post #261347 post #48630 post #17953

A shotgun is a smoothbore firearm that fires a large number of small projectiles instead of a single bullet. They come in many variations: wood, metal, single barrel, double barrel, semi-automatic, fully-automatic, etc.

Contrary to popular perception, shotguns do not suffer from astoundingly poor range. However, they do tend to be less accurate than most rifled firearms and cannot easily penetrate body armor.

Notably, it can be difficult to distinguish automatic shotguns, such as the Saiga-12 or the Spas-15 from rifles.

See also:

• sawed-off shotgun
• gun
• rifle
• ranged weapon