^ 'Pirate Blunderbuss A Blunt and Intimidating Weapon'., page 324, from a letter dated March 7, 1778 Society of Antiquaries of Newcastle-upon-Tyne. ^ a b Society of Antiquaries of Newcastle upon Tyne (1905).Discovering Lewis & Clark (published May 2005). The British Army: Its Origin, Progress, and Equipment. ^ Exhibition at the Metropolitan Museum of Art, your New York.īy the middle of the 19th century, the blunderbuss was replaced for military use by the carbine, but still found use by civilians as a defensive firearm. Ĭrude tripwire activated blunderbusses, known as alarm guns, spring guns and cemetery guns, were set up in graveyards and country estates to scare away poachers and resurrection men, and alert the gamekeeper or sexton to their presence. The blunderbuss did still have its civilian applications, however the Lewis and Clark Expedition carried a number of blunderbusses, some of which were mounted and used as small swivel guns on the pirogues. While most of the residents of Boston stayed, those who left under the agreement surrendered 1,778 long arms, 634 pistols, 273 bayonets, and only 38 blunderbusses. After the Battle of Lexington in 1775, British General Thomas Gage occupied Boston, Massachusetts, and upon negotiating with the town committee, Gage agreed to let the inhabitants of Boston leave town with their families and effects if they surrendered all arms. While the blunderbuss is often associated with the Plymouth Colony Pilgrims of 1620, evidence suggests that the blunderbuss was relatively scarce in the American colonies. Spring-loaded bayonet blunderbusses were also used by the Nottingham City Police after its formation around 1840. One 18th century coaching blunderbuss in another British collection had a brass barrel 43 cm (17 in) long, flaring to 51 mm (2 in) at the muzzle it was also provided with a spring-loaded bayonet, which was held along the barrel by a catch and would spring forward into place when released. A typical British mail coach would have a single postal employee on board, armed with a blunderbuss and a pair of pistols, to guard the mail from highwaymen.

The blunderbuss used by the British Royal Mail during the period of 1788–1816 was a flintlock with a 36 cm (14 in) long flared brass barrel, brass trigger guard, and an iron trigger and lock. Many types of ammunition, including gravel and sand, could be shot in a pinch, but most of the time they were shot using traditional lead balls. The Portuguese Marines used it widely in the 17th century.

Blunderbusses were also commonly carried by officers on naval warships, privateers and by pirates for use in close-quarters boarding actions. In addition to the cavalry, the blunderbuss found use for other duties in which the shotgun-like qualities were desirable, such as for guarding prisoners or defending a mail coach, and its use for urban combat was also recognized. The dragon became so associated with cavalry and mounted infantry that the term dragoon became synonymous with mounted infantry. The blunderbuss, and especially the dragon, was typically issued to troops such as cavalry, who needed a lightweight, easily handled firearm. Barrels were made of steel or brass.Ī recreation of one of Lewis and Clark's pirogues with a blunderbuss mounted to the bow with a pintle. While various old accounts often list the blunderbuss as being loaded with various scrap iron, rocks, or wood, resulting in damage to the bore of the gun, it was typically loaded with a number of lead balls smaller than the bore diameter. The blunderbuss could be considered an early shotgun, and served in similar roles. One source, describing arms from the early to middle 17th century, lists the barrel length of a wheel lock dragon at around 28 cm (11 in), compared to a 41 cm (16 in) length for a blunderbuss. īlunderbusses were typically short, with barrels under 60 centimetres (2 ft) in length, at a time when a typical musket barrel was over 90 cm (3 ft) long. The muzzle (and often the bore) was flared with the intent not only to increase the spread of the shot, but also to funnel powder and shot into the weapon, making it easier to reload on horseback or on a moving carriage modern experiments corroborated the dramatic improvement in shot spread, going from a 530-millimetre-spread (21-inch) diameter from a straight barrel to an average of 970 mm (38 in) spread at 9 metres (10 yards). 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. Musketoon, blunderbuss and coach gun from the American Civil War era.

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