sundrinker:
Chaos dwarfs have always struck me as more advanced than their western kin but in the case of firearms they seem very primitive. To my understanding blunderbuss are literally small cannon/shotguns that send shrapnel everywhere whereas dwarf (west) handguns sent a bullet/shot/shell accuratly over a long distance. So what’s the story are our beloved bighats lagging behind their traitorous brethren in the west?
Hashut’s Blessing:
A blunderbuss is better than a handgun in terms of reload time. It doesn’t spread any more than a shotgun and it’s not compressed together by the funnel. The BB is just as effective as using any gun that uses shot, but the reload time is that much faster than it’s period peers. You can be a little less slow and careful and purposeful when pouring the powder, dropping in the wadding, using any ramrod you might use and pouring in the shot. So, you might be able to fire 5 times a minute instead of 4 (although anyone loading those guns that quickly is insanely quick, lol 
).
Grimstonefire:
The Chaos Dwarfs are very pragmatic it seems. The blunderbuss would be a very effective slave suppressant, as relatively few CD could take down a colossal number of slaves, especially if they all stood in a really long line… 
Admittedly they could easily make handguns and repeater handguns, but I guess the most common weapon (hence its inclusion in the list) would be the blunderbuss.
Khaosbeardling:
I'd thought about it too and this was my conclusion as well.
The Chaos Dwarfs are very pragmatic it seems. The blunderbuss would be a very effective slave suppressant, as relatively few CD could take down a colossal number of slaves, especially if they all stood in a really long line... ;)
Admittedly they could easily make handguns and repeater handguns, but I guess the most common weapon (hence its inclusion in the list) would be the blunderbuss.
Grimstonefire
sundrinker:
Thanks for clearing that up it seemed strange to me that the dawi zharr were behind their cousins in any field especially warfare altough still I am puzzled by the fact that the chaos dwarfs don’t deploy hangun/musket type weapons in large numbers.
Vash:
also remember that the CD really like to inflict maximum pain and torture before killing a victem. beeing shot by a small lead ball may be annoying, but you either survive or die (maybe somewhat later due to lead poisining). beeing shot by a blunderbuss will literaly rip one apart, like a shotgun blast at short range. it inflicts a lot of damage, but if nothing vital is hit (no organs or major blood veins) the ammount blood that pours out of the wounds would give one a slow but painfull death.
.
.
.
.
which is offcourse exactly what any CD would want
Tarrakk Blackhand:
Blunderbusses can also do what the hand gun can not - Shoot through soft cover. Also, they can move and shoot.
Yesterday I played my first CD game with 8th edition rules. although the game was cut short (Lasting to turn 2) I was able to blow appart 2 High Elf Horse Riders!
Sadly, I blew the Earth Shaker up. Fortunatly, his wizard cast a spell with Ultimate Force, which resulted in a miscast that inflicted Strength 10 hits on his unit of archers and sent his wizard, with 1 remaining wound, into the vortex! Got to love the new rules!
dedwrekka:
The blunderbuss is meant to be fired on the move, as they were typically used by Dragoons (which were named for the gun, as dragon gun was another name for the blunderbuss). It’s possible that Chaos Dwarfs do have more accurate firing weapons but we just don’t see them. As Chaos Dwarfs have really changed very little, and not a whole lot has been known about them since their creation.
It’s also possible that the blunderbuss is mostly a slave hunting weapon, and that when Chaos Dwarfs switch from slave hunting parties to outright war there will be many different weapons seen.
Hashut’s Blessing:
Blunderbusses are often found on coach-drivers (not modern day ones, lol ), that can afford them, (as well as Dragoons) because they’re so much easier to load when bouncing about like that.
AGPO:
To my mind the difference is cultural, based on who the armies are going to be fighting. A slow-firing, accurate weapon such as a handgun is going to be of little use for the small number of chaos dwarfs fighting the huge numbers of slaves they would face in a revolt. They’re hardly going to give slaves guns either - why give them something that could penetrate the Chaos Dwarf’s armour?
In contrast the blunderbuss is a very useful weapon. It’s the age old “wall of arrows/lead/shrapnel” military philosophy. Rather than aim at a particular enemy, this tactic involves filling the area into which they must advance with enough firepower that anyone entering it will be hit. The blunderbuss does this perfectly and the firezone rule represents it.