Combat shotgun
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A combat shotgun is a shotgun that is optimized for use on a combat role. The earliest shotguns specifically designed for combat were the trench guns or trench shotguns issued in World War I. While limited in range, the multiple projectiles typically used in a shotgun shell provide increased hit probability unmatched by other small arms[1]
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[edit] Characteristics
The most common type of shotgun used for this purpose is the manually-operated, slide-action/pump-action type, because it is less prone to malfunction, particularly when dirty, than semi-automatic designs.
Combat shotguns typically have much shorter barrels than shotguns for hunting and usually, though not always, have magazines of modified design to hold more than the three to five shots normal with sporting or hunting shotguns. Most combat shotguns have tubular magazines to hold the cartridges, mounted underneath the barrel, identical to those of hunting shotguns except for being longer to hold more ammunition, though some recent designs have detachable box magazines.
Combat shotguns for military are typically very similar to the police riot shotgun, but the military versions will usually have a ventilated steel or plastic hand guard over the barrel to reduce the danger that a soldier will burn his hand on the hot barrel during rapid fire, and usually also have attachment hardware to mount a bayonet under the muzzle. Riot shotguns are also more likely to trade off the increased magazine capacity for the increased size that entails; for example, a combat model would be more likely to have a 20 inch barrel (510 mm) and a 9 shot capacity, while riot shotguns are often found with barrels of 14 to 18 inches (355 to 460 mm) and a capacity of 5 or 6 rounds.
[edit] Effectiveness
A Joint Service Combat Shotgun Program report on the legality of shotguns in war states, in support of the use of the shotgun in warfare, "the probability of hitting a man-sized target with a shotgun was superior to that of all other weapons", and goes on to support this with statistics compiled by the British from the conflict in Borneo in the 1960s.
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 75 yards (70 m). The delivery of the large number of projectiles simultaneously makes the shotgun the most effective short range weapon commonly used, with a hit probability 45% greater than a submachine gun, and twice as great as an assault rifle. While each pellet is only as effective as a small caliber handgun, and offers very poor penetration against an armored target, the multiple projectiles increases the likelihood of one or more peripheral wounds.
[edit] Ammunition
The most common type of ammunition used in combat shotguns, whether for military or law enforcement purposes, is buckshot, typically a 2 3/4 inch (70 mm) 12 gauge shell loaded with 9 hardened 00 buckshot, with a diameter of about .33 inches (8.4 mm). Buckshot is brutally effective at close ranges against unarmored targets--enough so that Germany issued a protest against its use in 1918[1]. The only other type of ammunition currently in use in military shotguns are breaching rounds, which are specially designed frangible rounds designed to destroy a door lock or hinge while minimizing the risk of damage to occupants of the room. Shotgun slugs are currently under consideration by the US military as an anti-material round; the tendency of typical commercial shotgun slugs to deform on impact would render them illegal under the Hague Convention of 1899.
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), but this is not common. Other experimental shotgun ammunition has been created, such as SCIMTR, but none have been successful enough to be adopted.
Due to the great flexibility of the shotgun, it is often used in non-offensive roles as well. The US Infantry, for example, offers a number of less lethal varieties of ammunition for use in the riot control role, and for door breaching with #9 birdshot and specialized breaching rounds.
There are a number of experimental rounds currently under development and consideration by the US military, including explosive rounds and stand-off breaching rounds, that could improve the range and flexibility of the combat shotgun.
[edit] Combat use
The limited ammunition capacity is one of the primary downsides of the combat shotgun. While box magazines are available in some models (such as shotgun derivatives of the AK-47 design[1]) the tubular magazine is still dominant. This limits capacities; the current US pump shotgun issued, the Mossberg 590A1, has a 5 or 8 shot capacity depending on barrel length. However, the tubular magazine does allow easy "topping off", so training emphasizes the need to load the magazine to capacity whenever the opportunity presents itself. A pistol is also advised as a backup weapon, should the operator empty the magazine and not have time to reload. A sling to carry the shotgun is essential if it is to be used in conjunction with another weapon, so that the shotgun may be readily accessible.
Range of the shotgun with standard buckshot is limited to about 30 meters with a full stock, and 10 when equipped only with a pistol grip due to the difficulty in accurately aiming without a full stock. Slug rounds, if available, can extend the effective range of the shotgun to 100 meters. Less lethal rounds vary, with ranges from 10 meters for rubber buckshot to 75 meters for rubber slugs. These less lethal munitions are the same type as used by police, and have served well in riot control situations, such as that in Kosovo in 2001[2].
[edit] See also
- Winchester Model 1897 12 gauge pump-action shotgun used from WW I through Korean War
- Winchester Model 1912 12 gauge pump-action hammerless shotgun used from WW I through Vietnam
- Ithaca 37 12 gauge pump-action shotgun used by U.S. Navy SEALS in Vietnam with duckbill attachment
- Remington 870 pump-action combat shotgun used by the United States Air Force for air base/aircraft defense
- Mossberg 500 pump-action combat shotgun used by the United States Army and Marines
- Benelli M1014, a gas actuated semi-automatic which is the current "Joint Service Combat Shotgun", serving as a replacement for pump action models
- List of individual weapons of the U.S. Armed Forces (Shotguns)
- Franchi SPAS-15, a 12 gauge shotgun with switchable pump-action/semi-automatic firing modes
- Saiga-12, a Kalashnikov-pattern, rotating bolt, gas-operated, semi-automatic 12 gauge combat shotgun
- USAS-12, a South Korean gas-operated, selective fire weapon capable of fully automatic fire
[edit] References
- ^ a b Joint Service Combat Shotgun Program, includes the history of the shotgun in combat, and the requirements of the Joint Service Combat Shotgun
- "Give Us More Shotguns!" by Bruce N. Canfield, American Rifleman, May 2004
- Fawcett, Bill. Hunters & Shooters, An Oral History of the U.S. Navy SEALS in Vietnam. NY: Avon Books, 1995. ISBN 0-380-72166-X, pp. 79-80, especially.
- The combat shotgun in the BCT, Infantry Magazine, Sep 1 2006
