the.com/blunderbuss
A gun that swore accuracy was for cowards and intimidation did the real work.
means A short, large-bored firearm with a flared, trumpet-like muzzle, used at close range to scatter shot widely — accuracy optional, terror included.
from From the Dutch 'donderbus,' literally 'thunder-box' — 'donder' (thunder) plus 'bus' (a tube or barrel, the same root that gives us 'blunderbuss' a cousin in cannon-words). English speakers heard 'donder' and, perhaps fittingly for a weapon this clumsy, reshaped it into 'blunder,' so the thunder-box became, by happy mishearing, a blunder-box. The word arrived in English in the 17th century.
- name origin
- Dutch for thunder gun, donderbus
- flared barrel
- Funnel mouth made loading easier on bumpy coaches
- spread myth
- Wide muzzle barely improved shot spread
- coach guard
- Favorite of guards fending off highwaymen
- loaded with
- Stones, nails, scrap, whatever was nearby
henry viii's blunderbuss — royal collection at windsor castle, ornate weapon with flared muzzle from 16th century england
dutch golden age blunderbuss — voc trading company weapons used in southeast asia, 1600s-1700s, wide-bore design
pirate blunderbuss — caribbean privateers like blackbeard, 1700s, close-range naval combat weapon