The Blunderbuss-- Not as silly as it looks ??

[Nik_SpeakerToCats]

One up-side of recovery period from a really bad, 'double dipper' man-cold is that I often look at things skew.

I'd happened upon some pictures of early guns and, after near-obligatory giggle at coach-man's blunderbuss, I got to thinking...

Does the infamous barrel-flare provide a sorta muzzle brake, mitigating unfamiliar recoil ?
Does the 'coach-horn' flare impart 'Jericho Trumpet' effect beloved of Stukas to enhance 'Shock and Awe' factor ?
Does the wide muzzle offer the psychological perspective that targets perceive a bigger bore looming ?
Does this flare some-what mask wonky aiming, as targets cannot determine if weapon is 'On', or nervously mis-aligned safely wide ?
( Per 'Dirty Harry', and his 'Are you feeling lucky ??' )
And, perhaps, the 'gotcha':
Unless trained to near-automatic process of formal musket drill, does that muzzle flare assist reloading ??
( Per flare on fill-pipe, be it Jerrycan or KC-135...)

Thoughts ??

[jemhouston]

Think of it as a shotgun that you can cram anything in, lead balls, gravel, rock salt, or broken glass.

[Nik_SpeakerToCats]

An efficient pain-dispenser...

[M.Becker]

There's a few videos on YouTube that make a good case for the ease of reloading due to the big business end. If you are high on adrenaline on a rolling ship, you can still much easier reload this than a .69 musket with a straight muzzle.

In other news, mag wells of modern riles are flared too.

[jemhouston]

I can think of one other advantage to the bell shape muzzle, you can hit someone with the muzzle without making it much harder to reload.

[kdahm]

One up-side of recovery period from a really bad, 'double dipper' man-cold is that I often look at things skew.

I'd happened upon some pictures of early guns and, after near-obligatory giggle at coach-man's blunderbuss, I got to thinking...

Does the infamous barrel-flare provide a sorta muzzle brake, mitigating unfamiliar recoil ?
Does the 'coach-horn' flare impart 'Jericho Trumpet' effect beloved of Stukas to enhance 'Shock and Awe' factor ?
Does the wide muzzle offer the psychological perspective that targets perceive a bigger bore looming ?
Does this flare some-what mask wonky aiming, as targets cannot determine if weapon is 'On', or nervously mis-aligned safely wide ?
( Per 'Dirty Harry', and his 'Are you feeling lucky ??' )
And, perhaps, the 'gotcha':
Unless trained to near-automatic process of formal musket drill, does that muzzle flare assist reloading ??
( Per flare on fill-pipe, be it Jerrycan or KC-135...)

Thoughts ??

Answers below:

Does the infamous barrel-flare provide a sorta muzzle brake, mitigating unfamiliar recoil ?
No. By providing a larger surface for the escaping gases to act against, it would actually increase recoil slightly.
Does the 'coach-horn' flare impart 'Jericho Trumpet' effect beloved of Stukas to enhance 'Shock and Awe' factor ?
No. The Stuka and Helldiver sounds were from air flowing through and over shaped obstacles. The flare on trumpets and other brass instruments is designed to project the sound more towards the direction the bell is facing. There will be some effect of that, but a battlefield is so noisy it's unnoticeable.
Does the wide muzzle offer the psychological perspective that targets perceive a bigger bore looming ?
Possibly. But look at a trumpet from 50 or 100 yards. It's pretty small, even though it flares. I wouldn't count on shock and awe outside of ten yards.
Does this flare some-what mask wonky aiming, as targets cannot determine if weapon is 'On', or nervously mis-aligned safely wide ?
( Per 'Dirty Harry', and his 'Are you feeling lucky ??' )
Not really. Again distance vs object. If someone has time to notice that it isn't aimed their way, they aren't seeing the ones two or three over that are.
And, perhaps, the 'gotcha':
Unless trained to near-automatic process of formal musket drill, does that muzzle flare assist reloading ??
The most probable reason.

And the biggest reason against the flare: accuracy.
A sharp cornered muzzle is best, even for early black powder. The high pressure gases behind the projectile escape with some velocity through the annular space as the bullet is leaving the muzzle. If one side opens up more, then it disturbs the flight of the bullet. While this is really critical on rifles, there is some effect on smoothbores as well.

[Nik_SpeakerToCats]

The blunderbuss was not a 'ranged' weapon, so unsuited to a musketry battle-field.
A better fit would be a 'Bayonet, Ram-rod and Spade' mêlée.

Or, the stage-coach crew's 'traditional reply to demand, 'Stand and Deliver !!'

[Pdf27]

One other effect - it will significantly increase shot dispersion. With a weapon designed for use at very short range with small calibre shot (it's fundamentally a predecessor to the shotgun), that's a desirable trait.

[Craiglxviii]

From experience, as I’m willing to bet I’m the only one here who has fired a blunderbuss…

Does the infamous barrel-flare provide a sorta muzzle brake, mitigating unfamiliar recoil ?

None whatsoever.

Does the 'coach-horn' flare impart 'Jericho Trumpet' effect beloved of Stukas to enhance 'Shock and Awe' factor ?

No; if you’re familiar with a flintlock musket or carbine a blunderbuss is absolutely no different.

Does the wide muzzle offer the psychological perspective that targets perceive a bigger bore looming ?

No.

Does this flare some-what mask wonky aiming, as targets cannot determine if weapon is 'On', or nervously mis-aligned safely wide ?

No, but it does make actually aiming the weapon impossible; the sight picture is obscured beyond about 20 yards range.

And, perhaps, the 'gotcha':
Unless trained to near-automatic process of formal musket drill, does that muzzle flare assist reloading ??

Yes, it would actually, but maybe more so that these weapons were designed to be used from the top/ back of a stagecoach… a bouncing, bucking about stagecoach. So the muzzle flare would certainly help in the loading, much more so getting the ramrod down the bore than the powder, shot and wadding (which isn’t hard to do).