I’ve always heard people refer to the pump action shotguns that are frequently found in law enforcement vehicles as ‘Riot Shotguns’; that can’t possibly be right.
I cannot remember or imagine, at any time; where the cops would be backed against their cars pumping out rounds, from the hip, at the advancing zombie ‘riot’.
I’ll grant you that:shotguns are great ‘close up’ weapons; even more so, now that we have all sorts of less-than-lethal rounds.
So the question is: “Why, in 1970 were they called ‘Riot Shotguns’?”
I have a Winchester Model 12. At one time there was a riot gun version. The Model 12 will hold one shell in the breech and six in the magazine. It will also fire by holding the trigger and working the pump so you don’t have to press the trigger each time. Maybe not a whole lot quicker, but it can definitely make an impression.
Model 12’s were also used in combat in WWII and to guard military bases.
My brother-in-law has a 12-round 12 gauge Street Sweeper. Now THAT’S a riot gun.
It used to be considered more acceptable to shoot looters, not to mention arsonists and snipers.
Some less than lethal tactics included shooting at the legs and shooting at the ground in front of the mob so that the shotgun pellets would bounce off the pavement and hit them in the legs.
So yes, riot control is why they are called riot shotguns, even though it may be no longer PC to shoot looters and arsonists.
Look up the history of the Watts riots and the riots after the assassination of Martin Luther King Jr.
Ah, and those 1920s style riot suppression tactics. When strikes were considered Bolshevik conspiracies, and the National Guard could be counted on to gun down unarmed men, women and children so that strikebreakers could be brought in.
I’d be increadibly surprised to learn that two posters on this board own Strikers, the drum fed shotgun most commonly known as a “street sweeper” considering they are classified as destructive devicesand are as difficult for a normal citizen to own as a hand grenade would be. If you do own one, I’d advise the hell out of not telling anyone ever again lest you end up in a world of trouble.
In terms of firepower and recoil, using both barrels of a double-barrelled 12-gauge shotgun would be equivalent to how big a single-barrelled gun? 8 gauge? 6? 4?
Yes, cop cars used to have short-barrelled 12 ga shotguns mounted vertically on the transmission hump, and clipped to the glareshield of the dash.
Yes, these were (as far back as I remeber - mid 1950’s) popularly called “riot guns”
And yes, they were quite willing to use them - especially if the targets were black (or commie union types).
The history cultures DON’T teack their children is more interesting than the pablum they DO teach
It’s based upon how many round lead balls you can make from a pound of lead if the ball’s diameter is equal to the inner diameter of the barrel. I’m assuming that the amount of shot in the shell is equal to the mass of a round lead ball multiplied by some constant.
