So what happened to the shotguns?

@Bullrog1991I was using the 12M Auto for around 3 hours yesterday, and I was actually surprised by how awesome that one was.

Had some of my highest killcounts so far using that shotgun. Even with buckshot it had surprisingly good range for a shotgun, and with a long range specific setup you can add atleast 20+ to it's range.

I prefer to run it as a close to close-medium setup with buckshot shells though, but it can be setup to work for medium to long range

Yeah for a weapon with such a slow time to pump between each shot you'd think it would make up for it with hard hitting shots.  Same goes the Lever Action Rifle, that thing is too slow for the kind of weak shots it shoots plus the bullet feel just as slow too.

those are weak too

@BizzyVaping you clearly have been having a different experience to me with that gun.

Way I see it, it's a 3-4 shot kill at typical engagement ranges (maybe 10 m?) and given it comes with an 8 round magazine and is entirely useless at distance, it is completely obsolete next to any of the full auto weapons, or even the SVK.  

The SVK set up for hip fire is probably just as effective, if not more given it legit 2-shots.  

In my opinion the M12 should be a 2 shot itself when in effective range and the base shotgun should be 1 in the same range.  There needs to be some incentive to use shotguns in this game.  

Sorry to shamelessly bump a topic I'm interested in, but to build on my previous commentary on the M12, I can share an incident which exemplifies how under-powered it is from a game earlier today.

I spawned in on a chopper hovering over cap B on Renewal, which my squad was fighting to gain control of.  I exit the chopper and dive down to see a marked enemy hiding inside an open container.  I land myself to the side they are not receiving fire from, knowing exactly where they are, and I round the corner at point blank range with my M12 to find them crouched looking to my right.

I begin to unload my M12 from the hip, approximately 1 m in front of him.  I get off 3 rounds, all of them connecting according to hit markers.

They quickly spray their AK about the same time my 3rd shot lands, and I am dead before I can let off a 4th shot.

Now, admittedly, they did have armour.  However, I care not for that fact when hammering him with a shotgun from such distance.  

This can't be right.  Surely 3 blasts from this range should spell the end of them?

I wish I had a clip of the incident because it is probably the most cringeworthy moment yet due to the circumstances, but I need all the frames I can get so don't record gameplay at the moment.

I knew where they were (they did not know I was coming, pre-occupied with the firefight with my allies).

I was extremely close. 

I started firing first.

I landed all 3 blasts.

The fact they killed me demonstrates the point about how useless a shotgun is - just use an automatic weapon instead and get superior close-range TTK to the M12.

I really hope they address this as I enjoy getting in the mix of it with a shotgun sometimes.  As I've previously indicated, the incentive to use a shotgun is low anyway because of the typical range of engagement in this title, but combine that with the woeful damage outputs and it makes them effectively useless.  

With the size of the maps in this game, I can't see the shotguns being very useful as there are few places to go for close-quarter fights...I have been killed by them a few times though.  If and when they give us a close-quarter infantry-focused map (or TDM on Canals in Portal, heh) then they will find a home.

I have not unlocked the .45-70 yet but I'm interested to try it when I do, because that is a *rifle*, not a shotgun.  If they have put that in the game as a shotgun, then somebody who signed off on that at DICE needs to be strapped down in front of a TV and forced to watch Forgotten Weapons on YouTube for about a week, Clockwork-Orange-style.

Have you used the Lever gun? that thing can hit up to 800meters with ease when using Slug rounds. perfect anti-sniper weapon.