This is a bit of a misleading title. A shotgun is more like a Bangtree than a Bangstick. And in the recommended order of Beginning, I’d put this one after rifles larger than a .22. But, since I brought it up before, away we go.

Now, I DON’T recommend the way I did it. After starting out at age 12 with a .22, I decided at 16 that I needed a Man’s Firearm. What better than the vaunted 12 gauge? Oops, best back up. We’ve indirectly covered “caliber”, .22 caliber being (approximately) .22 inches in bullet diameter. What is this “gauge” measurement? Well, by my recollection and by the inner tubes, it means how many balls of lead the size of the barrel diameter would total one pound. So, 12 balls is a 12 gauge, 28 balls a 28 gauge and so on. (However, see the exception, .410 gauge, comparable to .45 caliber Long Colt. Well, never mind, we’ll get to that later).

And what are we firing through this kind of firearm? Well, “shot”. Meaning round pellets as small as .08” up to .22”, then buckshot from .24” to .39”, and then slugs, which are more like fat rifle bullets the diameter of the barrel.

But one major difference – we are not sending shot through a rifled barrel (which imparts stabilizing spin to the bullet). We are sending it through a smooth bore, so it just comes out of the muzzle with no spin and spreads out the further it goes. Which is the raison d’etre for a shot gun – lots of pellets hitting a larger area. For fast moving things like birds. Or squirrels. Or fast, fearsome felons.

So, how’s this for a manly firearm?

12 gauge, bolt action shotgun. With a 2 round magazine!

And an adjustable choke on the muzzle!

Improved Cylinder, Modified, and Full choke. Oh. Yeah, choke. It chokes the muzzle diameter to allow a smaller or larger spread of the shot. The “Pattern”.
So, with a basic, entry level shotgun, we’ve been able to cover a lot of shotgun topics. One more thing:

Even with a heavy duty rubber recoil pad, it kicks like a mule. One reason I would start beginners with something else. More to come.