A shotgun is a smoothbore firearm that has no spiral grooved cut on the inner surface of the gun barrel like the rifle. Designed to fire a number of pellets simultaneously, it is used primarily in hunting small game, particularly birds. The first shotguns, called fowling pieces, appeared in sixteenth-century Europe. In the following century, the prevailing technological theory was that longer gun barrels allowed a greater charge of gunpowder to be used which would result in a longer range. This led gunsmiths to make firearms with barrels up to 7 feet (2.13 m) long and weights up to 12 pounds (5.44 kg). In addition to their unwieldy design, the slow flintlock ignition system was a drawback because it made hitting a moving target nearly impossible.

Several significant changes brought the shotgun into the modern age of weaponry. The invention of the percussion cap created a more dependable system of ignition so...