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Blunderbuss
The Blunderbuss (from Dutch donderbus roughly translated as "thunder pipe") was an early shotgun, a muzzle-loading firearm with a large caliber, short barrel (compared to a period long rifle), flared at the muzzle. Contrary to popular belief and depictions in cartoons, the flared muzzle is not to allow the weapon to be filled with shrapnel and junk instead of shot; doing so would damage the weapon. Instead, it served the twin purposes of increasing the spread of shot and making pouring powder and shot into the weapon easier.
Blunderbusses could have most types of period lockwork, and snaplock, matchlock, wheellock, flintlock and even caplock examples exist. More bizarrely, there are some rare examples of breechloading blunderbusses, which went about as well as one would expect. A pistol-length blunderbuss was sometimes called a "Dragon" and they were commonly issued to cavalry; they were at one point so closely associated with them that the corruption dragoon was used to refer to units of horse cavalry with infantry training. Both pistol-length and larger blunderbusses were popular weapons for shipboard use where their short range was much less of a factor, and long (14-18 inch barrel) blunderbusses were issued to British mail coaches for protection from highwaymen, a forerunner to the use of true shotguns as "coach guns."
Like most antique weapons, any blunderbuss that is fired in a live-action work is likely a prop or modern reproduction, due to the needless expense of procuring a rare and expensive weapon for such a scene and the risk of an elderly authentic weapon exploding when fired.
Specifications
(17th century - 19th century)
- Type: Early shotgun
- Caliber: Various shot weights
- Rate of fire: User dependent, usually 1+ rounds a minute
- Feed system: Manually, muzzle-loaded
The Blunderbuss and variants can be seen in the following films, television series, video games, and anime used by the following actors:
Film
| Title | Actor | Character | Note | Date |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| The Student of Prague (Der Student von Prag) | Seen in Counte's castle | 1913 | ||
| Lorna Doone | uncredited | Robert | 1922 | |
| Doones | ||||
| Treasure Island (Ostrov sokrovishch) | Klavdiya Pugachyova | Jenny Hawkins | 1937 | |
| Mikhail Tsaryov | Dr. Livesey | |||
| Osip Abdulov | John Silver | |||
| Iona Biy-Brodskiy | George Merry | |||
| Nikolay Michurin | Israel Hands | |||
| V. Yakushenko | Dick Johnson | |||
| uncredited | Richard Joyce | |||
| uncredited | Tom Redruth | |||
| Sailors, Pirates, Irish rebels | ||||
| Silver Blaze | Seen on the wall | 1937 | ||
| The Loves of Carmen | 1947 | |||
| Don César de Bazan | S. Tsomayev | Lazarille | 1957 | |
| Dunkirk | hanging in a pub | 1958 | ||
| Kidnapped | John Laurie | Ebenezer Balfour | 1960 | |
| Greed in the Sun (Cent mille dollars au soleil) | seen on the wall | 1964 | ||
| The Snow Queen (Snezhnaya koroleva) | German Lupekin | A robber | 1967 | |
| Angelique and the Sultan | Sultan soldiers | 1968 | ||
| Colonel Wolodyjowski | Magdalena Zawadzka | Basia | 1969 | |
| The Last Valley | 1970 | |||
| Kidnapped | Donald Pleasence | Ebenezer Balfour | 1971 | |
| The Married Couple of the Year Two (Les Mariés de l'an II) | Sami Frey | Henri de Guerande | 1971 | |
| The Lost Letter (Propala hramota) | Vladimir Shakalo | Petro | 1972 | |
| Straw Dogs | Seen in the Sumners' cabin | 1971 | ||
| Calmos | Bernard Blier | The priest | 1976 | |
| Warlords of Atlantis | Guards of Atlantis | 1978 | ||
| Trail of the Pink Panther | 1982 | |||
| Young Sherlock Holmes | Nadim Sawalha | Khasek | Percussion cap | 1985 |
| Murphy's Law | Ben Wilcove's gun collection | 1986 | ||
