Video Description

The Dark Reason Germans Hated American Shotguns This video walks through why shotguns keep returning to the battlefield and how their role has changed from the age of grapeshot to the era of drones. It starts with early ideas like canister and grapeshot in smoothbore cannons, the blunderbuss as a kind of first handheld shotgun, and why rifled muskets and full power rifles eventually pushed scatter weapons out of regular front line use. From there it tracks the comeback in the Philippine–American War and World War I, when close quarters fighting in trenches made long rifles clumsy and slow, and General Pershing’s forces turned to pump-action shotguns like the Winchester 1897 “trench broom” as a fast, compact answer for raids, patrols, and dugout clearing. We then follow shotguns into the Pacific in World War II and later Korea and Vietnam, where thick jungle, short engagement ranges, and fortified positions made them valuable again. You will see how Marines paired them with flamethrowers in bunkers and caves, how tank crews used them from M48 Pattons, and how concepts like the beehive round essentially turned tank guns into giant shotguns. The story then shifts to the postwar period, with shotguns moving into police and special forces roles, the rise of pump-action designs like the Mossberg 500 and semi automatics like the Benelli M4, and new tasks such as door breaching, underbarrel breacher modules, and less lethal loads for crowd control. Finally, the video explains the most unexpected change of all: the shotgun’s return as an anti-drone tool. Modern battlefields, especially in Ukraine, are saturated with small FPV and UAV systems that threaten vehicles and infantry from close range. We look at how units now carry shotguns specifically to counter low flying drones, why buckshot and birdshot help but have limits, and how specialized 12 gauge anti-drone rounds like net cartridges and experimental “shot” rifle rounds are being tested. A clear, complete look at how a weapon that once cleared trenches now sits in vehicle racks and fighting positions as a last line of defense against the newest threat in warfare. Chapters: 00:00 – Why shotguns went to war 00:34 – From grapeshot to trench broom 02:45 – Winchester 1897 in the trenches 06:20 – Pacific islands, jungles, and M67s 08:55 – From door breaching to drone hunting