Shotgun Facts for Kids

A US Marine firing a shotgun during training

A shotgun is a type of gun. To make a shotgun work, gunpowder is lit by a primer inside of a shotgun shell. The gas from the burning gunpowder will push whatever is being fired out of the barrel. Usually a shotgun shell will have many small metal balls called "buckshot" or "birdshot". These balls spread out when they are fired. Sometimes a shotgun shell will have a bigger piece of metal, like a bullet, called a "slug".

A shotgun usually one or two barrels, each with a chamber to hold a shell. These barrels can be next to each other or on top of each other. There are many types of shotguns with different ways of loading and shooting. Some will snap open, and shells can be put inside until they are shot again. These are called break-open shotguns. Others hold more shells and are pumped back and forth to shoot. These are called pump-action shotguns. Some shotguns are semi-automatic, so each time the trigger is pulled, one shot is fired without any need to use a pump or a lever. These are semi-automatic shotguns. Some shotguns are fully automatic, meaning that pulling and holding the trigger back will keep shooting the gun without needing to reload until the shotgun is out of ammunition. These are automatic shotguns. However, the last type are uncommon.

Shotguns can also fire things that do not kill people. Police use things like rubber balls and beanbags filled with the small metal balls instead, to cause non-deadly injuries.

Images for kids

Vincent Hancock in the men's skeet finals at the 2008 Summer Olympics
A Gurkha Contingent trooper in Singapore armed with a folding stock pump shotgun
Confederate cavalryman
A United States Marine carrying a Winchester M97 shotgun during World War II
A view of the break-action of a typical double-barrelled shotgun, shown with the action open
A Winchester M1897, one of the first successful pump-action shotgun designs
A modern reproduction of the Winchester M1887 lever-action shotgun
Closeup of MTs255
A Browning A-5 semi-automatic shotgun
A United States Army soldier armed with a Mossberg 500 shotgun
Bond Arms Cowboy Defender .45 Colt/.410 Shotshell Derringer
U.S. Marines fire their shotguns
Loading 12-gauge shells
Two rounds of Fiocchi 12-gauge rubber buckshot
A homemade lupara
A RCMP officer in 2010 armed with a shotgun outfitted to fire beanbag rounds
Barack Obama skeet shooting with a Browning Citori 525 on the range at Camp David

Shotgun facts for kids

Images for kids

See also