Although military use of the shotgun goes back centuries, it has not always been thought of specifically as a combat weapon. The reason is simple. Many early North American settlers had only one weapon—a smoothbore musket or fowling piece—that could fire multiple projectiles, and they used it both for hunting and self-defense. Some early smoothbores, such as the blunderbuss, were intended specifically for use against an enemy. Designed to be loaded quickly via its bell mouth with an array of metallic projectiles including old nails or scrap iron, the blunderbuss was a fearful weapon for the coach guard or the ship's captain facing possible mutiny. George Washington understood the devastating effect multiple projectiles could have on an enemy and ordered the muskets of American troops loaded with "buck and ball," a combination of a musket ball and buckshot. Cavalrymen in the U.S. Civil War also used buck and ball loads. Once the double-barreled shotgun was developed, some users shortened the barrels (to make them handier in dose quarters) and loaded both barrels with buckshot. Originally, these double-barreled shotguns were percussion, but once the self-contained shotgun shell was developed, break open shotguns were quickly adapted for combat. In the American West, short-barreled shotguns—or sometimes longer barreled ones—were equalizers on both sides of the law. During the Indian Wars, some U.S. cavalrymen carried the double-barreled shotgun for close-range fighting, though they most likely retained their carbines for longer-range engagement.
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