I just watched some old episodes of “Wanted: Dead or Alive” where Steve McQueen’s character sports a sawed-off Winchester. The only advantage I see it having over a pistol is it could fire more robust ammo. Otherwise it seems to have given up the benefits of a rifle (long range accuracy due to long barrel, high capacity magazine also due [I believe] to long barrel), while also forsaking the benefits of a pistol (lighter weight, easy one-hand operation). So it strikes me as a Hollywood creation with no practical value.
Am I missing something? In the real world would something like this be worth using?