Editing Shotgun (section)

==History==
[[File:confederateshotgun.jpg|upright|thumb|A [[Confederate States of America|Confederate]] cavalryman during the [[American Civil War]]]]
Most early firearms, such as the [[blunderbuss]], [[arquebus]], and [[musket]] had large diameter, smoothbore barrels, and could fire shot as well as solid balls. A firearm intended for use in wing shooting of birds was known as a '''fowling piece'''. The 1728 [[Cyclopaedia, or Universal Dictionary of Arts and Sciences|''Cyclopaedia'']] defines a ''fowling piece'' as:

{{poemquote|Fowling Piece, a portable Fire Arm for the shooting of Birds. See Fire Arm.
Of Fowling Pieces, those are reputed the best, which have the longest Barrel, vis. from 5{{frac|1|2}} foot to 6; with an indifferent Bore, under Harquebus: Tho' for different Occasions they shou'd be of different Sorts, and Sizes. But in all, 'tis essential the Barrel be well polish'd and smooth within; and the Bore all of a Bigness, from one End to another...<ref>{{cite web|url=http://digicoll.library.wisc.edu/cgi-bin/HistSciTech/HistSciTech-idx?type=turn&entity=HistSciTech000900240835&isize=M |title=Problem while searching in History of Science |publisher=Digicoll.library.wisc.edu |access-date=19 February 2015}}</ref>}}

For example, the [[Brown Bess]] [[musket]], in service with the British army from 1722 to 1838, had a 19&nbsp;mm (.75&nbsp;inch) smoothbore barrel, roughly the same as a 10-gauge shotgun, and was {{convert|157|cm|in|abbr=on}} long, just short of the above recommended 168&nbsp;cm (5{{frac|1|2}} feet). On the other hand, records from the [[Plymouth colony]] show a maximum length of 137&nbsp;cm (4{{frac|1|2}} feet) for fowling pieces,<ref>{{cite web|url=http://plymoutharch.tripod.com/id71.html|title=Firearms in Plymouth Colony|publisher=Plymoutharch.tripod.com|access-date=3 October 2014}}</ref> shorter than the typical musket.

Shot was also used in warfare; the [[buck and ball]] loading, combining a musket ball with three or six buckshot, was used throughout the history of the smoothbore musket. The first recorded use of the term ''shotgun'' was in 1776 in [[Kentucky]]. It was noted as part of the "frontier language of the West" by [[James Fenimore Cooper]].

With the adoption of smaller bores and rifled barrels, the shotgun began to emerge as a separate entity. Shotguns have long been the preferred method for sport hunting of birds, and the largest shotguns, the [[punt gun]]s, were used for commercial hunting. The [[double-barreled shotgun]] has changed little since the development of the [[Anson & Deeley boxlock action|boxlock]] action in 1875. Modern innovations such as interchangeable chokes and subgauge inserts make the double-barreled shotgun the shotgun of choice in [[Skeet shooting|skeet]], [[trap shooting]], and [[sporting clays]], as well as with many hunters.

As wing shooting has been a prestige sport, specialty gunsmiths such as [[Krieghoff]] or [[Perazzi]] have produced fancy double-barrel guns for wealthy European and American hunters. These weapons can cost US$5,000 or more; some elaborately decorated presentation guns have sold for up to US$100,000.<ref>Fjestad, S. P. ''Blue Book of Gun Values'', 13th Ed.</ref>

During its long history, the shotgun has been favored by bird hunters, guards, and [[Police|law enforcement officials]]. The shotgun has fallen in and out of favor with military forces several times in its long history. Shotguns and similar weapons are simpler than long-range rifles, and were developed earlier. The development of more accurate and deadlier long-range rifles minimized the usefulness of the shotgun on the open battlefields of European wars. But armies have "rediscovered" the shotgun for specialty uses many times.

===19th century===
During the 19th century, shotguns were mainly employed by [[cavalry]] units. Both sides of the [[American Civil War]] employed shotguns. U.S. cavalry used the shotgun extensively during the [[Indian Wars]] in the latter half of the 19th century. Mounted units favored the shotgun for its moving target effectiveness, and devastating close-range firepower. The shotgun was also favored by citizen militias and similar groups.

