LengthĮspecially when hunting, the gun has to fit the shooter a super long rifle with a long and heavy barrel will tire out youth and new shooters quickly.

Semi-autos have historically had a reputation for being selective about shot loads as the actions tend to require minimum amounts of energy for reliable and trouble-free operation, though recent advancements in semi-auto actions have largely rendered these issues a thing of the past.Īdditionally, the recoil systems generally lessen the recoil a fair bit, making them very popular with competition shooters. They tend to command a higher price than pump or over/under options but are known for incredible speed as they will fire as fast as you can pull the trigger. These also typically have tubular magazines but self-reload after each shot either being gas, inertia, recoil-driven. Semi-auto shotguns are what you need if the rate of fire is a primary consideration. They can also be fired relatively quickly (with some practice) though the speed kings are typically semi-autos. You get more total rounds than an over/under, and pump actions are known for eating any ammunition you can throw at them, giving you unparalleled reliability. You load the chamber by pumping the action manually, which shifts a shell up from the tube magazine through the receiver via a shell carrier and into the chamber.

Pump actions have a single barrel, fed by loading shells into the tubular magazine: these are the most popular shotguns today for general purpose use and are great for both hunting and home defense alike. Over/unders also accept different choke tubes or shotshells in each barrel, so you have a lot of room for customization and the ability to outfit a single shotgun optimally for multiple scenarios or hunts.

This means you’ll only get two shots max before you have to break the action open to reload, but owing to the stacked barrels, the over/under shotgun is one of the more accurate options - and very popular with bird hunters, who often require a quick follow-up shot. Over-under shotguns have two barrels, one directly over the other, so they align. Of course, they’ve evolved from those early beasts - with a variety of reasonable and reliable action types available - from semi-auto to pump and over/under orientations.Įach has its limitations and best uses - some impact how much ammunition you load or how ammunition is handled once it’s in the gun. Shotguns have been around for centuries, reaching as far back in firearm history as the 12th century with rudimentary muzzle loading “handgonnes”, which were virtually small hand cannons crammed with nasty projectiles intended to pattern at close range for self-protection.

Japanese semi automatic rifle