The Ammo

Shells

10 per box

Also used by the super shotgun

Ammo Usage

1 shell per shot

The Damage

4 per pellet, 12 pellets per shell

Firing speed

One discharge (1 shell) per second

Range and Accuracy

The shotgun instantly hits whatever is under the crosshair at the time of its discharge. It fires a group of hitscaned pellets around the center of the crosshair in a loose spread.
There is enough of a spread of the pellets to reward near misses at medium and long ranges.
The spread of the shotgun pellets is mildly tighter than that of the super shotgun, so it still has nearly normal effectiveness at medium ranges if the shot was centered around the target.

Attack

If it's all you've got, then try to hide while your gun is reloading. Otherwise, change to a better weapon, even if you're in the middle of a firefight - it will usually be to your advantage.

Defense

When fighting an opponent that is using a shotgun, nearly any other weapon can be effective. If also using the shotgun a fun dogfight will ensue. A super shotgun will give you a decided advantage as long as you can keep the battle at close range. The other best weapon to use against a shotgun equipped enemy in short range battles is the hyper blaster. For enemies attempting to snipe you with the shotgun at medium range, use the Railgun or one of the machine guns.

Extra Info

The shotgun has moderate kick and will obscure the right or left hand side of the screen during it's lengthy cocking phase depending on if the gun is held in the right or left hand.