gun when boarding another ship, or going ashore. The blunderbuss' flared muzzle also made it easier to reload during the chaos of battle than a musket, as the user had to contend with the ship rocking back-and-forth, wet slippery decks, or being in a precarious place like the rigging or Crow's nest.
By the turn of the 18th century, the blunderbuss had become a common defensive weapon carried by coachmen in England for defense against highwayman, the name given to thieves that robbed people who were traveling along roads, especially in the more isolated areas of the countryside. The blunderbuss' shot pattern made hitting targets from a moving coach much easier than a musket. This led to the blunderbuss being called "coach guns" or "coaching guns" in England, with the term later being adopted for shorter double barreled shotguns known as a coach gun. It was common for people of wealth and importance to carry blunderbusses for protection, in addition to their driver being armed, when traveling through the English countryside. By the late-18th century it was common for civilian owned blunderbusses in England to be equipped with a bayonet on a hinge near the muzzle, some were even configured to deploy the bayonet after the gun was fired as a secondary means of protection. The majority of surviving blunderbusses found today date from 1750 to 1830, many are ones that belonged to the aristocracy and wealthy of England, some of which are gold plated and feature very ornate engraving, which are the most sought after by collectors. With the invention of the double barrel flintlock shotgun in 1790 that could hold two shots, and the development of the percussion cap in the 1820s, the popularity of the blunderbuss began to decline. By the mid-1850s the invention of the paper cartridge allowed both barrels of a percussion cap shotgun to be loaded far more rapidly than a blunderbuss' single barrel, this made the blunderbuss fall out of favor even more quickly; and by 1870 the prevalence of short, inexpensive double-barreled shotguns and the advent of the centerfire metallic shotgun cartridge made the blunderbuss completely obsolete and extinct.
The flared muzzle is the defining feature of the blunderbuss, differentiating it from large caliber carbines; the distinction between the blunderbuss and the musketoon is less distinct, as musketoons were also used to fire shot, and some had flared barrels.