Blunderbuss, ONCE! X-wife's grandfather had one in his safe that was made in the 1700s, we got to talking and he dared me to try it out. Being young and still under warranty, of course I said "sure." This thing was solid brass and must've weighed 20 pounds. It flared from about 2 inches at the back to at least 10 inches at the muzzle, it was about 15-18 inches long with the short stock. Anyway, he loaded it for me with black powder and some scrap glass and nails and off we went into the woods. Being a short weapon, I held it at waist level and pulled the trigger. Watching the wick hit the frizzen (did I mention it was a matchlock?) was cool. No ear protection and no real idea of what recoil was, the episode gave me a quick education. Limped out of the woods with bruised lower ribs and huge grin on my face. Granddad then showed me how he cleaned and polished the piece, then put it back into the safe.