Combat shotgun


A combat shotgun is a shotgun issued by militaries for warfare. 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 increase the probability of hitting a target at close quarters.

History

While the sporting shotgun traces its ancestry back to the fowling piece, which was a refinement of the smoothbore musket, the combat shotgun bears more kinship to the shorter blunderbuss. Invented in the 16th century by the Dutch, the blunderbuss was used through the 18th century in warfare by the British, Austrian, Spanish and Prussian regiments, as well as in the American colonies. As use of the blunderbuss declined, the United States military began loading smaller lead shot in combination with their larger bullets, a combination known as "buck and ball". The buck and ball load was used extensively by Americans at the Battle of New Orleans in 1814 and was partially responsible for the disparate casualty rates between American and British forces. The advantage of this loading was that it had a greater chance of hitting the enemy, thus taking wounded soldiers out of a fight. The disadvantage of this load was that the buckshot did not cause as severe wounds at longer ranges, and contemporary accounts show many of the British wounded recovering quickly as they had been struck by the buckshot rather than the ball. Fowling pieces were commonly used by militias, for example during the Texas Revolution. However, buck and ball worked as well or better in standard or even rifled muskets. Buck and ball loads were used by both sides of the American Civil War, often by cavalry units.
The development of repeating pump-action shotguns in the 1890s led to their use by the US Marines in the Philippines insurrections and by General "Black Jack" Pershing's pursuit of Pancho Villa, and "riot" shotguns quickly gained favor with civilian police units, but the modern concept of the combat shotgun was fully developed by the American Expeditionary Forces during World War I. 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 M1897 and M1912 could also be slam fired: the weapon having no trigger disconnector, shells could be fired one after the other simply by working the slide if the trigger was held down, though in the heat of combat one could easily short-stroke the weapon and jam it. When fighting within a trench, the shorter shotgun could be rapidly turned and fired in both directions along the trench axis. The shotguns elicited a diplomatic protest from the German government, claiming the shotguns caused excessive injury, and that any troops found in possession of them would be subject to execution. The US Government rejected the claims, and threatened reprisals in kind if any US troops were executed for possession of a shotgun.
File:USMC in Operation Steel Curtain.jpg|thumb|A group of US Marines in Iraq in 2005, armed with a combat shotgun, assault rifle, and squad automatic weapon
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, Canadian, Australian, and New Zealand forces, as well as many guerrillas and insurgents throughout sub-Saharan Africa, Latin and South America, and Southeast Asia. Six different model of shotguns were accepted in the US army during World War II, the most popular being the M97 and M1912. One disadvantage of using a shotgun in the Pacific Theatre was the way of carrying the shotshells. The standard rifle pouches that carried shotshells were small, only about 30 rounds if carried vertically. Some Marines carried the shells in SL-3 grenade vests from World War I, but these vests were hard to come by. Also used were modified bandoliers and whatever came to hand or could be improvised.
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. Commercial paper hulls were later impregnated with wax to make them water resistant, but in combat the heat from rapid firing would cause the wax to melt, often resulting in a jammed gun. Military-issue shotshells were usually made entirely of brass to avoid these issues, until the introduction of plastic hulls in the early 1960s.
General Alexander Patch was seen armed with a Winchester shotgun when he personally led an attack in Guadalcanal.
In the jungle warfare during the Malayan Emergency, the British Army and local forces of Malaya used shotguns to great effect due to limited space in the jungles and frequent close combat. 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, during Operation Gothic Serpent, 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. 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. According to the Army Rangers, their verdict was positive for this new type of breaching gun.
In operations in post-invasion Iraq, US forces used their combat shotguns to clear out suspected insurgent hideouts in house to house fighting. One notable experimental shotgun used in limited numbers during Operation Enduring Freedom is the XM26 for breaching doors or close-quarter battle.
Combat shotguns have seen use in the Russo-Ukrainian War in the anti-drone role although their effectiveness remains unclear.

Characteristics

The most common type of shotgun used for this purpose is the manually operated, slide-action/pump-action type like the Remington M870 or Mossberg 590A1. The latter is currently the pump-action of choice for US armed forces, and both have seen service with other militaries. The pump-action type is less prone to malfunction than semi-automatic designs. Pump-action shotguns are also less expensive than their semi-automatic counterparts. Even so, semi-automatic shotguns such as the Benelli M1014 are currently seeing service in NATO-aligned armed forces.
Combat shotguns typically have much shorter barrels than shotguns used for hunting. They usually have magazines of modified design to hold more than the 3 to 5 shots normal with sporting or hunting shotguns. Most combat shotguns have tubular magazines mounted underneath the barrel. These are identical to those of hunting shotguns, except for being longer to hold more ammunition. Some recent designs have detachable box magazines.
Combat shotguns are mostly similar to the police riot shotgun. The military versions may have provisions to mount a bayonet, and may be fitted with ventilated steel or plastic hand guards over the barrel to reduce the danger of a soldier burning their hand on the hot barrel during rapid fire. Riot shotguns are more likely to trade off increased magazine capacity for decreased size. For example, a combat model would be more likely to have a barrel and up to a 10-round capacity, while riot shotguns are often found with barrels of and a capacity of 5 to 8 rounds.

Combat use

The combat shotgun has evolved from its original role as a short range combat weapon into a wider role in modern times. With proper configuration, ammunition and training, the modern combat shotgun plays three roles:
  1. Offensive weapon
  2. Breaching system
  3. Less-lethal crowd control
Effective range of the shotgun with standard buckshot is limited to about 20–30 meters. 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.
When used as a door breaching system, the shotgun may be provided with a muzzle extension to allow it to be pressed firmly against the door while providing the correct standoff distance for optimum performance. While there are specialized rounds for breaching doors with minimal hazard to any occupants of the room, any type of round will do the job, though with some degradation of effectiveness and increased risk of collateral damage. In operations in Iraq, the shotgun was the preferred method of door breaching by infantry units, ideally with a frangible breaching slug. For the breaching role, shorter barrels are preferred, as they are more easily handled in tight quarters.
File:Search for insurgents.jpg|thumb|US soldiers in Tal Afar, Iraq, search for insurgents. The soldier in the foreground is carrying a standard M-16 type rifle and a shotgun on a sling for breaching
Limited ammunition capacity is one of the primary downsides of the combat shotgun. While box magazines are available in some models, the tubular magazine is still dominant. This limits capacities; the current US pump shotgun issued, the Mossberg 590, has a 5 or 8 shot capacity depending on barrel length. The tubular magazine does allow easy "topping off", so training emphasizes the need to load the magazine to full capacity whenever the opportunity presents itself. A common doctrine is "shoot one, load one": load a shell immediately after every shot, to ensure that the shotgun is fully loaded at all times; this ensures that the operator has a full magazine at their disposal in case of emergencies when they may not be able to reload in between shots. 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.
The bulk and weight of shotgun ammunition also limits its utility as a general-issue weapon. Weight per 100 rounds of an average 12-gauge 00-buck shell is ; for an average.223/5.56 round, weight per 100 rounds is about or a 3.8:1 weight ratio of 12-gauge buckshot and 5.56×45mm. This means just eight 12-gauge buckshot shells weigh approximately the same as thirty 5.56×45mm rifle cartridges. While an individual soldier can easily carry several hundred rifle or pistol cartridges in box magazines, only a few dozen shotshells can be carried practically.