Sporting shotguns

An independent encyclopedia of sporting shotguns.

Atlas of gunmaking

Shotguns by type

Drawing of an over-and-under shotgun in low grass, from the right.

Over-and-under

An over-and-under is a gun with one barrel above the other.

Drawing of a side-by-side shotgun in low grass, from the right.

Side-by-side

A side-by-side is a gun with two barrels mounted next to each other.

Drawing of a semi-automatic shotgun in low grass, from the right, with its ejection port visible.

Semi-automatic

A semi-automatic reloads itself after each shot and fires once for each pull of the trigger.

Newest entries

Zoli

Gardone Val Trompia
Yildiz

Burdur
Winchester

New Haven, Connecticut

Glossary

Action: The action houses the mechanism that loads, fires and unloads a gun.
Choke: Choke is a narrowing of the bore at the muzzle that controls how widely the shot spreads.
Proof marks: Proof marks are stamps on a gun that record the proof tests it has passed.
Over-and-under: An over-and-under is a gun with one barrel above the other.
Side-by-side: A side-by-side is a gun with two barrels mounted next to each other.
Semi-automatic: A semi-automatic reloads itself after each shot and fires once for each pull of the trigger.

Browse the glossary