The shotgun is one of the most common firearms encountered throughout the Imperium and beyond, serving in the role of hunting weapon, pest controller, defensive arm and combat weapon.
Historical Development
First appearing at TL 3, the shotgun is a derivative of two earlier firearms: the fowling piece and the blunderbuss. In its earliest incarnations, the shotgun utilizes loose powder and shot and percussion or sparking ignition systems. It is a muzzle loader with one, two or more barrels. Typical loading are 'bird shot', 3mm projectiles fired en masse for taking flying or fast moving game; 'buck shot', composed of several (6-24) 7-9mm spherical balls or 'slug', a single bore sized ball. These three loading will remain the standard diet of the shotgun until TL 6, when special purpose shotgun ammunition is introduced.
At TL 4, paper or brass cartridges are in common use, and the typical shotgun is now a hinged action break open having one, two and sometimes more barrels (four being not uncommon on some worlds). Early mechanically operated repeaters are introduced, but they are considered somewhat unreliable and inelegant. The earliest pure fighting shotguns appear in the form of the 'coach gun', typically a double barrel break open shotgun of 18mm or greater and having relatively abbreviated barrels (50cm or less) unsuitable for most hunting, but more maneuverable in restricted space, and adequate for firing buck shot or slugs. The coach gun with buck shot is the preeminent short range killer of it's TL, firing a swarm of missiles capable of producing catastrophic wounds and amputations at short range. At longer ranges, the expanding cone of projectiles compensates for poor marksmanship, and insures a high probability of first round hit. Even so, the poor ballistic shape of buckshot means its effective range is limited to about 75 meters.
At TL 5, the typical shotgun is now a manually operated repeater. Advances in manufacturing and materials mean that these weapons are now reliable and inexpensive. Because of their multi-purpose capabilities, shotguns are often the weapon of choice for those who require a single weapon, typically residents of rural areas where pest control and hunting are still activities. The break-action shotgun begins to decline as a mass produced item, but becomes more a weapon of recreational shooters and hunters. The semi-automatic shotgun is introduced, but reliability is problematic, particularly given the wide range of ammunition available. The coach gun is supplanted by the short barreled, manually repeating 'riot' gun. Military and police versions of this weapon often have magazines capable of holding up to 8 rounds and feature attachments for a bayonet. The shotgun still retains its place as the short range killer, but adjustable chokes and rifled slugs have extended its range. While buckshot is still only effective at 100 meters or less, rifled slugs allow the shotgun to hit and kill targets out to 200+ meters.
At TL 6, the manual repeating shotgun has completely replaced the break open shotgun for general sporting and combat use. Most break open guns are now high quality, embellished weapons used exclusively for sport. The paper cartridges introduced at TL 4 are supplanted by polymer cased shells that are cheaper and easier to manufacture, and less prone to damage from handling or the environment. Semi-automatic shotguns are now fairly common for sporting use, but are not considered reliable enough for combat or police use. A variation of the choke, the diverter, is introduced. This device resembles the bill of a terran aquatic avian fitted to the muzzle (so called 'duckbill chokes') and modifies the typical circular shot pattern into an ellipse, optimizing the shotgun pattern for combat.
At TL 7 the basic pattern for the shotgun reaches its zenith and will change little at increasing TLs. New materials and designs allow for semi-automatic shotguns with the reliability and ruggedness required for military issue, although the shotgun is still seen as a special purpose weapon and not a general issue item. Also, fully automatic shotguns first make their appearance. The shotgun has many attractions for the military. It possesses a high first round hit first round kill probability, and a high volume of fire. A semi-auto shotgun with an 8 round magazine can deliver 96 9mm projectiles per magazine vs. the typical submachinegun's 30. However, the shotgun's effective range is still limited, and the appearance of aramid fiber body armor begins to limit the effectiveness of traditional buckshot. Also, reloading of the typical tubular magazine is slow and clumsy.
Police requirements lead to a variety of new 'special purpose' ammunition. Low lethality ammunition such stun and gas rounds are introduced. Stun rounds are typically rubber projectiles or flexible bags containing small lead shot, designed to deliver a painful, incapacitating, but non-lethal blow to the target. Gas rounds contain a variety of non-lethal aerosols from lachrymators and oleoresin capsicum derivatives to the first crude traq agents.
