So there I was thinking about the snipers of FNV and I became quickly bored as that generic arguement has been mulled over more times than French port. And then I decided to go the opposite direction for a change - shotguns. As the only shotgun I ever really used was the Single Shotgun from Trudy's house back at good ol' Goodsprings; so I decided to create a new build with an emphasis on shotties, or at least incorporate them into my level 30 main. And so, in the spirit of those classic firearms and the spirit of one of the best games this year (at least in my opinion) I thought we'd have a little debate on which shotgun is best (as opposed to some of the inherent complaining these forums have experienced as of late xD).



The Contestants

- Single shotgun
- Riot shotgun
- Lever-action shotgun
- Caravan shotgun
- Sawed-off shotgun
- Hunting shotgun
- Dinner Bell (unique hunting shotgun)



General Statistics (Source: Fallout WIKI)

Single shotgun:

DMG/Attack: 52.5
DMG/Projectile: 7.5
Attack/Sec: N/A
DPS: 22
# of projectiles: 7
Spread: 2.0
Ammo capacity: 1
Item HP: 200

Riot shotgun:

DMG/Attack: 67
DMG/Projectile: 9.571
Attack/Sec: 4
DPS: 268
# of projectiles: 7
Spread: 3.5
Ammo capacity: 12
Item HP: 150

Lever-action shotgun:

DMG/Attack: 48
DMG/Projectile: N/A
Attack/Sec: 1-2
DPS: 91
# of projectiles: ???
Spread: 1.9
Ammo capacity: 5
Item HP: 100

Caravan shotgun:

DMG/Attack: 45
DMG/Projectile: 6.4
Attack/Sec: 2-3
DPS: 42
# of projectiles: 7
Spread: 4
Ammo capacity: 2
Item HP: 140

Sawed-off shotgun:

DMG/Attack: 9.0*14
DMG/Projectile: ???
Attack/Sec: 1
DPS: ??? low
# of projectiles: 14
Spread: 6
Ammo capacity: 2
Item HP: 80

Hunting shotgun:

DMG/Attack: 70
DMG/Projectile: 10
Attack/Sec: 1.55
DPS: 109
# of projectiles: 7
Spread: 1.5
Ammo capacity: 5
Item HP: 125

Dinner Bell:

DMG/Attack: 87.5
DMG/Projectile: 12.5
Attack/Sec: 1.69
DPS: 148
# of projectiles: 7
Spread: ???
Ammo capacity: 5
Item HP: ???


The most obvious and unsurprising (as it is a unique weapon, after all) winner through the eyes of the aforementioned statistics is the Dinner Bell, but this is excluding factors such as personal taste and preference. Not to mention that not all of it's stats exceeds those of others (e.g. Riot has higher DPS and at point blank, the Sawed-off inflicts higher damage). Some are for picking off enemy at a medium distance, exerting amounts of marksmanship, where others are for sneaking up to enemy lines - vying for a one shot kill.

Happy postin' :fallout: .

I prefer the Riot Shotgun, it has a higher rate of fire than the Hunting shotgun, it may be a few nanoseconds quicker, but still.

Whichever one Cass is using.

i prefer the hunting shotgun. just cuz

also "che-che" i love the sound the pump makes

ps. the sound the shot makes is the same that Left4dead shotguns makes (i think)

Riot comes in more handy for me

I prefer the hunting shotgun mainly because i prefer pump action more then the semi-auto ones and it can be modded with a choke to reduce the spread of the pellets, but i have had to use the riot shotgun a couple of times when enjoying the pump action of the hunting shotgun just was'nt an option due to either being way to many enemies or a few strong enemies where i need to shoot as fast as possible and not worry about being precise.

Lever action because its sixy.

Between riot and hunting?

Hunting shotgun for sure. pump action

Screw damage its all about looking good.

Hunting shotgun or Diner Bell looks cool and might have that Wasteland feel , but when [censored] hits the fan , you want riot shotty with magnum shells. Single shotgun is fun until Novac.

I know it wasn't a "contestant" but I prefer the Big Boomer.

