Shotguns

A shotgun (also known as a scattergun, peppergun, or historically as a fowling piece) is a long-barreled firearm designed to shoot a straight-walled cartridge known as a shotshell, which discharges numerous small spherical projectiles called shot, or a single solid projectile called a slug. Shotguns are most commonly used as smoothbore firearms, meaning that their gun barrels have no rifling on the inner wall, but rifled barrels for shooting sabot slugs (slug barrels) are also available.

The blunderbuss is a 17th- to mid-19th-century firearm with a short, large caliber barrel. It is commonly flared at the muzzle to help aid in the loading of shot and other projectiles of relevant quantity or caliber. The blunderbuss is commonly considered to be an early predecessor of the modern shotgun, with similar military usage. It was effective only at short range, lacking accuracy at long distances. A blunderbuss in handgun form was called a dragon, and it is from this that the term dragoon evolved.

Blaser Jagdwaffen GmbH (pronounced: Blah-zer) is a German firearms manufacturer of high-end shotguns and rifles both for the hunting and tactical market. It was founded in 1957 by Horst Blaser, developing the drilling Blaser Diplomat. In September 2008, Blaser established a office in San Antonio, Texas.

James Purdey & Sons, or simply Purdey, is a British gunmaker based in London, England specialising in high-end bespoke sporting shotguns and rifles. Purdey holds Royal Warrants of appointment as gun and rifle makers to the British and other European royal families.

Thomas J. "Tom" Knapp (September 30, 1950 - April 26, 2013) was an American exhibition sharpshooter.

Joseph Manton (6 June 1766 – 29 June 1835) was a British gunsmith who innovated in sport shooting, improved the quality of weapons and paved the way to the modern artillery shell. Joseph was also a sports shooter in his own right and a friend of Colonel Peter Hawker.

Gallyon Gun & Rifle Makers Ltd (formerly known as Gallyon & Sons) is a British gunmaker currently based in St Neots, Cambridgeshire, England, which offers bespoke sporting shotguns and rifles.

Parker Bros (also known at various times as Parker Brothers Manufacturing Company, Parker Brothers Guns, and Parker Bros. Shotguns) was an American firearms firm, mostly producing shotguns from 1867 to 1942. During these years, approximately 242,000 guns were produced in various grades, and are widely considered the finest and most collectible American shotgun.

A sawed-off shotgun (also called a scattergun, sawn-off shotgun, short-barrelled shotgun, shorty, or boom stick) is a type of shotgun with a shorter gun barrel—typically under 18 inches (46 cm)—and often a pistol grip instead of a longer shoulder stock. Despite the colloquial term, barrels do not, strictly speaking, have to be shortened with a saw. Barrels can be manufactured at shorter lengths as an alternative to traditional, longer barrels. This makes them easier to transport and conceal due to their smaller profile and lighter weight. The design also makes the weapon more portable when maneuvering in confined spaces and for that reason law enforcement and military personnel find it useful in close-quarters combat scenarios. As a result of the shorter barrel length, any shotgun with a tubular magazine will have a reduction in its magazine capacity.

A punt gun is a type of extremely large shotgun used in the 19th and early 20th centuries for shooting large numbers of waterfowl for commercial harvesting operations. These weapons are characteristically too large for an individual to fire from the shoulder or often carry alone, but unlike artillery pieces, punt guns are able to be aimed and fired by a single person from a mount. In this case, the mount is typically a small watercraft (e.g., a punt). Many early models appear similar to over-sized versions of shoulder weapons of the time with full-length wooden stocks with a normal-sized shoulder stock. Most later variations do away with the full-length stock – especially more modern models – and have mounting hardware fixed to the gun to allow them to be fitted to a pintle.