The shockwave is a legal version of the US Marshals Service
Witness Protection 870. A weapon that can stop threats in extreme close range while transporting witnesses and suspects from a vehicle to the interior of a court.
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One of the US Marshals Service’s requirements of the Witness Protection 870 was that it can be concealed under a jacket. The shotgun used an M1 Carbine sling with a quick-release snap that was mounted to the hand stop. The shotgun would be slung under a jacket upside-down. To present the shotgun, the user would grasp the handguard with their weak-side hand, reach across their body and unsnap the sling. This freed the shotgun, and the weak-side hand pulled the shotgun gun from under the jacket for a reasonably efficient presentation.
They look cool and threatening and all, but if you want to go beyond that, and be proficient with them, you do need to spend some quality time with them and get them figured out. They certainly are not something to just hand to someone and say "Here ya go".
They may be a "closer" range gun, but they arent just point-blank range guns either, but you do need to know how to shoot them properly to make use of that.
I got one when they first released them and spent a good bit of time with it, and still shoot it pretty regularly. They can be intimidating with full power loads, especially if youre recoil sensitive, and there is a knack, and a couple of techniques to shooting them, but they arent all that difficult once you get them figured out.
And if its smacking you in the face when you shoot it, you're doing it wrong.
They may take 3" shells, but I don't/won't use them. I don't use them in my stocked shotguns either. Standard 2 3/4" #1 Buck is my choice for any of them, and they work well in the Shockwaves.
You can also use the "mini" 1 3/4" shells in them too. The early Mossbergs need the adapter to cycle, but they are a good solution for those who are recoil sensitive, and they do give you more rounds in the gun.
At least with the Shockwaves, I can see a realistic use for them, although they would be pretty much at the bottom of my "choice" list. I don't see the Mares Leg being anywhere on the paper either.
The simplest way to figure any of this kind of stuff out, or anything and everything for that matter, is to take it out and shoot it like you intend to use it, and that will sort things pretty quickly, if you're the least bit serious about things. Anyone with a brain knows that what you see in the movies, TV, etc, is just that, "movie magic", and rarely anything close to reality.