Aha, I was just exaggerating the whole contest thing.

And I think I'll set up a poll, so if the forumers who have already posted could be as kind as to vote for your favourites... .

I can't find the dinner bell

I prefer the riot shot gun. I usually pull out the ol' boom stick when [censored] is gonna hit the fan, so a rapid reload of 12 shells is a must have.

I use a Riot Shotgun as a short range "Panic Button" in enclosed spaces. Hunting shotgun is better in the more open outdoor areas.

Agree with this.

Hunting. Its more powerful. And the mods you can add to it unlike the Dinner Bell.

Port comes from Portugal, not France, so I am assuming that was a UK backhand at the French. I approve.

Hunting Shotgun for the sound.

Atm. it would have to be the hunting shotgun simply because i dont have Dinner bell yet I do like the reload time of the riot gun, but with the 25% quicker reloads perk and an extended tube the hunting shotgun works fine. Just have to remember to reaload when ever you're outta enemies.

Current char (playing on norm) is only carrying the shotgun and anti materiell rifle + That Gun as an emergency backup. With the choke on it and using slugs the hunting shotgun reaches out to where i wanna be using the AMR acceptably

Lever-Action.

Cowboy + Shotgun surgeon /thread.

That's the spirit.

... http://www.funza.net/awesome_face_bigger.png

The hunting shotgun with both mods attached is far better than the Dinner Bell (Unless it has a choke and extended mags on it. I don't know, I haven't found it). Hunting shotgun gets my vote.

Given that my favorite character is a pure shotgun user, this was a pretty dang tough choice for me.

I had to give the nod to Dinner Bell. It's just a bit more "all-purpose" and flexible, plus it's just sweet looking. You have all these crazy energy weapons and busted, old firearms from the pre-war era, and I'm out here walking around with a gun that wouldn't look out of place in my real gun cabinet.

It doesn't hurt that it is brutally effective against pretty much everything in the entire game!

Second place is definitely the Riot Shotgun. When negotiations fail and you're face to face with a group of people that need to be dead RIGHT NOW, nothing in this game will make that happen quite like the Riot Shotgun. Shotgun Surgeon + slugs = profound sadness for all Deathclaws.

Honorable mention goes out to the Lever-action Shotgun. I actually took Cowboy just to make that thing 25% stronger. Not that I really use it all the time, but sometimes you just need to put on leather armor, authority glasses and dish out some T-1000 style justice.



The Dinner Bell comes equipped with the choke but not the long barrel (+3 rounds). However, it is also about 20% stronger per shot than the Hunting Shotgun, and has 20% better CND.

Is that basically maximum shotgun range? I mean the unmodified spread is already 1.5.

From what i've seen so far (which is all but the unique), the Hunting Shotgun. Reminds me of Resident Evil :hehe:

With Cowboy perk and Shotgun Surgeon, the Lever-Action Shotgun outshines them all (Ignore 10DT, 25% more damage, plus tons of magnum ammo? What more can you ASK FOR!). The ammo is common, it's easy to create magnum and slug rounds, plus the requirements are lower.

Of course that's debatable, I'm quite confident under those circumstances it can out DPS the Riot shotty.




Hell yeah brother. I'm glad someone has noticed the insane potential of the Lever-Action Shotgun.

With Cowboy it does about 40% of the DPS of the Riot Shotgun at close range. You'd probably need to be fairly far from your target to outdamage the Riot Shotgun with the Lever-action by virtue of the tighter spread, but really at that range you'd be better off with a Hunting Shotgun or Dinner Bell (the latter would outdamage the Lever-action at all ranges).

That is a good point. The extra 17.5 damage seems worth the sacrifice of 3 shells, considering it's doubtful that you'll run out of ammunition too quick with a shotgun of such power... and there's always Rapid Reload. Not to mention is has about 40 more DPS.

So as of now, in my view Dinner Bell > Hunting shotgun. For me, it's basically Riot vs DB... eh, I'll get both.

EDIT: They both have their optimal circumstances. I think DB is a superior all-rounder, whereas the Riot is more efficient versus multiple targets.