Shotgun Actions Guide
If you walk into a gun store and say “I want a shotgun”, the next question the clerk will ask you will most likely be “what kind?” You could, of course, say “12 gauge” but he or she will probably say “ok, but what kind? Pump? Break action? Semi-auto?” Shotguns, much like their distant cousins (twice removed) the rifles, come in a variety of flavors called “actions”. The name that is assigned to each kind of action really refers to how the rounds are cycled through it and/or reloaded and each style is tailored to particular a task (sort of) and each has their own strength and weakness. I say “sort of” because it wasn’t like the designers had a particular task in mind when they were designed. It’s more like each style of action has settled into the tasks that they do best.
So let’s take a look at those kinds. I mean, after all, this is a gun site for beginners. At the same time, it would be weird if I started out with that introduction then just left it there. Although, the look on the readers’ faces would be hilarious if I could see them. They’d be all “What the heck?! Did he not upload the whole article or something?!” and I’d be all “lol”.
Sorry, where was I? Oh yeah, shotgun actions! We’ll start with the most basic of them.
Break Action
This category covers your over/under, double barrels and so on. It’s called the “break action” because you have to break the gun in half in order to reload it. These are, essentially, the revolvers of the shotgun world. The mechanics of them are incredibly simple which means they’re about as reliable as can be. Also, because of the almost complete lack of moving parts, they’re quite accurate…as far as shotguns are concerned, mind you. You’re not going to be making 1000 yard shots with these. It’s more where things like waterfowl hunting and clay sports are concerned. In terms of competition, most are going to want the most accurate thing they can get if means a slight edge. There’s also the fact that these will fire as fast as you can pull the trigger. Follow-up shorts are instantly ready. Granted, I think only someone like Jerry Miculek could outperform the cycle rate of a semi-auto shotgun but it’s the principle of the thing, really. The downside is that you only have 2 rounds in the gun. There are some awesome gimmick break actions that hold 3 rounds but, still, it’s pretty limited. Keep in mind, most clay ranges and hunting regulations don’t allow more than 2 rounds to be loaded anyway regardless of what kind of shotgun so for hunting and clays, no big deal. For home defense? That’s another story. Speaking of defense…
Pump-Action
If you have seen any action movies…or cop show…or video game…or any large scale gun fight in any kind of entertainment what-so-ever then you’ve seen a pump action shotgun. It’s the one where you have to manually cycle the new round in by pulling and pushing on the foregrip which makes that legendary “schlick schlock” sound that we all know and love. This is, by far, the most common kind of shotgun you’re going to run into today. While only slightly more complicated than a break action, you’re gaining a lot more versatility. Most shotguns can hold 6 to 8 rounds with extensions allowing for many more. They can fire any kind of shotgun ammo that you can find. They can be quickly reloaded, ghost fired (another article), slam fired, reloaded one shot at a time at more. If Swiss Army Knives were firearms, they’d be pump action shotguns. Typically, if someone says they want a shotgun for home defense, the pump action is what myself and 99% of the gun geeks out there are going to recommend. The only downside to them is how long it takes to pump the gun. Fire **schlick schlock** fire **schlick schlock** etc etc. With some practice, you can get surprisingly fast at that cycling, mind you. Still, in a race to empty rounds, the pump is going to usually come in behind the break action and the semi-auto.
Semi-Auto
Semi-auto pistol, semi-auto rifle and semi-auto shotgun. The firing of the gun causes a bolt to move backwards which extracts the fired round from the chamber, ejects it from the gun then loads in a new round. It’s a complicated dance that means you just have to worry about aiming. These are used in hunting, clay shooting, home defense, and national defense. Like all semi-auto applications,they can be a bit finicky about ammo. They can also suffer greatly when it comes to poor maintenance. As long as you keep them clean and feed them good, healthy shells then it will work fine for you.
Specialty/Miscellanious
There are some other, crazy configurations out there as well as some that you just don’t see anymore. The bolt-action shotgun, for example, just isn’t really popular these days for some odd reason. There’s also the “gimmicky” types of shotguns like the Taurus Judge and such. If it’s in this category, you’ll either be lucky to even find one and even luckier to find a need for them beyond pure fun or collecting. I really only included this category so I don’t get dozens of emails saying things like “you forgot to mention the rotating barrel pistol detachable stocked Gerflurgen Prosecutor shotgun”.
If you’re looking to buy a shotgun and you don’t know really what you’re going to be using it for beyond “I want a shotgun” then your best bet is the pump action. If you’re saying to yourself “I want a shotgun for _____” then I’d recommend looking at the one that best fits your task.
Like what you read? GunNoob is now part of Pew Pew Tactical. Check out the rest of our awesome resources:
Leave a Reply