Combine SPAS-12

"Here, I have a more suitable gun for you!"

- Father Grigori

The Shotgun is a powerful firearm used by various characters in Half-Life 2. Its shape is closely based on the Franchi SPAS-12 semi-automatic shotgun. Father Grigori gives the player his first shotgun in Chapter 6, "We don't go to Ravenholm ...", and keeps to his red and white Winchester/shotgun hybrid, which Grigori calls Annabelle.

Usage
The Shotgun is pump-action, firing standard 12-gauge buckshot shells. It can hold six shells at a time (two shells less than the original Half-Life). Reloading loads one shell at a time. The reload time depends on how many shells need to be inserted to reach maximum chamber capacity. It can take quite a long time, however, the reloading process can be interrupted by simply pressing the trigger. The shotgun can fire projectiles in two ways. The first, used by pressing the primary trigger, fires a single shell. The secondary trigger fires two shells at once, doubling damage and impact force but not increasing effectiveness in terms of range. The Combine Overwatch make extensive use of the shotgun, alongside the SMG1 and Pulse Rifle.

The shotgun is typically wielded by at least one Overwatch Soldier in each squad, making them especially dangerous foes at close range. Specialized Shotgun Soldiers form the close-quarters assault element of each squad, and use especially aggressive tactics, rushing their targets to close the distance and maximize the effect of their weapon. On the Hard difficulty setting, a shotgun soldier can halve the player's health in seconds, if allowed to get close enough.

Tactics
The shotgun is very effective at close range against most targets, however, its effectiveness decreases significantly with range. Despite its comparatively narrow spread, this weapon is not suited to medium range combat.

When players are first introduced to the shotgun in Ravenholm, it soon becomes clear that the shotgun is by far the most efficient weapon for killing zombies. In fact, provided they're in range, the shotgun is effective against most enemies, and ammunition is fairly easy to come by. It's surprisingly effective against Overwatch Soldiers, despite their heavy armor. Many consider the shotgun second place behind the SMG as the game's primary weapon.

The shotgun's rate of fire is fairly low and its reload time is long, but its stopping power mostly makes up for it; each blast packs quite a punch. Taking its power and long reload time into account, it may be desirable to enter a firefight with the shotgun and, once you've exhausted its supply of shells, switch to a backup weapon instead of reloading.

When going up against a squad of Overwatch Soldiers at close/medium range, take the man carrying the shotgun down first. Given the opportunity, he will charge at you to quickly close the distance and do serious damage.

A common tactic when using the shotgun is to reload every 1 or 2 shots if possible to avoid the long reload time. This is generally not recommended if multiple the enemies are at close range, though.

Trivia

 * The 2003 leaked Half-Life 2 Beta has a completely different model for the Shotgun. This model appears in the E3 2004 trailer and in the final version as the DirectX 7 Shotgun, showing that it was taken out at the last minute.
 * The Beta Shotgun is almost the same gun,but is much thinner, due to rather big pump,and it has a rifle-like receiver. The animations looked like the user was holding it at their waist, pointing upwards a bit.
 * The shotgun-using Combine soldiers are suggested to be a squad leader, though they do not have any distinguishing marks until Episode 2.
 * When used by other people the shotgun appears to be operated in semiautomatic mode because though you can see up close that he moves the gun bit to the side after firing, there is no sound heard from the pump. The firing speed is also a bit faster than the player's.