Curses, four years too early for a 4-Barrel Pistol. Given that, blunderbuss looks to be the answer. It's intended as a threatening tool if anything, and what's more threatening than a hand cannon? That range is gonna hurt (I presume ranged weapons in melee still provoke) so I'll just have to be careful.
Also I can take 10 on that one, so that's good.
If I read the rules correctly what I should do is buy all my cheap stuff, anything 9 and below, then buy the gun by taking 10, which drops me down to +8. Then if I want to do anything further (probably not) go from there. Right?
Shopping...