Military development is geared toward increasing the range and lethality of shotgun ammunition while retaining the high first round hit probability of buck shot. The two most common solutions are mass/drag stabilized subsprojectiles and flechettes. The typical buck shot pellet in a 9mm soft or hard lead sphere-hardly an ideal ballistic shape for retaining velocity. Mass/drag stabilized projectiles replace the traditional buckshot with pointed cylinders of lead or steel and have light metal or polymer tail sections. These have a much better cross-sectional density, and retain velocity longer, increasing the effective range of shotgun ammunition to beyond 300 meters. However they are expensive and difficult to manufacture. The flechette is a finned dart, derived from rifle flechettes which appear at about the same TL. The flechette is much more cost effective, being made on modified nail-making machines, but shotgun velocities are much lower than in rifles, and the shotgun flechette, while able to penetrate aramid fiber ballistic vests out to 500 meters, lacks the energy to produce incapacitating wounds. However, results are encouraging enough to warrant further study and development.
At TL 8 the combat shotgun comes into its own. The Mass Stabilized Improved Projectile (MSIP) can now be manufactured cost-effectively, giving the shotgun a buckshot load capable of striking targets at 500 meters. Additionally, new flechettes are developed with increased lethality. Most notable of these is Military Technology's SCMITR. Noting that tissue damage produced by shotgun flechettes is directly proportional to the width of the tail fins, MilTech engineers abandoned the traditional dart, developing a broad, thin stamping and dubbed the 'flying razorblade'. This round is inexpensive and simple to manufacture and will penetrate a steel helmet or aramid fiber vest at 500+ meters. The projectile is composed of soft steel with a 1 cm width, and tends to bend on penetration, causing long slicing wounds.
Given ammunition now able to meet the militaries criteria for small arms, pure combat shotguns appear. Typically, these are box magazine fed selective fire weapons. They are often issued to commando units or as support weapons, although several armies adopt them for general issue. Additional special purpose ammunition continues to be developed. Mini-grenades allow the shotgun to be employed as a light indirect fire weapon, while flares and incendiary ammunition enhance the shotgun's multi-role capabilities.
Another interesting development is the silent shotgun shell. The most notable example is Military Technology's 18mm teleshot ammunition. The round contains 9 hardened 9mm lead pellets. The propellant is encloses in a telescoping steel envelope manufactured using technologies derived from metal can forming. When the shell is fired, the propellant envelope expands rapidly, expelling the pellets. The envelope does not rupture, so that the propellant gasses are contained within the envelope, rendering the weapon flashless and virtually silent.
At TL 9 and 10 continued refinement of the combat shotgun occurs. Minigrenades become more powerful and are controlled by a computing gun site. Often the weapon will automatically select ammunition type from a mixed magazine. SCMITR or MSIP is automatically selected for short range antipersonnel work, and minigrenade for long range or anti-vehicle use.
By TL 10 the role of combat shotgun has been absorbed by sophisticated grenade launchers with the larger projectiles required to overcome combat armor. These grenade launchers still often have 'cannister' or anti-personnel loads containing multiple projectiles, and serve in the same role as the first shotguns.
Away from the battlefield, shotguns continue to be in common use as hunting and defense weapons. Their high probability of first round hit and kill and flexibility ensure their place well into the future.
First appearing at TL 3, the shotgun is a derivative of two earlier firearms: the fowling piece and the blunderbuss. In its earliest incarnations, the shotgun utilizes loose powder and shot and percussion or sparking ignition systems. It is a muzzle loader with one, two or more barrels. Typical loading are 'bird shot', 3mm projectiles fired en masse for taking flying or fast moving game; 'buck shot', composed of several (6-24) 7-9mm spherical balls or 'slug', a single bore sized ball. These three loading will remain the standard diet of the shotgun until TL 6, when special purpose shotgun ammunition is introduced.
At TL 4, paper or brass cartridges are in common use, and the typical shotgun is now a hinged action break open having one, two and sometimes more barrels (four being not uncommon on some worlds). Early mechanically operated repeaters are introduced, but they are considered somewhat unreliable and inelegant. The earliest pure fighting shotguns appear in the form of the 'coach gun', typically a double barrel break open shotgun of 18mm or greater and having relatively abbreviated barrels (50cm or less) unsuitable for most hunting, but more maneuverable in restricted space, and adequate for firing buck shot or slugs. The coach gun with buck shot is the preeminent short range killer of it's TL, firing a swarm of missiles capable of producing catastrophic wounds and amputations at short range. At longer ranges, the expanding cone of projectiles compensates for poor marksmanship, and insures a high probability of first round hit. Even so, the poor ballistic shape of buckshot means its effective range is limited to about 75 meters.
