Are shotguns viable for operatin/shtf? what situations would

Good for breaching and whatever the hell is on the other side of the door your breaching. Besides that, it's good for most bump in the night situations as well as civilian engagements within a suburban/urban area.

Outside of these situations, shotguns become very limited i practical use considering what is available to the average American. Shotguns had a much larger place in operating and in SHTF decades ago but the advent of cheap rifles with larger standard capacity magazines (30 round mags are not high-cap), has pushed them to the back burner when it comes to what you would pick if given the choice.

TL;DR: Limited use but still useful. Cheap, quick, dirty and politically immune in most environments due to "muh fudd" culture.

Honestly, shotguns are irrelevant for everything except dove hunting and trap shooting. Literally everything that you can do with a shotgun can be done better with a carbine or AR/AK pistol. Unless you live in a ban state, there is literally no practical reason to own a shotgun.

Fite me

>>31118398
They're better for hunting and handling dangerous game than an AR. They also have arguably much better terminal ballistics on human targets at close range. If we're talking about a shtf weapon this would make them good innawoods guns. I would feel more confident defending myself from a bear with brenneke 3 inch magnum slugs than I would with an AR pistol.

00 buck will always transfer more energy than a 5.56 which would zip right through

>>31118141
>Are shotguns viable for operatin/shtf?
Yes.

Shotguns are eminently useful. Bird or varmint hunting in SHTF; I've got a stockpile of birdshot. Deer hunting with buck or slugs. Any shotshell is useful for gathering protein when the Super Duper Mart is occupied by raiders.

Have you seen what a slug does to steel rifle plate? It does not penetrate, it trainwrecks whatever is behind the plate. In SHTF, my Rem 870 is probably the best combination of power and convenience. #0 Buck fires nine shots of .32 caliber per shell. That's an entire pistol mag per trigger pull. If using slugs: a Remington 1oz slug weighs 437.5 grains and leaves the muzzle at 1800fps. A 5.56mm round weighs 55 grains and leaves at ~3000fps. The 12ga slug has EIGHT TIMES the mass and 2/3rds of the speed of the 5.56. Upon impact the volume of vital liquids in the human body stop circulating due to overpressure in the wound channel - if you want hydrostatic shock and immediate knockdown vs humans, that is it.

>what situations would you prefer to operate with a shotgun and what would you use?
I'd use my shotgun as a primary sidearm in any situation except defending a position against a coordinated assault, then the .308 battle rifle comes out. Shotgun is still gonna be permanent EDC. Pistols are a waste of time.

>>31118996
>>31118939

Get a carbine-length G3. Infinitely more effective if you aren't worried about ethical hunting.

Ignoring what's already been said about shotguns ITT, an advantage is that they can have a variety of different loads, plus custom loads.

>>31119197

> Have you seen what a slug does to steel rifle plate? It does not penetrate,

Right, low barrier penetration is a serious drawback of shotguns.

> That's an entire pistol mag per trigger pull

An entire mag going into a narrow cone. Miss and you have 4 or so shots left before you have to reload (slow).

> The 12ga slug has EIGHT TIMES the mass and 2/3rds of the speed of the 5.56

Eight times more than you need to actually put down a target

> Shotgun is still gonna be permanent EDC

Enjoy dat weight and limited utility

> Pistols are a waste of time.

Enjoy running out of ammo or not having any gun after your primary gets damage.

>>31119211
and you lose the ability to easily hunt waterfowl and varmit for easy food. Your gun also weighs 1.5 pounds more than an 870 and two pounds more than a maverick 88.

>>31119272

> Your gun also weighs 1.5 pounds more than an 870

Right, but for that weight trade off on the actual gun you can carry much more ammo while having far greater flexibility when it comes to range.

> and you lose the ability to easily hunt waterfowl and varmit for easy food

Bring a shotgun if you're going waterfowl hunting. For all other purposes, a rifle is better.

> literally all of modern small arms doctrine revolves around the idea that small caliber, high ROF weapons are more effective for nearly all purposes than more powerful weapons with a lower ROF
> literally every military has adopted this approach
> some fags STILL think shotguns are useful for anything out of the most niche of niche tasks

>>31119303
I agree that for all combat purposes a rifle will be better I just don't agree with the idea of
>there is literally no practical reason to own a shotgun.
Personally I if I had to chose one it would depend on where I live. If I was fairly isolated in some northern woods, planned on hunting in shtf and had large/dangerous game around I would rather a shotgun. If I was living in an urban or suburban setting I would choose a rifle.

>>31119329
>hunting the most is niche of niche tasks

>>31119329
If this is true, can it be applied to SMGs vs battle rifles?

If given the choice for a service weapon, would a MP5 be more valuable than a M1A?

Ideally If I am rolling heavy I have a .308 AR and a shotgun within arms reach.

We got given POS 7.62 russian calibre AKs on one job and had small arms contact on my side of the vehicle, took one in the thigh, I got pulled out from the other side and then we got contact from behind. One of the Yanks grabbed this shotgun and dumped a tube into contact rear while we tried to make aimed shots with these POS rust stick AKs. He winged a couple with it but it gave us time to set up in a decent fire formation and light them up.

>>31118141

I carry both a remington 870 breacher and an MP5 when the ERT gets called out to do heavy work. Prior to that my agency had issued me an M4. I carry both weapons in my patrol unit when on patrol. The reality is the answer to a question like that all depends on more factors than most people are going to consider when replying to it. Shotguns are limited in some ways but excel in others. It depends on your situation, your skill set and capabilities. AR type weapons have farther effective ranges and ammo capacity but no one can argue with the short range stopping power of 12 gauge ammo or the fact that most engagements are short distance. If you practice with a scattergun and have the right equipment you can reload and run a pump gun fairly quickly. Like I said it all boils down to what you're doing and what sort of skills you have.

>>31119329
>implying the tools and techniques best suited for the small unit are equally suited to an individual survivor