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Inquiring Mind · 10mo

Greetings, Hawk, Halphas speaking. I was made aware that you hold no love for shotguns with shortened barrels. I’m curious as to why? If it’s the lack of range and small ammunition amount, I can understand, though I will admit, it is quite satisfying to discharge in the face of an opponent like I once did with the archdemon, Phlegethon. Now if only that truly accomplished something…

Honestly, I blame popular media: In every piece of fiction I've seen or heard of, double-barrel shotguns were seen as the be-all/end-all of shotguns, able to royally mess someone's day up and are the go-to weapon for zombie slayers and demon hunters. In reality? Double Barrel Shotguns are the most pointless weapons in existence and I do not understand why anyone would use them.

First of all, a double-barrel is just as powerful as the ammo you load in it, meaning if you load 12 gauge into a double-barrel, you'll do the same damage you'd do if you load it into a pump, auto, or semi and fire said gun twice. Now, I have no doubt that feeling of blasting Phlegethon was cathartic and I don't mean to take away from it, but you would've had the same experience with any other type of shotgun out there, even at a far away range (depending on the rifling the barrel has).

Second and more importantly, you spend more time reloading those guns then you do firing the gun. So, in a situation where you got, say ten enemies approaching you and you got is that double-barrel? Unless you have Celestial/Cylestial-tier reload speeds, nine times out of ten? You'd be dead or, best case, wounded before you finish reloading after your first shot. That's not even taking into account what type of ejector the gun has or if it's sawed-off or not (Non-sawed offs tend to be a bit heavier and awkward to hold and reload).

It's those reasons and more why I despise double barrel shotguns...and before you say anything: The two I carry are NOT double-barrel by the usual terms. The ones I carry? The two barrels actually hold the shells (four shells each) as the barrel is located under the tubes (whenever I cock the lever action, a shell is inserted into the tube and, once the one barrel is empty, I switch it over to the second barrel and use the shells in that one).

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