See my post on How A Shotgun Works if you don’t know anything about shotguns before reading this post.
A shotgun can be used for so many diverse applications. The shotgun is unique in its versatility because rather than using a single cartridge like most other firearms, the shotgun is a shooting platform for whatever an ammo manufacturer decides to shove inside a shotshell. Shotshells can hold lead pellets, flares, bean bags and rubber pellets, steel shot, a single lead slug and even salt. I don’t recommend it, but a friend of mine said that he re-loaded a shotshell with dimes! Each variable in the shotshell can produce different results and be applied to a different shooting function. The main variables are what is in the shotshell, what the size of the material in the shot shell is, and the gauge (which is diameter not length).
The standard shotgun sizes are 12, 20, 28 gauge and .410 (the smallest standard shotgun). The smaller the gauge the bigger the shotgun. 12 gauge shotguns are the most common, but many people use the smaller gauges for other applications. For example, rabbits are fairly fragile animals and many will use the diminutive .410 shotgun for hunting them. Conversely, Geese are quite tough and most hunters will use at least a 12 gauge and possibly even the non-standard 10 gauge for those birds.
What is in a shotshell makes a huge difference. The most common material used is lead due to its abundance and density. Lead holds its energy over a greater distance and so can reach out and kill further away then other materials like steel. Steel shot is used due to concerns with the environment. Many birds will eat shot to help grind up the food in their stomachs. Lead shot can be toxic to the birds and so steel shot is require for hunting migratory birds like ducks and geese.
The size of the shot is also important. The larger the shot, the better the shot holds its energy over a distance, but the fewer pieces you can fit in a shotshell. Here is a little chart to show how big some of the shot pieces can be. The intrepid turkey can best be killed with shot sizes 4-6. The notoriously evil clay bird can best be killed with 7 1/2 or 8 shot. If you want to kill the crap out of something big, best to use double aught buck shot signified in the picture as “No. 00”. For ducks bigger steel shot is needed because steel doesn’t hold its energy over a distance as well. Many duck and geese hunters will use BB or BBB sized shot for hunting.
So go get yourself a shotgun and you too can value diversity!
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