With the exception of cavalry units, the shotgun saw less and less use throughout the 19th century on the battlefield. As a defense weapon it remained popular with guards and lawmen, however, and the shotgun became one of many symbols of the [[American Old West]]. Lawman [[Cody Lyons]] killed two men with a shotgun; his friend [[Doc Holliday]]'s only confirmed kill was with a shotgun. The weapon both these men used was the short-barreled version favored by private strongbox guards on stages and trains. These guards, called express messengers, became known as [[shotgun messenger]]s, since they rode with the weapon (loaded with buckshot) for defense against bandits. Passenger carriages carrying a strongbox usually had at least one private guard armed with a shotgun riding in front of the coach, next to the driver. This practice has survived in American slang; the term [[Calling shotgun|"riding shotgun"]] is used for the passenger who sits in the front passenger seat. The shotgun was a popular weapon for personal protection in the [[American Old West]], requiring less skill on the part of the user than a [[revolver]].

===Hammerless shotguns===
The origins of the hammerless shotgun are European but otherwise obscure. The earliest breechloading shotguns originated in France and Belgium in the early 19th century (see also the history of the [[Pinfire]]) and a number of them such as those by Robert and Chateauvillard from the 1830s and 1840s did not use hammers. In fact during these decades a wide variety of ingenious weapons, including rifles, adopted what is now often known as a 'needle-fire' method of igniting the charge, where a firing pin or a longer sharper needle provided the necessary impact. The most widely used British hammerless needle-fire shotgun was the unusual hinged-chamber fixed-barrel breech-loader by Joseph Needham, produced from the 1850s. By the 1860s hammerless guns were increasingly used in Europe both in war and sport although hammer guns were still very much in the majority. The first significant encroachment on hammer guns was a hammerless patent which could be used with a conventional side-lock. This was British gunmaker T. Murcott's 1871 action nicknamed the 'mousetrap' on account of its loud snap action. However, the most successful hammerless innovation of the 1870s was Anson and Deeley's [[boxlock action|boxlock]] patent of 1875. This simple but ingenious design only used four moving parts allowing the production of cheaper and reliable shotguns.

[[Daniel Myron LeFever]] is credited with the invention of the American hammerless shotgun. Working for Barber & LeFever in Syracuse, New York, he introduced his first hammerless shotgun in 1878. This gun was cocked with external cocking levers on the side of the breech. He went on to patent the first truly automatic hammerless shotgun in 1883. This gun automatically cocked itself when the breech was closed. He later developed the mechanism to automatically eject the shells when the breech was opened.

===John Moses Browning===
One of the men most responsible for the modern development of the shotgun was prolific gun designer [[John Browning]]. While working for [[Winchester Firearms]], Browning revolutionized shotgun design. In 1887, Browning introduced the [[Winchester Model 1887/1901|Model 1887 Lever Action Repeating Shotgun]], which loaded a fresh cartridge from its internal magazine by the operation of the action lever. Before this time most shotguns were the '[[break open]]' type.

This development was greatly overshadowed by two further innovations he introduced at the end of the 19th century. In 1893, Browning produced the Model 1893 Pump Action Shotgun, introducing the now familiar pump action to the market. And in 1900, he patented the [[Browning Auto-5]], America's first semi-automatic shotgun. The first semi-automatic shotgun in the world was patented in 1891–1893 by the Clair brothers of France.<ref>{{Cite web |url=http://www.smallarmsreview.com/display.article.cfm%3Fidarticles%3D1822 |title=Automatic Weapons:French Forerunners |access-date=28 December 2021 |archive-date=22 December 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20211222152208/http://www.smallarmsreview.com/display.article.cfm?idarticles=1822 |url-status=dead }}</ref> The Browning Auto-5 remained in production until 1998.

===World wars===
The decline in military use of shotguns reversed in [[World War I]]. American forces under [[General Pershing]] employed 12-gauge pump-action shotguns when they were deployed to the Western Front in 1917. These shotguns were fitted with [[bayonets]] and a heat shield so the barrel could be gripped while the bayonet was deployed. Shotguns fitted in this fashion became known as ''[[combat shotgun|trench guns]]'' by the [[United States Army]]. Those without such modifications were known as ''riot guns''. After World War I, the United States military began referring to all shotguns as ''riot guns''.

