A shotgun (also known as a scattergun and peppergun , or historically as a fowling piece ) is a firearm that is usually designed to be fired from the shoulder, which uses the energy of a fixed shell to fire a number of small spherical pellets called shot, or a solid projectile called a slug. Shotguns come in a wide variety of sizes, ranging from 5.5 mm (.22 inch) bore up to 5 cm (2 inch) bore, and in a range of firearm operating mechanisms, including breech loading, single-barreled, double or Combination gun, pump-action, bolt-, and lever-action, semi-automatic, and even fully-automatic variants.
A shotgun is generally a smoothbore firearm, which means that the inside of the barrel is not rifled. Preceding smoothbore firearms, such as the musket, were widely used by armies in the 18th century. The direct ancestor to the shotgun, the blunderbuss, was also used in a similar variety of roles from self defence to riot control. It was often used by cavalry troops due to its generally shorter length and ease of use. However, in the 19th century, these weapons were largely replaced on the battlefield with breechloading rifled firearms, which were more accurate over longer ranges. The military value of shotguns was rediscovered in the First World War, when American forces used 12-gauge pump action shotguns in close-quarters trench fighting to great effect. Since then, it has been used in a variety of roles in civilian, law enforcement, and military applications.
The shot pellets from a shotgun spread upon leaving the barrel, and the power of the burning charge is divided among the pellets, which means that the energy of any one ball of shot is fairly low. In a hunting context, this makes shotguns useful primarily for hunting birds and other small game. However, in a military or law enforcement context, the large number of projectiles makes the shotgun useful as a close quarters combat weapon or a defensive weapon. Shotguns are also used for target shooting sports such as skeet, trap, and sporting clays. These involve shooting clay disks, known as clay pigeons, thrown in various ways.
Characteristics
Shotguns come in a wide variety of forms, from very small up to massive punt guns, and in nearly every type of firearm operating mechanism. The common characteristics that make a shotgun unique center around the requirements of firing shot. These features are the features typical of a shotgun shell, namely a relatively short, wide cartridge, with straight walls, and operating at a relatively low pressure.
Ammunition for shotguns is referred to in the USA as shotgun shells, shotshells, or just shells (when it is not likely to be confused with artillery shells). The term cartridges is standard usage in the United Kingdom.
The shot is usually fired from a smoothbore barrel; another configuration is the rifled slug barrel, which fires more accurate solitary projectiles (though some slugs can also be fired from smoothbore weapons).
Uses
The typical use of a shotgun is against small and/or fast moving targets, often taken while in the air. The spreading of the shot allows the user to point the shotgun close to the target, rather than having to aim precisely as in the case of a single projectile. The disadvantages of shot are limited range and limited penetration of the shot, which is why shotguns are used at short ranges, and typically against smaller targets. Larger shot size, up to the extreme case of the single projectile slug load, results in increased penetration, but at the expense of fewer projectiles and lower probability of hitting the target.
Aside from the most common use against small, fast moving targets, the shotgun has several advantages when used against still targets. First, it has enormous stopping power at short range, more than nearly all handguns and many rifles. The wide spread of shot produced by the gun makes it easier to aim and to be used by inexperienced marksmen. A typical self-defense load of buckshot contains 8-27 large lead pellets, resulting in many wound tracks in the target. Also, unlike a rifle bullet, each pellet of shot is less likely to penetrate walls and hit bystanders. It is favored by law enforcement for its low penetration and high stopping power.
On the other hand, the hit potential of a defensive shotgun is often overstated. The typical defensive shot is taken at very close ranges, at which the shot charge expands no more than a few centimeters. This means the shotgun must still be aimed at the target with some care. Balancing this is the fact that shot spreads further upon entering the target, and the multiple wound channels of a defensive load are far more likely to produce a disabling wound than a rifle or handgun.
Sporting
Some of the most common uses of shotguns are the sports of skeet shooting, trap shooting, and sporting clays. These involve shooting clay disks, also known as clay pigeons, thrown in various ways. Both skeet and trap competitions are featured at the Olympic Games. Skeet shooting usually deals with 25 shots, while sporting clays can be a course up to 50 shots.
Hunting
The shotgun is used for bird hunting, although it is also increasingly used in deer hunting in semi-populated areas where the range of the rifle bullet may pose too great a hazard. Many modern smooth bore shotguns using rifled slugs are extremely accurate out to 100 m (110 yards) or more, while the rifled barrel shotgun with the use of sabot slugs are typically accurate to 100 m (110 yards) and beyond—well within the range of the majority of kill shots by experienced deer hunters using shotguns.
However, given the relatively low muzzle velocity of slug ammunition typically around 500 m/s (about 1600 feet per second) and blunt, poorly streamlined shape of typical slugs (which cause them to lose velocity very rapidly, compared to rifle bullets), a hunter must pay close attention to the ballistics of the particular make of ammunition to ensure a humane killing shot on a deer. Shotguns are often used to hunt whitetail deer in the thick brush and briars of the southeastern and upper midwestern US, where, due to the dense cover, ranges tend to be very close - 25 m or less. At any reasonable range, shotgun slugs make effective lethal wounds due to their tremendous mass, reducing the length of time that an animal might suffer. A typical 12 gauge shotgun slug is a blunt piece of metal that could be described as a 18 mm (.729 inch) caliber that weighs 28 grams (432 grains). For comparison, a common deer-hunting rifle round is a 7.62 mm (.308 inch) slug weighing 9.7 grams (150 grains), but the dynamics of the rifle cartridge allow for a different type of wound, and a much further reach.
Law enforcement
In the US and Canada, shotguns are widely used as a heavy weapon by police forces. One of the rationales for issuing shotguns is that even without much training, an officer will probably be able to hit targets at close to intermediate range, due to the "spreading" effect of buckshot. Some police forces are replacing shotguns in this role with carbine rifles such as M-16 type weapons. Shotguns are also used in roadblock situations, where police are blocking a highway to search cars for suspects. In the US, law enforcement agencies often use riot shotguns, especially for crowd and riot control where they may be loaded with less-lethal rounds such as rubber bullets or bean bags.
Military
Shotguns are common weapons in military use, particularly for special purposes: see combat shotgun. Shotguns are found aboard Naval vessels for shipboard security, because the weapon is very effective at close range as a way of repelling enemy boarding parties. In a naval setting, stainless steel shotguns are often used, because regular steel is too prone to corrosion in the marine environment. Shotguns are also used by military police units. US Marines have used shotguns since their inception at the squad level, often in the hands of NCOs, while the US Army often issued them to a squad's point man. Shotguns were modified for and used in the trench warfare of WWI, in the jungle combat of WWII and Vietnam and are being used today in Iraq, being popular with soldiers and Marines in urban combat environments. Some US units in Iraq use shotguns with special frangible breaching rounds to blow the locks off doors when they are making a surprise entry into a dwelling.
Home/personal defense
Most pump-action and semi-automatic riot shotguns in common law enforcement use are also available on the civilian market, and such shotguns are a very popular means of home defense for many of the same reasons they are preferred for close-quarters tasks in law enforcement and the military. They are also gaining preference for their economy; though the per-shell cost of firing a shotgun is greater than a handgun or rifle, the per-projectile cost of "double-ought" buckshot rounds common for defense is far less than pistol cartridges such as the popular 9mm Parabellum or .45ACP calibers. Pump-action shotguns marketed for home defense use are also generally cheaper than handguns or rifles of comparable quality (shotguns often retail for $350 or
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