Compare power of shotgun VS pistol

I heard that one shotgun shot is 10 times when compare with one pistol shot.

Is this right or wrong?

emperor wrote:I heard that one shotgun shot is 10 times when compare with one pistol shot.

Is this right or wrong?

First up, no one can give you a straight answer. Second, where did you get that fact? Third, I'm assuming you're talking about kinetic energy here.

Shotguns and pistols are different classes of weapons to start with. Lets list the main differences:

1. Purpose - Shotguns are built for a close-range blast of death. Pistols are built for close-range fighting, but also have the added requirement of being easy to conceal.

2. Ammo - Shotguns are designed to fire pellets (I know they can fire slugs, but I'm generally speaking) while pistols are designed to fire bullets.

These two fundamental differences lead up to other differences such as shotguns being smoothbore (you want to do rifling in the barrel to stabilize the flight of hundreds of pellets? Heck no) while pistols are not. If you still want to compare the two, then you need to be more specific

1. Calibre - For pistols, what bullet are you talking about? .50AE? 9mm NATO? And I'm not even talking about specialized rounds like Hollow-Points or Very Low Drag ones.

2. Range - Because pistols fire pointed bullets while shotguns fire round pellets, the effects of air resistance are different on both projectiles. Hence the loss in kinetic energy for a pistol round is different to that of a shotgun pellet. At point-blank range, a shotgun probably is more powerful than a pistol but further out, say, 100yards, the pistol may be more powerful

emperor wrote:I heard that one shotgun shot is 10 times when compare with one pistol shot.

If your shell has 10 projectiles in it, then yes it would be 10 times as many as a single pistol round.

Most people will tell you that if given a choice between a pistol or a shotgun during any kind of self defense scenario, go with the shotgun; the pistol is a sidearm for a reason, use it when you're out of ammo for your primary weapon or like MikhailN said, for CQB.

Self defense usually means one shot, one kill and you get both with a shotgun. Even if you're scared shitless, it's harder to miss with 9 pellets and chances are, you'll hit your target with more than one and at short range, it's nighty-night for the bad guy. Did I mention shotguns are about as cheap as the crappiest handgun you can buy?

A twelve gauge shotgun is larger than 50caliber. Pistols have the advantage of rapid-fire with more accuracy (out to 50yds). For close quarters, a shotgun can be the fastest disable/kill, but your concealment and manuverability suffer. Nothing clears a hallway better than a shotgun, but your shot times suffer, as it takes time to pump the average shotgun. A semi-auto like a Benelli or Saiga would be best.

Then you get into projectiles. Obviously a slug is best for stopping power, but you lose the clearing capacity of the shot. Bird-shot, like a 6, 7.5, or 8 is considered inadequate for stopping power, though few people would want to get hit by it.

Generally accepted (at least on the firearms forums) for the proper combination of stopping power, spread, target penetration, and avoiding over-penetration, is your 3 and 4-buck shot. Usually in the form of ball-bearings of lead or steel, it will penetrate most clothing, spread well enough to cover a hallway, and will stop(or lose critical velocity) within walls if it misses the target.

MikhailN wrote:You want to do rifling in the barrel to stabilize the flight of hundreds of pellets? Heck no.

I'd still like to see what doing that might entail.

I find that a pistol even a humble 22 rimfire has more advantages than a shotgun. a pistol beats a shotgun in range, concealability, manuverability, ergonomics, handling, accuracy, weight, and firepower (as in how many rounds it has)among other things.

compared to the 6 or maybe even 10 shots you get with a shotgun a pistol can let off 17-20-30 rounds in a control fashion no rock n roll shotgun. Also a pistol can pick off individual targets a shotgun murders everything you point it at at a spread.

all the trigger time I have gained this year has been done behind a pitol and it is plenty good. I see many law enforcement agencies use only a pistol because well they work in almost all situations.

There's no denying that a pistol is easier to conceal and certainly more manueverable especially on one's person, but when the shit hits the fan, I'd rather have the shotgun.

