Shotgun considerations

I've seen a lot of people out there praise the shotgun for it's zombie-stopping power, only to denounce it just as quickly on the grounds that the ammunition is too big and heavy to carry around all day. To me this sounds like limited thinking on the part of kids these days. Has no one ever noticed that shotguns come in different bores?

We all love the little manly tingle we get at the idea of being seen creeping around in the zombie wilderness with a big, scary 12 gauge, but how effective are you going to be if you have to plug away all morning and have a nice, deep green-and-purple bruise spreading through your gun shoulder by noon? The 12g packs a lot of punch on target, but unfortunately, any good pump-action or double-barrel is also going to punch YOU right back.

The obvious solution to this is a small bore shotgun; a 20g or .410. I know some folk out there are immediately going to scoff at that idea, but I say look at the advantages of these smaller loads. A 20g is at most a two thirds the size of a 12, meaning you can carry more of them AND the recoil is almost nothing for your average shooter. I've owned 20g shotguns and believe me, they'll kill a man just as dead as a 12 and you'll barely even feel it on the giving end. I've known plenty of old-timers who still want to shoot skeet and step down from the 12 to 20 for the sake of their elderly frames. So power and range differences are negligible. The same goes for the .410. My first skeet-shooting gun was a .410 when I was a little guy and I had no problem. Besides, we all know that range with a shotgun is kind of a moot point when it comes to zombies as they lack adequate penetration at distance.

Furthermore, all our favorite rippy features translate perfectly well down the line. A 20g slug is still larger than a .50 caliber handgun bullet, and with the lower muzzle velocity, will actually do more damage. Go pumpkin busting with both and tell me I'm wrong. Buckshot is still available even in the .410 and with the smaller powder load than the 12g is actually a lot lighter to shoot. Which, brings me to another fine feature of the little .410; it can be fired from a pistol. Specialty revolvers like the Thunder Five and "The Judge" by Taurus are actually chambered to fire .410 shotgun shells and .45 colt rounds interchangeably. Who wouldn't love to have that kind of power in their hands while clearing a house or exploring the darkened bowels of an urban subway tunnel? Although- as a responsible gun owner- I feel obligated to mention that these big shots and slugs can still be very harmful to any living allies that might be standing or hiding nearby. If you're indoors, with a bunch of people around I'd still recommend no bigger than #4 shot.

Finally, as to the question of availability, both of these rounds are widely available anywhere guns are sold, which means that you are very likely to be able to find them left behind after all the macho anarchist-types in your town have grabbed up all the 12 gauges in the course of their looting AND you will be just as likely to find them out and about in rural areas or in the closets of suburban homes- a big plus when you're on the move, avoiding the undead, and having to make use of everything around you.

So think about that next time you get that little itch to go out and purchase yourself some zombie insurance, because you should remember; though a big gun may scare a living man shitless, a zombie doesn't even notice. Consider the type of real-world situation you're liable to find yourself in. You could have multiple zombies moving in on you. You're naturally scared (as we all would be) and want to put them down as quickly as possible. A 12g is going to kick like a mule and if you're not ready you can really hurt yourself if you're not careful. The lighter recoil of a small bore shell provides you peace of mind and body, allowing you to focus completely on the task at hand. You're already fighting off the walking corpses of friends and loved ones, do you really need to complicate matters by fighting your shotgun as well?