Combat shotgun
While limited in range, the multiple projectiles typically used in a shotgun shell provide increased hit probability unmatched by other small arms.
The trench gun, as it was called, was a short-barreled pump action shotgun loaded with 6 rounds containing antimony-hardened 00 buckshot, and equipped with a bayonet.
The US Government rejected the claims, and threatened reprisals in kind if any US troops were executed for possession of a shotgun.
[2] The shotgun was used by Allied forces and Allied-supported partisans in all theaters of combat in World War II, and both pump and semi-automatic shotguns are currently issued to all branches of the US military; they have also been used in subsequent conflicts by French, British, Australian, and New Zealand forces, as well as many guerrillas and insurgents throughout sub-Saharan Africa, Latin and South America, and Southeast Asia.
Another disadvantage was paper-hulled shotshells, which would swell when they became damp in a rainy or humid environment, and would not fit into the chamber even after drying out.
General Alexander Patch was seen armed with a Winchester shotgun when he personally led an attack in Guadalcanal.
In the Vietnam War, the shotgun was used as an individual weapon in the American army during jungle patrol and urban warfare like the Tet Offensive.
During the Somalian conflict in 1992, the US task forces tested out a new type of Remington shotgun called Ciener Ultimate Over/Under, which was an under-barrel attachment for the standard M16 variants during Operation Gothic Serpent.
The idea was for a soldier in an entry team to be able to breach a locked door with the shotgun and then immediately switch to the assault rifle to clear the room.
[5] One notable experimental shotgun used in limited numbers during Operation Enduring Freedom is the XM26 for breaching doors or close-quarter battle (CQB).
This means just eight 12-gauge buckshot shells weigh approximately the same (1 lb or 0.45 kg) as thirty 5.56×45mm rifle cartridges.
[2] The buckshot typically used in a combat shotgun spreads out to a greater or lesser degree depending on the barrel choke, and can be effective at ranges as far as 70 m (77 yd).
[2] While each pellet is only roughly as effective as a small caliber handgun round, and offers very poor penetration against an armored target, the multiple projectiles increases the likelihood of one or more peripheral wounds.
[citation needed] A number of compromises are involved in choosing a shot size:[10][12] The most common type of ammunition used in combat shotguns, whether for military or law enforcement purposes, is buckshot, typically a 70 mm (23⁄4 inch) 12-gauge shell loaded with nine hardened 00 buckshot, with a diameter of about 8.4 mm (0.33 in).
[2] The only other types of ammunition currently in use in military shotguns are breaching rounds, which are either specially designed frangible rounds designed to destroy a door lock or hinge while minimizing the risk of damage to occupants of the room or very light (#9) birdshot, which accomplishes the same purpose.
In military use, flechette ammunition has also been used in shotguns (primarily by special forces, such as its use by the SEALs in the Vietnam War),[13] but this is not common.
The pump shotgun is more versatile than the semiautomatic, as it will fire low powered less lethal munitions which lack sufficient pressure to cycle the action in an autoloading design.
He recommends that suburban guerrilla bands should be armed with easily concealable weapons, such as handguns and a sawed-off shotgun or carbine.
Guevara also mentions an improvised weapon developed by guerrillas consisting of a sawed-off 16-gauge shotgun provided with a bipod to hold the barrel at a 45-degree angle.
This formed an improvised mortar capable of firing the incendiary device accurately out to a range of 100 meters.