If you have to unload a magazine to incapacitate a target, you're either a crappy shot or the guy's adrenaline is running on overtime; every second he stays on his feet means one more bullet is flying in the air with your name on it. One 00 buckshot shell is not only going to knock him on his ass, but will probably take some chunks along with it. I mean if you've made the decision to put someone down, better do it right the first time.

I love handguns as much as the next guy, but since they won't let us concealed-carry in this near communist state, pistols have little to no practical use other than side arms and range duty. If some wannabe bad ass breaks into the house with his illegal handgun, he's likely to be greeted with a 12 gauge or an AR; who do you think is going to run away first?

As for the shotgun= 10x pistol, as said previously, it varies depending the caliber of the pistol, the caliber of the shotgun, and the type of ammo used in the shotgun. It is probably true with buckshot or a rifled slug, but with birdshot, it is much less likely to kill someone (if their wearing body armor, it'll just piss 'em off), where as a FRAG-12 explosive slug (If your looking for a Christmas present for Triela, I'd recommend a box of these!) is probably WAY more 10x as destructive as a pistol round.

Also, if you want the close-in stopping power of a shotgun with the concealibility of a handgun, might I recommend this (Another great gift for the special cyborg in your life).

just to blur lines and sow confusion... how about we compare a 28 gauge shotgun shell to a .500S&W handgun cartridge?

or, to blur the lines further...

the .45 long Colt/.410-2.5" shotshell revolver.

:dance:

I'd say go with shotgun over handgun for the "untrained" as (not gun enthusiast, cop, soldier, i.e. your "everyman") self-defense. It's just more forgiving than a pistol in most cases.

...well, unless you're measuring forgiveness in property damage

Property damage, schmoperty damage.

the .45 long Colt/.410-2.5" shotshell revolver.

The Taurus Judge is pretty popular. Alternate 45colt with the 410 and not too many bad guys will want to continue playing.

shot guns do need to be aimd but the spead of the shot makes hiting hiting a man sized target a lot easyer.(1vs lot)

there good points
1 cheaper, in most cases a quality pump-action shotgun will cost the same or less than a a quality handgun

2 Shotguns are, in general, not as heavily regulated by legislation as handguns are(have you seen uk gun laws!)

3 They are generally perceived as more intimidating

4 can shot a large range of ammo types :Flexible baton rounds,Gas shells,TASERs,Breaching rounds and the Dragon's Breath

the bad news is:
1 there biger than most alot hand guns but sawn-off shotguns, short version of full size guns can help but you lose ammo and range and still need coat to hide them and the law makes a fuss.
2 range shotguns just cant mach 5.56 mm or 7.62x39mm and have no hope vs 7.62x51mm NATO
3 ammo 1 12 Gauge shell take the same space a 3 5.56mm rounds 18.5mm vs 5.56m

LoC978 wrote:...well, unless you're measuring forgiveness in property damage

For this reason alone I use slugs in my Mossberg.

Range? What is this talk about range? Why do you think duck and other medium-small game hunters use a shot gun for a target 100yd/meter or more away? Even Skeet shooting... a fast moving target at a minimum of 50 yds and more!

Still, it does not beat a rifle in distance, but rifles cant hit a moving target as well as a shotgun.

Switching Ammo to Slugs- If being chased I would like to pump a couple of slugs into the engine compartment of the chase vehicle than a couple of rifle rounds. Even buck or ball shot ammo will put a car out of commision when hit a couple of times with it.

You have to be a master of your weapon and under its capabilities before trusting practice into combat experience. You must also understand that each gun has a niche to fill in its role of defense.

or you could shoot ball bearings at the windshield ......

SPARTAN 119 wrote:Also, if you want the close-in stopping power of a shotgun with the concealibility of a handgun, might I recommend this (Another great gift for the special cyborg in your life).

That looks familiar... I think I gave it to a maid I met in South America some time back

But honestly, that thing's trigger weight is obscene. Almost 8kg, last time I checked

...for some reason, I've never been able to get behind any shotgun design that uses box mags. They're always waaay too bulky to be practical...

and... 17lb trigger pull? that's just nukin' futs. even with a shotgun, you'd probably wind up off target, barring extensive training.

That's right. Engraved double barrel shotguns are the way to go.

tube feed, man. tube feed!