One of the earliest guns was called a blunderbuss which came
from the Dutch word “donderbus” which means “thunder (donder) pipe (bus)”. This was because this old fashion gun had a
bell shaped muzzle. Several bullets were loaded into the gun through the muzzle
at the same time. When the trigger was pulled the bullets scattered widely. The
blunderbuss was best used for short range and was very effective because
bullets were sure to hit the target.
The blunderbuss was used by early American Colonists,
especially the Puritans.
