what is the purpose of a sawn off shotgun?

Question

i know what a shot gun is but why use a sawn off instead of a regular one?

Answer 1

Puerly for a mistermena,, Much easyer to concel under your coat ets and for that perpous there ilegal, anything under 24" Is against the law in the uk

Answer 2

Wow, numerous misconceptions here, epically those that think that a sawed off shotgun has no legitimate legal purpose.

A sawed off shotgun is one of the best personal defensive weapons available to the home owner. The intimidation factor alone makes it far superior to a pistol. A shotgun with a full length (28") barrel is far easier for and assailant to grab and if you are checking out things that bump in the night, inside your house with a full length barrel shotgun you will soon find that navigating closed doors and tight hallways is a problem.

Life is not like in the movies. Shooting someone with a 9MM will most likely not make them fly backward and be down for the count like it does in the movies. Unless you do damage to the central nervous system a determined attacker can and will stay on his feet. The incapacitation time is not instant and he'll have time to empty his pistol at you.

On the other hand a shotgun, properly loaded will cause significantly more internal bleeding and will reduce the time he will stay on his feet. A shotgun is simply a better tool for stopping the bad guys. Why do you think so may law enforcement agencies have them?

At the distance most civilian defensive shootings take place, the difference in the spread of the pellets is insignificant with a legal 18" barrel. You cannot just point in the general direction and expect to hit anything.

Also for urban and apartment dwellers the shotgun with a short barrel will have less velocity and less penetration into other homes and this really holds true with smaller shot.

There are MANY legitimate reasons to have a sawed off shotgun, unless you prefer to hide under your bed after you call 911 and hope the intruder doesn't find you until whenever the police can arrive.

Answer 3

Looking at your spelling and language use in this and your other posted questions, I'll assume you're British, and not try to give you advice on American gun laws, Ok?

With a shotgun, the shorter the barrel, the faster the shot pattern expands. This (along with concealment) is your "benefit" of sawing off the barrel short. At moderate range (say, under 20 feet), you get a wide pattern spread while the individual shot pellets still have enough energy to do damage, so you do more, and more broadly dispersed, damage. For example, at 20 feet the shot from a 28" barrel falls in a circle only 4-6" in diameter. Shorten the barrel to 18" (the minimum legal in the US without special registration and taxes on the weapon), that pattern will go to say 8-10". Shorten further to 12" and your pattern might be almost two feet wide. Shooting at birds on the wing, this is of no value. Shooting at humans whom you intend to harm, this is of great value. Widen the pattern sufficiently while keeping enough energy to do damage, and you might even get multiple targets in one pattern! Also, the wider the pattern the less well you have to aim.....

The detrimental effects are greater recoil, more noise and greater flash (as unburned powder hits air outside the barrel), and greatly diminished range. The more powder burns in the barrel, behind the shot, the farther that shot will go, along with it staying in a tighter pattern, because more energy is imparted to it.

Answer 4

I used to be an Outfitter, and I had a shotgun sawed off to 18 1/4", for protection. We outfitted in the northwestern corner of Mt and in central Idaho, the Grizzly population in northern Mt is very high. We also cut down the stocks, we wanted the smallest lightest weapon we could get with the most fire power, we rotated our ammo, which was 12 gauge 3" mag. 00buck- slug-00buck-slug-00buck, we did this only for protection from Grizz, Black Bear, Mountain lions, and Wolves

Answer 5

the lady that thinks it shoots faster is an idiot. Its just a shotgun that has had the barrel cut down. This will make the gun easier to hide, better suited for close quarters, faster handling, and the shot will spread out further. It does not change how the action will function.

Answer 6

A sawed off shotgun has few practical applications. If the barrel is sawed shorter than 18" it is illegal in most places.

The sawed off shotgun is quicker to maneuver (so the Lady Runner is right in this regard). The pellets spread quicker fired from a sawed off shotgun with devastating effects, but they don't go as far nor with as much energy as when fired from a regular barrel length, properly chocked shotgun. There are very few practical applications for a sawed off shotgun; protection from snakes comes to mind. They are also good intimidaters which can be bad or good depending on who is holding the shotgun.

H

Answer 7

What usualy comes to mind is outlaws & gunfighters ie Doc. hollidays 10 Ga at the OK corral at one time there was a surplus of market guns goose guns ect that had 40+ in barrels
they were bought cheap and sawed off to a more manageable size
Dont go under 18 in there also against the law
the reason is to spread the pattern of shot pellets wider while losing range close in weapon

Answer 8

Never have a shotgun barrel shorter that 18'' and there are plenty of then for sale. 18'' is good for a wide pattern but the myth of point it in the general direction is just a myth you need to aim it i have a double barrel 12 ga. with .00 buck next to my bed for close encounters of the two legged kind. I like 12 ga.

Answer 9

If you were to come into my house at say 3 in the morning without ringing the chimes, you would likely find out.

Shorter means easier to hide and handle in confined places like indoors. Also, the shot spreads out faster but sacrifices a lot of energy in doing so....making a wide path of destruction so aim become less critical.

Answer 10

It really isn't practical for hunting unless you want to blow the game to fragments. It was designed as a close quarters weapon and really inflects a lot of damage as the BB's spread over a much wider area than they would with a long barrel. It has a lot of "kick" and if not held onto tightly will be ripped out of your hands and go flying over your shoulder or into your head, depending on where you held it in front of you. A lot of cops mount them in their cars as they pack a lot of punch and don't occupy a lot of space.