Skip to main content

Blunderbusses

Scope note

Short-barrelled shotguns with a wide bore expanding gradually throughout its length, typically terminating in a flared or thickened muzzle, and often carrying a spring-activated bayonet that folded back along the barrel when not in use. They were designed to fire a quantity of shot at once against a mass of opponents, and were popular weapons for defending stage coaches, ships, and prisons from the 17th to the 19th century.

Term type

AAT

Getty AAT term number

3000201505

Broader Terms used

shotguns

Narrower Terms used

flint-lock blunderbuss

Equivalent Terms used

blunderbuss

Created

13yrs ago

Citation for print

This page can be cited in the Harvard Bibliographic style using the text below:

The Fitzwilliam Museum (2024) "Terminology definition for: blunderbusses" Web page available at: https://collection.beta.fitz.ms/id/terminology/term-87590 Accessed: 2024-12-20 05:22:54

Citation for Wikipedia

To cite this page on Wikipedia you can use this code snippet:

{{cite web|url=https://collection.beta.fitz.ms/id/terminology/term-87590|title=Terminology definition for: blunderbusses|author=The Fitzwilliam Museum|accessdate=2024-12-20 05:22:54|publisher=The University of Cambridge}}

API call for this record

To call these data via our API (remember this needs to be authenticated) you can use this code snippet:

https://collection.beta.fitz.ms/api/v1/terminology/term-87590

Sign up for updates

Updates about future exhibitions and displays, family activities, virtual events & news. You'll be the first to know...