Think shotguns will ever be "cool" again?

[InTheSwamp]

Widespread ain't cool, man!

 

[Mosin77]

Criminently! I already posted in this thread sometime back. There's been a lot of asinine posts since then by people who evidently don't know how popular shotguns are. It's less annoying to try to have a conversation with anti-gunners.

Shotguns are extremely popular and they're not going away anytime soon, but if you're a Manson Family cult member type AR fanatic you'll break out in hives and need your Albuterol inhaler ever time you see something that's not an AR. God help you. This thread is an embarrassment, except for those weighing in with nice pics and comments about various shotguns.

It's people who don't know freakin' schlitz about shotguns who are uninformed, unsophisticated and uncool. It's not the shotguns.

Overreacting much? Nobody denies shotguns are popular. There are tons of shotgun enthusiasts out there. Shotguns are great and have plenty of uses. But I’d say as a percentage of gun owners, it’s probably decreasing, and as a percentage of the “younger half” of the gun-buying public, is lower yet. Of 25 gun-interested coworkers who have bought firearms, age ranging between 24 and 58, I’ve sold shotguns to 9. Three bought them explicitly for self defense, and probably have never nor will ever shoot them, four have bought them to use recreationally hunting or clays (one of those guys has *only* bought shotguns from me and they’re pretty high end, we’ll call him a dedicated enthusiast) and the remaining two guys are collectors who’ll buy anything if it’s old, neat enough, or cheap enough. As a percentage of guns sold it’s pretty low. Less than 10%.

What I observe is that most people who want a shotgun for the “tactical” self defense aspects of gun ownership will buy one shotgun and they’re done. Checking the box. But they’ll buy a half dozen ARs or pistols. And in my market more people buy them for that than because they feel like doing a spot of quail hunting.

 

[WooD]

I would have probably grabbed a couple fixed stocks armory WM's, one with and one without a bayonet and maybe a folder too

They all came with the bayonet attachment. I always regretted only buying one.

People paid crazy money for them weeks after the day they sold out.

 

[Hunter 08]

To me, a shotgun just has too much recoil to be useful. Can I shoot a 12ga? Yes. But it kicks like a mule even with proper shouldering and stance. Not the most pleasant thing to shoot in my opinion. Unfortunately 20ga, doesn't get the attention for ammunition development that 12ga gets.

Shotgun is on my list, but it's not that high on there.

 

[Beck]

Overreacting much?

No... never! How's about you?

Nobody denies shotguns are popular.

The OP denied it in the opening sentence that started this thread when he said, "The fact that shotguns remain so unpopular just blows my mind."

That's what got my attention. I wrapped it up in post #29.

Well anyway, I think we're just going around in circles, so I'm going to lock this thread.

Eh darn it! I keep forgetting I'm not a mod. I can't lock this thread...

 

[welldoya]

It used to be that if a man owned just one gun, it was a shotgun.
My family didn’t own any rifles. We would go squirrel and rabbit hunting, my grandpa & uncle with their worn 870s and me with an old Stevens break-action .410.
Years later Dad and I would rabbit hunt, him with a Winchester 1400 16 gauge and me with a Savage 24 22/20.
Deer hunting wasn’t as popular back then.
I still like shotguns, mostly Browning A5s and Remington 1100s. The new ones don’t do much for me.

 

[GRIZ22]

There are obviously hunting applications where shotguns reign supreme.

Shotguns are good SD weapons. The ranges are short and the situation will usually be solved with the limited capacity. Their major downfall in this usage is the length. Even with a short barrel they can be clumsy in close quarters.

They have some severe limitations as a combat weapon. They can be effective out to 50 yards or so with the right load. I find low recoil 00 buck patterns okay to 40-50 yards. You can extend this to 100 yds with slugs. Past that the drop in trajectory makes them difficult to use at longer ranges. Ammunition capacity is limited. You can mitigate this somewhat by tactical reloading. Ammunition is also bulky. You can carry 3-400 rds of 5.56 in magazines easily. Try that with the same amount of 00 buck/slugs. Shotguns are harder to shoot and ger over follow up shots due to recoil. A 5.56 combat rifle is easier to shoot. So is a 7.62 NATO. A Garand is even easier due to its weight. All allow you to easily engage targets at ranges of 200 yds or more.

JMO

 

[Hookeye]

I think a Citori CSX would be pretty cool.
Or do I drop 2x that and get a Blaser F16?

 

[telomerase]

The fact that shotguns remain so unpopular just blows my mind. I’ve always felt like nothing beats a good shotgun. Even in that whole SHTF type scenario you always hear about, I'm pretty sure I'd grab my TS12 for my long gun and my TRR8 for my handgun. With the right slugs and choke, your typical smooth bore shotgun can shoot accurately a lot further than most people would probably think, but I know I'm preaching to the choir.

I just don't get what it is that made them less popular these days. There's plenty of tactical looking options. There's tons of unreliable junk, but there's also plenty of cheap options that are very reliable from my experience. I've had bad luck with Turkish Saiga clone bullpups but I've had very good luck with Turkish AR12 bullpups. Those look great and can typically be had for $400 or less. My TS12 hasn't been as reliable as my BTS12 with low brass or magnums but as far as 2.75 buckshot (#4 and up) goes, it's never had a single failure. Hopefully it runs everything reliably once it's broken in more. Where it wins hands down though is that construction feels substantially more robust, it's tube fed and has gates on each side, and capacity is much greater when you count all three magazines. Of course you can get larger capacity box magazines and drums for the other platforms but they're much more bulky. Most importantly though, it's one of the most unique looking and operating firearms on the planet, and while over $1,000, it's much cheaper than almost any bullpup rifle on this planet. It's even cheaper than a lot of basic 556 AR's from reputable manufacturers. Yet when I talk to any local FFL'S that carry them, "they don't move". Mine had been sitting there for well over a year before I won it at auction at reserve price. It's the cool OD green version too. They're always listing the ones they still have left and nobody ever bids on them.

I have rifles and love rifles. There's no disputing the capability of even just your typical 556. 00 buck is no slouch either though. There's room for both, which is why I'm sure everybody here has multiples of both.

Anyways, why are shotguns so unloved by the average gun buyer these days, and do you think they'll ever be as popular as salt rifles again?

Another alien spy, trying to disarm the humans by confusing them into going back to pre-technology "weapons" with low capacity, heavy ammo, no armor-piercing ability, limited range, slow repeat shots, heavy recoil that drives away new shooters forever. Forget it, Morbo A.! (Actually in 2023 we should be on to masers... what's this nitrocellulose nonsense???)

 

[tws3b2]

Shotguns Unpopular??? What part of the other side of the moon are you from???

 

[kje54]

Shotguns Unpopular??? What part of the other side of the moon are you from???

Yup they're so unpopular that had to take up some of the slack........ I'm up to five........