Shotguns Vs. Rifles

In a another article I compared pistols to rifles. For that article go here:

http://www.associatedcontent.com/article/346426/rifles_vs_pistols.html?page=2&cat=11

Rifles are clearly superior in almost every way. But what about shotguns? How do rifles and shotguns compare to each other?

In order to compare shotguns to rifles, one must nail down what a shotgun is and understand its strengths and weaknesses. A shotgun is a smoothbore firearm. The bore/barrel is smooth on the inside. Rifles have rifling (pistols too). Rifling is a set of grooves set in a barrel that impart spin on a bullet.

Shotguns normally fire "shot" hence the name. Shot is just round balls usually made out of lead (but not always). Smaller shot is called "birdshot" (for hunting birds) and larger shot is called buckshot (for hunting deer). A shotgun fires several spheres at one time thus earning the nickname "scattergun".

The strengths and weaknesses of this weapon are obvious. Firing multiple projectiles at one time increases the chance of a hit. The injury inflicted by a hit, or hits, is increased by every projectile that hits the intended target. Multiple wounds mean greater overall tissue damage, as well as blood loss. The chance of hitting vital organs is increased as well.

The drawbacks to this platform are numerous. Shotguns loaded with buckshot have limited range; fifty yards is about the maximum one can expect to hit any target with adequate force.

Distance is not the only drawback. Buckshot penetrates poorly. It won't penetrate body armor; it even has a hard time penetrating the hide and tissue of certain animals.

However, there is more to the shotgun than just shooting shot. Because the bore of a shotgun is smooth is can fire projectiles other than shot. The most common is slugs. A slug is a cylindrical projectile . . . basically bullet. Slugs increase the range of shotguns. The downside is slugs do not travel as far, fast, or as accurately as bullets fired out of a rifle. The spin imparted on a rifle bullet makes a big difference in terms of accuracy and energy retention. This does not mean that all slugs do not spin. Some slugs contain rifling on the projectile itself. This imparts spin on the projectile and thus more stability. Some slugs have fins that impart even more spin. In both of these projectiles, however, the accuracy and range is still lacking when compared to rifles. A smoothbore shotgun shooting slugs has an effective range of about 100 yards. Rifles can shoot well past 100 yards; some can even shoot over 1000 yards.

In order to give slugs greater range some shotgun barrels are rifled on the inside. The effective range is increased to about 150-200 yards, but at that point the slug gun is more like a rifle than a shotgun.

Slugs from a either a rifled or smooth barrel behave differently than shot. Instead of "scattering" its energy all over it is focused into one projectile. Thus, slugs have greater penetration. Typically, shotguns have wider barrels, and larger, heavier projectiles than rifles. The most common shotguns sizes, 20 gauge and 12 gauge are much larger in terms of caliber than most hand held rifles. A 20 gauge is .615 of an inch wide and a 12 gauge is .729 of an inch wide. That is huge! A 50 caliber rifle is as big as (common) hand held rifles get. The term for size and width of a projectile is "cross-sectional density" and shotgun slugs have it. The muzzle energy created by the size and speed of fired slugs is tremendous. They will defeat body armor and they penetrate the toughest animal hide.

This size is a drawback as well. Normally, shotgun rounds are much larger than rifle rounds. This in turn means that shotguns cannot hold as many rounds be it in an external (detachable) or internal magazine.

Slugs and shot are not the only projectiles shotguns can shoot. They can fire flares, bean bags, flechettes (darts), cubes, and pyrotechnic rounds. This versatility is a big plus for shotguns.

In order to compare one type of firearm to another, equivalent versions must be examined. Shotguns come in single-shot, double-barrel, lever-action, bolt-action, pump, and (semi) automatic. Rifles do too. However, if one were to compare say, pump rifles to pump shotguns, or semi-automatic rifles to semi-automatic shotguns then shotguns come out slightly ahead in terms of price. This is because rifled barrels are more complex and thus more expensive than just a tube.

Shotguns and rifles have advantages over the other. In addition, there are numerous factors (not covered in this article) that effect performance. Rifles tend to shoot farther with greater penetration. They also can hold more rounds of ammunition (usually). Shotguns are more versatile and easier to hit targets with. So, if rifles and shotguns were in a contest it would be draw.