At TL 5, the typical shotgun is now a manually operated repeater. Advances in manufacturing and materials mean that these weapons are now reliable and inexpensive. Because of their multi-purpose capabilities, shotguns are often the weapon of choice for those who require a single weapon, typically residents of rural areas where pest control and hunting are still activities. The break-action shotgun begins to decline as a mass produced item, but becomes more a weapon of recreational shooters and hunters. The semi-automatic shotgun is introduced, but reliability is problematic, particularly given the wide range of ammunition available. The coach gun is supplanted by the short barreled, manually repeating 'riot' gun. Military and police versions of this weapon often have magazines capable of holding up to 8 rounds and feature attachments for a bayonet. The shotgun still retains its place as the short range killer, but adjustable chokes and rifled slugs have extended its range. While buckshot is still only effective at 100 meters or less, rifled slugs allow the shotgun to hit and kill targets out to 200+ meters.
At TL 6, the manual repeating shotgun has completely replaced the break open shotgun for general sporting and combat use. Most break open guns are now high quality, embellished weapons used exclusively for sport. The paper cartridges introduced at TL 4 are supplanted by polymer cased shells that are cheaper and easier to manufacture, and less prone to damage from handling or the environment. Semi-automatic shotguns are now fairly common for sporting use, but are not considered reliable enough for combat or police use. A variation of the choke, the diverter, is introduced. This device resembles the bill of a terran aquatic avian fitted to the muzzle (so called 'duckbill chokes') and modifies the typical circular shot pattern into an ellipse, optimizing the shotgun pattern for combat.
Military development is geared toward increasing the range and lethality of shotgun ammunition while retaining the high first round hit probability of buck shot. The two most common solutions are mass/drag stabilized subsprojectiles and flechettes. The typical buck shot pellet in a 9mm soft or hard lead sphere-hardly an ideal ballistic shape for retaining velocity. Mass/drag stabilized projectiles replace the traditional buckshot with pointed cylinders of lead or steel and have light metal or polymer tail sections. These have a much better cross-sectional density, and retain velocity longer, increasing the effective range of shotgun ammunition to beyond 300 meters. However they are expensive and difficult to manufacture. The flechette is a finned dart, derived from rifle flechettes which appear at about the same TL. The flechette is much more cost effective, being made on modified nail-making machines, but shotgun velocities are much lower than in rifles, and the shotgun flechette, while able to penetrate aramid fiber ballistic vests out to 500 meters, lacks the energy to produce incapacitating wounds. However, results are encouraging enough to warrant further study and development.
At TL 8 the combat shotgun comes into its own. The Mass Stabilized Improved Projectile (MSIP) can now be manufactured cost-effectively, giving the shotgun a buckshot load capable of striking targets at 500 meters. Additionally, new flechettes are developed with increased lethality. Most notable of these is Military Technology's SCMITR. Noting that tissue damage produced by shotgun flechettes is directly proportional to the width of the tail fins, MilTech engineers abandoned the traditional dart, developing a broad, thin stamping and dubbed the 'flying razorblade'. This round is inexpensive and simple to manufacture and will penetrate a steel helmet or aramid fiber vest at 500+ meters. The projectile is composed of soft steel with a 1 cm width, and tends to bend on penetration, causing long slicing wounds.
Typically, these are box magazine fed selective fire weapons. They are often issued to commando units or as support weapons, although several armies adopt them for general issue. Additional special purpose ammunition continues to be developed. Mini-grenades allow the shotgun to be employed as a light indirect fire weapon, while flares and incendiary ammunition enhance the shotgun's multi-role capabilities.
Another interesting development is the silent shotgun shell. The most notable example is Military Technology's 18mm teleshot ammunition. The round contains 9 hardened 9mm lead pellets. The propellant is encloses in a telescoping steel envelope manufactured using technologies derived from metal can forming. When the shell is fired, the propellant envelope expands rapidly, expelling the pellets. The envelope does not rupture, so that the propellant gasses are contained within the envelope, rendering the weapon flashless and virtually silent.
By TL 10 the role of combat shotgun has been absorbed by sophisticated grenade launchers with the larger projectiles required to overcome combat armor. These grenade launchers still often have 'cannister' or anti-personnel loads containing multiple projectiles, and serve in the same role as the first shotguns.