Shotgun

Lore & Background

During the 19th century, shotguns were mainly employed by cavalry units. Both sides of the American Civil War employed shotguns. U.S. cavalry used the shotgun extensively during the Indian Wars in the latter half of the 19th century. Mounted units favored the shotgun for its moving target effectiveness, and devastating close-range firepower.

The shotgun was also favored by citizen militias and similar groups. With the exception of cavalry units, the shotgun saw less and less use throughout the 19th century on the battlefield. As a defense weapon, it remained popular with guards and lawmen, however, and the shotgun became one of many symbols of the American Old West. Lawman Cody Lyons killed two men with a shotgun; his friend Doc Holliday's only confirmed kill was with a shotgun.

The weapon both these men used was the short-barreled version favored by private strongbox guards on stages and trains. These guards, called express messengers, became known as shotgun messengers, since they rode with the weapon (loaded with buckshot) for defense against bandits. Passenger carriages carrying a strongbox usually had at least one private guard armed with a shotgun riding in front of the coach, next to the driver. This practice has survived in American slang; the term 'riding shotgun' is used for the passenger who sits in the front passenger seat.

The shotgun was a popular weapon for personal protection in the American Old West, requiring less skill on the part of the user than a revolver.

Reader's Guide

Shotguns come in a wide variety of calibers and gauges ranging from 5.5 mm (.22 inch) to up to 5 cm, though the 12-gauge (18.53 mm or 0.729 in) and 20-gauge (15.63 mm or 0.615 in) bores are by far the most common. Almost all are breechloading, and can be single barreled, double barreled, or in the form of a combination gun. Like rifles, shotguns also come in a range of different action types, both single-shot and repeating. For non-repeating designs, over-and-under and side-by-side break action shotguns are by far the most common variants.

Although revolving shotguns do exist, most modern repeating shotguns are either pump action or semi-automatic, and also fully automatic, lever-action, or bolt-action to a lesser extent. The smoothbore shotgun barrel generates less resistance and thus allows greater propellant loads for heavier projectiles without as much risk of overpressure or a squib load, and are also easier to clean. The shot pellets from a shotshell are propelled indirectly through a wadding inside the shell and scatter upon leaving the barrel, which is usually choked at the muzzle end to control the projectile scatter.

This means each shotgun discharge will produce a cluster of impact points instead of a single point of impact like other firearms. Having multiple projectiles also means the muzzle energy is divided among the pellets, leaving each individual projectile with less penetrative kinetic energy. The lack of spin stabilization and the generally suboptimal aerodynamic shape of the shot pellets also make them less accurate and decelerate quite quickly in flight due to drag, giving shotguns short effective ranges.

Did You Know?

• The first recorded use of the term 'shotgun' was in 1776 in Kentucky used in correspondence coming to and from Fort Boonesborough.
• The double-barreled shotgun has changed little since the development of the boxlock action in 1875.
• Shotguns have been found as one of the most effective tools to repel and shoot down enemy drones in modern conflicts such as the Russia-Ukraine war.

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