Random Idea #16 (Shotguns)

Regarding the trope that shotguns appear to be useless after 10 feet or so, and magically turn into cotton balls.

Instead of trying to balance around rock paper scissors style when shotguns are portrayed side by side with assault rifles, machine guns, and the like, this would be a game dedicated to shotgun porn. Some sort of leveling system to unlock newer shotguns, though there's still the occasional non-shotgun weapon if you really want to snipe people.

I don't know how it would work, but I just wanted an excuse to have shotguns not be cotton ball shooters at 10+ meters.

Comments

[Hap]

You could have it be more realistic, and have shotguns be prone to malfunction, especially under stress. Pump actions shotguns are notorious for short-stroking malfunctions. Gas operated shotguns are largely relegated to sporting events due to their reliability issues.

Also, have you ever tried reloading a shotgun? It's not like in the video games. Unless you've got a gaming rig set up with all the shells set up in quick-release little clips, then you're pushing shells out of a bandoleer or, heaven forbid, pulling them out of a pouch and figuring out which is the front end, then shoving them into the loading port. A decent shotgunner can empty an 8-shot magazine in about 3 seconds. Then, well, you're going to be reloading for a long time* or drawing your pistol. Sure, some competition folks can load really fast and probably have youtube videos up, but they're the exception, not the rule.

There's a reason most tactical teams have gone to carbines. More ammo, better armor penetration capability, better reliability, more long-range potential, less recoil, faster reloads.

As to range issues, a shotgun can be effective at longer range. Load slugs, and you've got a 100-yard gun. Out to 150, if you care to do Kentucky elevation and have practice with this particular load. Buckshot does lose velocity quickly, since each pellet is, at least ideally, a sphere. You can get a lot more range out of something like the Federal Flight-Control loads, since they really keep the pattern smaller. A typical 00 buckshot load won't be much use beyond about 25 yards because the pellets spread apart so much. (At least, from a cylinder bore shotgun. You could use a turkey choke, but they don't work well with buckshot.) If you use the Federal FC loads, you can stretch out the range to as much as 50 yards and expect to hit the target with all the pellets. At 80 yards, even with the FC loads, you're putting maybe a couple pellets on a target without cover.

As to effectiveness, buckshot isn't as great as it is in the movies. It's basically a 9-shot burst of something a bit less-powerful than a .32 automatic. It can typically be stopped by relatively common soft armor, though the impact would likely disable someone temporarily (of course, you couldn't count on them not being able to effectively return fire). The velocity of the pellets falls of very quickly, due to the low ballistic coefficient of a spherical projectile.

Oh, and btw, I've been hit in the back of the head by pellets from a 12 gauge, about 80 yard range and loaded with birdshot. Bruises, but none of the pellets penetrated.

* gunfight definition. How long are you comfortable having people shoot at you?

[AppleTank]

2754695

I just wanted an excuse to have shotguns not be cotton ball shooters at 10+ meters.

Like a whole butt ton of games. Somehow, CoD has the AA-12 be useless if you're trying to shoot someone across a room.

This is pretty much it.