blunderbus

I always wanted one, they are fun things to play with.
But as many have heard before, "you can load them with anything ,stones, nails, ..." , the list goes on.
I was wandering where that comes from.Is it because they look like a big funnel that you can shove into whatever you happend to come across with?
or is it there some kind of anecdotical twisted story behind it all? :hmm:
Does anybody knows? Has anybody tried it, and survive to tell the tale?
I still want one!

Good morning
Necesity and emergency became the foundation of all sorts of loads. BUT under normal circumstances most shooters stayed within bounds. Hard to beat lead for doing what it should.
Smooth river pea gravel was used from time to time in the south western michigan area BUT it is so light in weight it just cannot compare to a handful of swan shot for penetration.

The one that I always wondered about was rock salt, never tried any myself but it couldn't have more range than about 10 yards. Chris

Yeah, I've seen that quote all over, I suppose it could happen. I read accounts of men firing rocks out of muskets, and bigger rocks according to Surgeon Wasmus at the Battle of Bennington,out of cannon, so I guess you could. I have a blunderbuss, but I think I'll let someone else do the expieremental archeaology on that one!

juancho said:

"you can load them with anything ,stones, nails, ..."
I still want one!

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Yes, we all have heard that before....but why would you want to except in the case of a desperation loading? I believe the bell shaped muzzles were to ease loading while being used as a coach gun.

I've seen rock-salt loaded into shotgun shells and fired at deer who needed a lesson in staying out of the garden.
Having said that, that's kind of a cruel thing to do, given that if the salt did penetrate it would continue causing pain for quite some time.

goon said:

I've seen rock-salt loaded into shotgun shells and fired at deer who needed a lesson in staying out of the garden.
Having said that, that's kind of a cruel thing to do, given that if the salt did penetrate it would continue causing pain for quite some time.

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Considering how light rock salt is, I wonder if any salt even made it to the deer, not to mention wondering how bad that barrel rusted from the salt?

God bless

It would be worse than Pyrodex :rotf:


Brits :thumbsup:

I guess if you are despirate enough you can stuff about anything thta will fit in any muzzleloader. But it won't do it any good and probably will be less effective than good 'ol heavy lead balls.

I'm guessing the flared muzzle leads armchair militants to draw that conclusion. Best theory I have heard is that it is easier to load in a jostling coach. Second best is that looking into it defuses a mutiny on a ship's deck.

I do have a relatively short 12 bore (cylinder muzzle, not flared), and loaded with nine .315" balls it is pretty much a precursor to a burst from an Uzi.

J.D. said:

Considering how light rock salt is, I wonder if any salt even made it to the deer, not to mention wondering how bad that barrel rusted from the salt?

God bless

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That is exactly what I have always thought, not to mention, the irregular shape of the rock salt would make it fly like a flat rock out of a wrist rocket. One of these days I am going to have to set up a pattern board and just see what happens, anybody want to donate a shotgun for the experiment? :wink:

Firearms have almost always been INVENTED as a WEAPON, rather than a tool. Target rifles may be the exception.

That belled muzzle on a coach gun did allow loading the gun again, with both powder and shot. But the primary reason is the intimidation factor presented when you look at the muzzle end of that gun. It does seem that you are looking through the gates to Hades! If you have never looked at the working end of a Double Barreled shotgun, in 12 gauge, or 10 gauge, you need to do so. The muzzles make the guns look like CANNONS. That is why the mouths of these coach gun barrels were flared.

As to patterns, the patterns you get from any coach gun will not be much wider than those you get from a comparably gauged shotgun, without the belled muzzle. By the time the load reaches the muzzle, its traveling at so fast a speed, that the load of shot can't spread as fast as the mouth is belled.

There is a very informative publication about these weapons.
The Blunderbuss 1500-1900
by James Forman
from the Historical Arms series, Museum Restoration Service
ISBN 0-919316-32-8

They pattern the same as any other cylinder bored ML shotgun. The big difference when firing one of them with a 14" barrel is that the flash/bang are right there in front of your face, not 28 or more inches away.
Nicely effective with buckshot at ten yards.
The flared muzzle aided rapid loading when used on the moving platform provided by stagecoaches and ships' decks. The intimidation factor is certainly there; it's a big muzzle.
Pete

it would continue causing pain for quite some time.

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That is the idea. The old "porch" guns were kept loaded with rock salt to dissuade beligerants and teach them a lesson if they were a little too rowdy or aggressive-human and animals alike. You'd probably manure your pants when you got shot and the combination of the stinging salt and having to change your drawers would deter you from pursuing further trouble. Plus you might just have a little talk with Jesus because you're thankful to be alive and not shot full of lead. The old timers where I grew up in the dakotas talked about this regularly and it seems like it was common here in the mountains also.I often heard "the first barrel has rock salt, the second has lead".

.177 cal pellets make an interesting load in a smoothbore! My Unc called it a "covey killer". :stir:

Can't say for the deer, but I used to work with a guy who was shot with rock-salt once for engaging in some illicit activity in a farmer's field.
The rock salt made it to him. Didn't take him long to decide to dig it out.

As for the deer, if I need to scare them I'll use a paintball gun or slingshot - something that stings but doesn't keep hurting after the point has been made. I'll kill it if I have to but I'm not interested in torturing it.
But this is off topic - Blunderbusses!

Ghettogun said:

it would continue causing pain for quite some time.

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That is the idea. The old "porch" guns were kept loaded with rock salt to dissuade beligerants and teach them a lesson if they were a little too rowdy or aggressive-human and animals alike. You'd probably manure your pants when you got shot and the combination of the stinging salt and having to change your drawers would deter you from pursuing further trouble.

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Now the idea of someone getting a buttload of salt is funny...but I have a morbid sense of humor.

That reminds me of one of my clients who is now on probation for shooting one of his son's drunken, apparently very belligerent, friends in the butt with a .22 pistol after having a rib broken when hit by a stick of thrown firewood. :rotf: :rotf:

The client is in poor health, but is still on probation for the shooting. I kinda feel sorry for him, but he could have handled the situation a little better, though I don't know if shooting the punk with rocksalt, in place of lead, would have gotten him off. :rotf:

In today's world a bean bag/rubber bullet would be a better non-lethal choice than rock salt I'd think.

Many years ago my buddy used a rock salt load to deter dogs straying into his yard after repeated warnings to their owner. One small chunk of salt held together and penetrated one dogs rib cage killing it on the spot. Something to keep in mind if considering rock salt to deter.

Never point a firearm at anything or anyone you don't intend to kill.

I ran a shoot at a rendezvous. I had the shooters
blow up a balloon and hang it on a line 20 yards out. I used 75 grains of powder and three inches of dried pinto beans! when you try to aim a blunderbuss there is one big problem. while tying to look down the barrel all you see is the big funnel! All you can do is point in the general direction and pull the trigger. Less than half of the shooters got their balloon but we scattered dried beans all over north central Georgia and...we had fun! My Thunder Gun is a 6 bore.