[Por_sha911]

Originally Posted by GH85Carrera

Winchester Model 97 Trench Gun, part of the arsenal of US forces in World War 1. The weapon was so deadly that the German complained that it was “inhumane” — the same Germans that brought to the war poison gas and the flame thrower. Holding 6 rounds, each 2-3/4 inch round contained nine 00 (double-aught) buckshot pellets, each with a diameter of 8.4mm (.33 inch). Using “slamfire” — holding the trigger down so the shotgun fired with each pump — a trained soldier could pump out 54 buckshot in about 2 seconds, deadly out to 50 yards. The weapon became known as a trench broom or sweeper.
Due to the use of paper cartridges (which would swell in the damp conditions of the trenches and jam in the weapon) few, if any, Model 97s were actually used in combat. The American forces still had them in their arsenal, despite German protests and even a German declaration that any soldier found using one, or even carrying its ammunition, would be executed. The Americans countered that any German caught with a flamethrower or a sawtooth bayonet would be executed. There is no record of any German or American POWs executed for theses reasons.

Yup. Shotguns have been a vital part of war weapons for a long time.