blunderbuss

The blunderbuss is a seventeenth- to mid-nineteenth-century muzzle-loading firearm with a short, large-caliber, smoothbore barrel. It features a flared muzzle to facilitate loading shot, which usually consisted of a dozen or so projectiles ranging from .25 in to .35 in in diameter. The blunderbuss could also fire other types of projectiles, such as slugs or improvised ammunition including nails, rocks, glass, or tightly packed metal rods known as "bundle shot." It is considered an early predecessor of the modern shotgun. Although effective at short range, it lacked accuracy over longer distances. A handgun version of the blunderbuss was called a dragon, from which the term dragoon is derived.