A riot shotgun is a shotgun designed or modified for use as a primarily defensive weapon, and used by civilian and police user. For offensive military shotgun use, see combat shotgun.

Characteristics

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Generally this involves a shorter barrel which makes the shotgun more compact and easy to handle, and more suitable for quickly aiming at stationary targets. Generally they have an open choke, to cause the shot to spread quickly, and they may be equipped with special sights to make them more accurate when shooting shotgun slugs. The ability to use slugs extends the range of the shotgun, and allows it to play a more offensive role if needed, one of the reasons that police often carry a shotgun as a secondary weapon to back up their handgun.

The multiple projectile ability of a shotgun greatly increases the probability of a hit on an assailant, and the multiple projectiles increase the likelyhood of a disabling hit. A typical police load consists of 9 .33 caliber (8.5 mm) round balls, each of which is similar in size and velocity to a lightweight handgun bullet. This shot 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.^*

Riot vs. combat shotguns

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The division between the riot shotgun and the combat shotgun is blurry, and may be more a matter of application than design. A combat shotgun would be used in military combat situations as a primarily offensive weapon, where a riot shotgun would be used in law enforcement or civilian situations as a primarily defensive weapon. Common additions to a combat shotgun would be provision for attaching a bayonet, and the addition of a ventilated shroud over the barrel to prevent the operator's fingers from being burned by a barrel hot from repeated firing.

Riot shotguns are also more limited in range than combat shotguns by the nature of their use. A combat shotgun is considered effective out to 75 yards (70 m) because on average at least 1 pellet of a 9 pellet 00 buckshot load will hit a human sized target at that range. This is enough to degrade the combat effectiveness of an enemy solider, but it is not enough to reliably disable an assailant in a defensive situation. For that, there must be multiple hits to the target, enough that one or more pellets will hit a vital region. Generally this is well under 40 yards (37 yards) with a cylinder bore barrel. Beyond this range, slugs and good iron sights are recommended.

Entry shotguns

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The entry shotgun is further modified riot shotgun with an exremely short barrel (legally a sawed-off shotgun), and often only a pistol grip rather than a buttstock. It is often used with breaching rounds, as its extremely short length is ideal for quickly disabling locks and entering the forced door. Since entry shotguns are legally classified as sawed-off shotguns (even though they are manufactured at that length, and not literally "sawed off"), they are highly restricted under the National Firearms Act and generally only used by police and military.

See also

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• Riot gun

References

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• "Give Us More Shotguns!" by Bruce N. Canfield, American Rifleman, May 2004
• Joint Service Combat Shotgun Program, includes the history of the shotgun in combat, with statistics on hit probability
• Friar Frog's combat shotgun page, with information on the Modern Technique's use of the shotgun

Shotguns | Firearms