the shortest legal length of a shotgun barrel is 18 inches.
what is the shortest legal length of a shotgun barrel?
18 inches
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. as a result of the shorter barrel length, any sawed-off shotgun with a magazine tube will have its capacity reduced.
sawed-off shotgun
another, less commonly encountered type of break-action shotgun is the combination gun, which is an over and under design with one shotgun barrel and one rifle barrel (more often rifle on top, but rifle on bottom was not uncommon). there is also a class of break action guns called "drillings", which contain three barrels, usually two shotgun barrels of the same gauge and a rifle barrel, though the only common theme is that at least one barrel be a shotgun barrel. the most common arrangement was essentially a side-by-side shotgun with the rifle barrel below and centered. usually a drilling containing more than one rifle barrel would have both rifle barrels in the same caliber, but examples do exist with different caliber barrels, usually a .22 long rifle and a centerfire cartridge. although very rare, drillings with three and even four (a "vierling") shotgun barrels were made.
shotgun