why would you saw off the barrel of a shotgun
Sawed-off shotgun A sawed-off shotgun (US, CAN) also called a sawn-off shotgun (UK, IRL, AU, NZ) and a short-barreled shotgun (SBS) (U.S. legislative terminology), is a type of shotgun with a shorter gun barrel—typically under 18 inches—and often a shortened or absent stock. Despite the colloquial term, barrels do not, strictly speaking, have to be shortened with a saw. Barrels can be manufactured at shorter lengths as an alternative to traditional, longer barrels. This makes them easier to transport due to their smaller profile and lighter weight. The design also makes the weapon easy to maneuver in cramped spaces, a feature sought by military close quarters combat units, law enforcement SWAT team users, and home defense purposes. With modern pump action/magazine tube shotguns, the shorter barrel limits the magazine capacity of the weapon due to the magazine tube protruding beyond the barrel. Therefore, the magazine tubes are matched in length to the barrel, which causes a reduction in the number of shells that can be held in the magazine tube.
Machine gun The Gatling gun, patented in 1861 by Richard Jordan Gatling, was the first to offer controlled, sequential fire with mechanical loading. The design's key features were machine loading of prepared cartridges and a hand-operated crank for sequential high-speed firing. It first saw very limited action in the American Civil War; it was subsequently improved and used in the Franco-Prussian war and North-West Rebellion. Many were sold to other armies in the late 19th century and continued to be used into the early 20th century, until they were gradually supplanted by Maxim guns. Early multi-barrel guns were approximately the size and weight of contemporary artillery pieces, and were often perceived as a replacement for cannon firing grapeshot or canister shot.[18] The large wheels required to move these guns around required a high firing position, which increased the vulnerability of their crews.[18] Sustained firing of gunpowder cartridges generated a cloud of smoke, making concealment impossible until smokeless powder became available in the late 19th century.[19] Gatling guns were targeted by artillery they could not reach, and their crews were targeted by snipers they could not see.[18] The Gatling gun was used most successfully to expand European colonial empires, since against poorly equipped indigenous armies it did not face such threats.[18]