Break Action Shotguns

Break Action shotguns have one chamber per barrel. External hammers start disappearing as these shotguns now cock on open. Break action shotguns generally only saw use among partisan forces (except for the Drilling, which was issued to Luftwaffe pilots).

• Break Action Shorty
• Hammerless Long
• Handy-Gun
• Kawaguchiya (features a bayonet mount)
• M30 Drilling (features an extra rifle barrel)

Pump Action Shotguns

Pump Action Shotguns gradually become more common, and are used primarily by American forces during the war. They were especially useful in jungle fighting.

• I37
• Stevens 620

Automatic Shotguns

While the Auto-5 was still commercially successful, other manufacturers experimented with other autoloading mechanisms for shotguns. That said, they were uncommon in civilian hands, even less so on the battlefield.

• Becker Shotgun: gas-operated revolver shotgun
• Walther Shotgun: Toggle-lock shotgun

Other

Alofs Device: this system converts a break-action shotgun into a repeating firearm. The tube magazine bolted onto the side automatically reloaded the chamber each time the action is opened. This system was developed as a way to get more use out of single-barrel shotguns, but was suboptimal compared to a pump action.