Due to the cramped conditions of [[trench warfare]], the American shotguns were extremely effective. [[German Empire|Germany]] even filed an official diplomatic protest against their use, alleging they violated the [[laws of warfare]]. The [[United States Army Judge Advocate General's Corps|judge advocate general]] reviewed the protest, and it was rejected because the Germans protested use of lead shot (which would have been illegal) but military shot was plated. This is the only occasion the legality of the shotgun's use in warfare has been questioned.<ref>{{cite journal | author = Bruce N. Canfield |date=May 2004 | title = Give Us More Shotguns! | journal = American Rifleman }}</ref>

[[File:ww2marineshotgun.jpg|thumb|upright|A [[United States Marine Corps|United States Marine]] carrying a [[Winchester Model 1897|Winchester M97]] shotgun during [[World War II]]]]

During [[World War II]], the shotgun was not heavily used in the war in Europe by official military forces. However, the shotgun was a favorite weapon of Allied-supported [[Partisan (military)|partisans]], such as the [[French Resistance]]. By contrast, in the Pacific theater, thick jungles and heavily fortified positions made the shotgun a favorite weapon of the [[United States Marines]]. Marines tended to use pump shotguns, since the pump action was less likely to jam in the humid and dirty conditions of the Pacific campaign. Similarly, the [[United States Navy]] used pump shotguns to guard ships when in port in Chinese harbors (e.g., Shanghai). The [[United States Army Air Forces]] also used pump shotguns to guard bombers and other aircraft against saboteurs when parked on airbases across the Pacific and on the West Coast of the United States. Pump and semi-automatic shotguns were used in marksmanship training, particularly for bomber gunners. The most common pump shotguns used for these duties were the 12-gauge [[Winchester Model 1897|Winchester Model 97]] and [[Winchester Model 1912|Model 12]]. The break-open action, single barrel shotgun was used by the British [[Home Guard (United Kingdom)|Home Guard]] and U.S. home security forces. Notably, industrial centers (such as the Gopher State Steel Works) were guarded by National Guard soldiers with [[Winchester Model 37]] 12-gauge shotguns.

===Late 20th century to present===
Since the end of World War II, the shotgun has remained a specialty weapon for modern armies. It has been deployed for specialized tasks where its strengths were put to particularly good use. It was used to defend machine gun emplacements during the [[Korean War]], American and French jungle patrols used shotguns during the [[Vietnam War]], and shotguns saw extensive use as door breaching and close quarter weapons in the early stages of the [[Iraq War]], and saw limited use in tank crews.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.defensetech.org/archives/001951.html |title=SMALL ARMS IN IRAQ: WHAT WORKED, WHAT SUCKED WHAT A HOAX |url-status=usurped |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090410014702/http://www.defensetech.org/archives/001951.html |archive-date=10 April 2009}}</ref> Many modern [[Navy|navies]] make extensive use of shotguns by personnel engaged in boarding hostile ships, as any shots fired will almost certainly be over a short range. Nonetheless, shotguns are far less common in military use than rifles, carbines, submachine guns, or pistols.

On the other hand, the shotgun has become a standard in law enforcement use. A variety of specialty less-lethal or non-lethal ammunitions, such as tear gas shells, bean bags, flares, explosive sonic stun rounds, and rubber projectiles, all packaged into 12-gauge shotgun shells, are produced specifically for the law enforcement market. Recently, [[Taser International]] introduced a self-contained electronic weapon which is fired from a standard 12-gauge shotgun.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.taser.com/products/law/Pages/XREP.aspx |title=Taser Xrep |publisher=Taser.com |access-date=5 September 2008 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080903132852/http://www.taser.com/PRODUCTS/LAW/Pages/XREP.aspx |archive-date=3 September 2008}}</ref>

The shotgun remains a standard firearm for hunting throughout the world for all sorts of game from birds and small game to large game such as deer. The versatility of the shotgun as a hunting weapon has steadily increased as slug rounds and more advanced rifled barrels have given shotguns longer range and higher killing power. The shotgun has become a ubiquitous firearm in the hunting community.