| Zerograd (Gorod Zero) | Flintlock, long barreled; Seen in the museum | 1988 | ||
| Loose Cannons | Gene Hackman | Det. MacArthur "Mac" Stern | 1990 | |
| Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles III | Walker's men | 1993 | ||
| Kidnapped | Patrick Malahide | Ebenezer Balfour | 1995 | |
| Kidnapped | seen on the wall | 1995 | ||
| Cutthroat Island | Pirates | 1995 | ||
| The Pest | 1997 | |||
| Almost Heroes | Spaniard | 1998 | ||
| Plunkett and Macleane | Robert Carlyle | Will Plunkett | 1999 | |
| The Musketeer | Justin Chambers | D'Artagnan | 2001 | |
| Peter Pan | Jason Isaacs | Captain Hook | 2003 | |
| Peter Pan | Pirates | 2003 | ||
| Pirates of the Caribbean: The Curse of the Black Pearl | Pirates | 2003 | ||
| Malibu's Most Wanted | 2003 | |||
| Van Helsing | 2004 | |||
| The Brothers Grimm | Jan Unger | Gregor | 2005 | |
| Pirates of Treasure Island | Rebekah Kochan | Anne Bonney | Percussion | 2006 |
| The Fall | Robin Smith | Luigi | 2006 | |
| Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man's Chest | Kevin McNally | Joshamee Gibbs | 2006 | |
| The Golden Compass | Gyptian man | 2007 | ||
| Pirates of the Caribbean: At World's End | Pirates | 2007 | ||
| Hot Fuzz | Edward Woodward | Tom Weaver | 2007 | |
| Lucky Luke | Thugs | 2009 | ||
| Big Money Rustlas | Mark Jury | Dirty Sanchez | 2010 | |
| The Three Musketeers | Ray Stevenson | Porthos | 2011 | |
| Abraham Lincoln: Vampire Hunter | Dominic Cooper | Henry Sturgess | 2012 | |
| Beauty and the Beast | uncredited | bartender | 2014 | |
| Pride and Prejudice and Zombies | Sam Riley | Mr. Darcy | 2016 | |
| Guardian | ||||
| The Bride | seen in the basement | 2017 | ||
| Black '47 | An Irishman | 2018 |
Television
| Title | Actor | Character | Note | Date |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Miami Vice | Al Cox | Clem | "Glades" | 1984-1985 |
| The Case-Book of Sherlock Holmes | Seen in Gibson's guns collection; flintlock and percussion cap; (S01E02) | 1991 | ||
| Tremors: The Series | Michael Gross | Burt | "Shriek & Destroy" | 2003 |
| Midsomer Murders | John Nettleton | Munro Hilliard | "Orchis Fatalis" (S08E03) | 2004 |
| It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia | Danny DeVito | Frank | "The Gang Cracks the Liberty Bell" (4.11) | 2005- |
| It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia | Charlie Day | Charlie | "The Gang Cracks the Liberty Bell" (4.11) | 2005- |
| It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia | Kaitlin Olson | Dee | "The Gang Cracks the Liberty Bell" (4.11) | 2005- |
| It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia | David Hornsby | Colonel Cricket | "The Gang Cracks the Liberty Bell" (4.11) | 2005- |
| Blackbeard | Jessica Chastain | Charlotte | 2006 | |
| Lock 'n Load With R. Lee Ermey | R. Lee Ermey | Himself | 2009 | |
| Deadliest Warrior | 2009-2011 | |||
| Taboo | Stephen Graham | Atticus | 2017 | |
| Watchmen (2019 Series) | Tom Mison | The Gamekeeper | "See How They Fly" (S1E09) | 2019 |
Anime
| Title | Character | Note | Date |
|---|---|---|---|
| Lupin III: The Castle of Cagliostro | hanged on wall | 1979 | |
| Golgo 13 | Stage actors | 2008 - 2009 | |
| C³ | on the banners, (E05) | 2011 |
Video Games
| Title | Appears as | Note | Release Date |
|---|---|---|---|
| Timesplitters | 2000 | ||
| Xenus 2: White Gold | 2008 | ||
| Vietcong 2 | 2009 | ||
| Red Dead Redemption | (Downloadable Content) | 2010 | |
| Tropico Series | 2011 | ||
| 7 Days To Die | 2013 | ||
| The Showdown Effect | 2013 | ||
| Call of Duty: Advanced Warfare | 2014 | ||
| Assassin's Creed Unity | 2014 | ||
| Uncharted 4: A Thief's End | 2016 |
Animation
| Title | Characters | Notation | Date |
|---|---|---|---|
| Archer - Season 5 | Pam | 2014 |