A shotgun is a long-barreled firearm designed to shoot a straight-walled cartridge known as a shotshell, which discharges numerous small spherical projectiles called shot, or a single solid projectile called a slug. Shotguns are most commonly used as smoothbore firearms, meaning that their gun barrels have no rifling on the inner wall, but rifled barrels for shooting sabot slugs are also available.
The Mossberg 500 (M500) is a series of pump action shotguns manufactured by O.F. Mossberg & Sons. The 500 series comprises widely varying models of hammerless repeaters, all of which share the same basic receiver and action, but differ in bore size, barrel length, choke options, magazine capacity, stock and forearm materials. Model numbers included in the 500 series are the 500, 505, 510, 535, and 590. The Revelation 310 and the New Haven 600 were also variations of the 500 series produced by Mossberg under different names. By 2021, 11,000,000 M500s had been produced, making it the most-produced shotgun of all time.
A shotgun shell, shotshell, or shell is a type of rimmed, cylindrical (straight-walled) cartridges used specifically in shotguns, and is typically loaded with numerous small, pellet-like spherical sub-projectiles called shot, fired through a smoothbore barrel with a tapered constriction at the muzzle to regulate the extent of scattering. A shell can sometimes also contain only a single large solid projectile known as a slug. The hull usually consists of a paper or plastic tube often covered at the base by a metallic head cover which retains a primer, and the shot charge is typically contained by a wadding/sabot inside the case. The caliber of the shotshell is known as its gauge.
The .410 bore (10.4 mm) is one of the smallest caliber of shotgun shell commonly available. A .410 bore shotgun loaded with shot shells is well suited for small game hunting and pest control. The .410 started off in the United Kingdom as a garden gun along with the .360 and the No. 3 bore (9 mm) rimfire, No. 2 bore (7 mm) rimfire, and No. 1 bore (6 mm) rimfire. .410 shells have similar base dimensions to the .45 Colt cartridge, allowing many single-shot firearms, as well as derringers and revolvers chambered in that caliber, to fire .410 shot shells without any modifications.
The gauge of a firearm is a unit of measurement used to express the inner diameter of the barrel.
Thompson/Center Arms was an American firearms company based in Springfield, Massachusetts. The company was best known for its line of interchangeable-barrel, single-shot pistols and rifles. Thompson/Center also manufactured muzzle-loading rifles and was credited with creating the resurgence of their use in the 1970s.
H&R 1871, LLC, or more commonly known as Harrington & Richardson, is an American brand of firearms and a subsidiary of JJE Capital Holdings. H&R ceased independent production February 27, 2015.
The Remington Model 1100 is a gas-operated semi-automatic shotgun introduced by Remington Arms in 1963.
The Winchester Model 1912, also commonly known as the Winchester 1912, Model 12, or M12, is an internal-hammer pump-action shotgun with an external tube magazine. Popularly named the Perfect Repeater at its introduction, it largely set the standard for pump-action shotguns over its 51-year high-rate production life. From August 1912 until first discontinued by Winchester in May 1964, nearly two million Model 12 shotguns were produced in various grades and barrel lengths. Initially chambered for 20 gauge only, the 12 and 16 gauge versions came out in 1913, and the 28 gauge version came out in 1934. A .410 version was never produced; instead, a scaled-down version of the Model 12 known as the Model 42, directly derived from scaled drawings of the Model 12, was produced in .410.
Break action is a type of firearm action in which the barrel(s) are hinged much like a door and rotate perpendicularly to the bore axis to expose the breech and allow loading and unloading of cartridges. A separate operation may be required for the cocking of a hammer to fire the new round. There are many types of break-action firearms; break actions are universal in double-barreled shotguns, double-barreled rifles, combination guns, and are commonly found in single shot pistols, rifles, shotguns, including flare guns, grenade launchers, air guns, and some older revolver designs. They are also known as hinge-action, break-open, break-barrel, break-top, or, on old revolvers, top-break actions.
The Winchester Model 21 is a deluxe side by side shotgun. The shotgun's initial production run from 1931 through 1959 yielded approximately 30,000 guns. Winchester Repeating Arms Company ceased the main production line of this shotgun in 1960 and the Model 21 was sourced to the Winchester Custom Shop until the gun's retirement in 1991. New Winchester Model 21 production continues under license to Connecticut Shotgun Manufacturing Company.
The Browning Citori is an over-under double-barreled shotgun. It is marketed and distributed by the Browning Arms Company in Morgan, Utah, and manufactured for Browning by the Miroku Corporation in Nangoku, Japan.
The Remington Spartan 100 is a single-shot, break-action shotgun. It is a variant of a classical Russian IZh-18 shotgun manufactured by Izhevsk Mechanical Plant for export under trademark "Baikal", in Izhevsk, Russia. It is marketed and distributed by Remington.
The Ruger Gold Label was a side-by-side double-barreled shotgun that was made by Sturm, Ruger & Company, Incorporated, at their manufacturing facility in Newport, New Hampshire. It was designed to be similar to traditional English shotguns used for upland bird hunting and for clay target games such as sporting clays.
The Stoeger Coach Gun is a side-by-side double-barreled shotgun. It is marketed and distributed by Stoeger Industries in Accokeek, Maryland. It is manufactured by E.R. Amantino (Boito) in Veranópolis, Brazil.
The Taurus Judge is a five shot revolver designed and produced by Taurus International, chambered for .410 bore shot shells and the .45 Colt cartridge. Taurus promotes the Judge as a self-defense tool against carjacking and for home protection.
The Cooey 84 is a shotgun manufactured by the H. W. Cooey Machine & Arms Company in Cobourg, Ontario, Canada. The shotgun was sold as the Model 84 until 1967 when, following acquisition by Winchester, it was sold as the Model 840 until production ended in 1979. Today, the 84/840 is considered a collector's item to those who collect Canadian-made firearms.
Amadeo Rossi SA, founded in 1889 in São Leopoldo, Brazil, is a Brazilian arms manufacturer. Rossi produces pistols and revolvers used by both civilians and security forces, and exports worldwide. It is considered one of the largest weapons manufacturers in Brazil.
Garden guns are small bore shotguns commonly used by gardeners and farmers for pest control. They are made to fire small gauges such as .410 bore, .360 bore, 9mm Flobert, 7mm Flobert, and .22 Winchester Magnum Rimfire or .22 long rifle rimfire shotshells. They are short-range shotguns that can do little harm past 15 to 20 yards, and they are relatively quiet when fired with rimfire ammunition. These guns are especially suitable for use inside barns and sheds, as the low-velocity small shot will not penetrate roofs or walls, or injure livestock with a ricochet. Such guns are also used for pest control at airports, warehouses, stockyards, etc.
The Chiappa Triple Crown is a family of Italian-made triple-barrel, break-action shotguns, chambered in 12-gauge, 20-gauge, 28-gauge, and .410 bore. The barrels have a triangular arrangement with one on top and two below. This gives the Triple Crown a single-barrel sight picture.
