Best Shotgun in Warzone Caldera: what is the best Shotgun in Call Of Duty: Warzone?
Learn which are the best Shotguns in the current Warzone meta
Looking for the best shotgun in Warzone Caldera? Shotgun balance is in a bit of a tenuous spot for the moment. Historically, Warzone shotguns cannot one-shot a player with full armor (250 total HP). However, game integration is a messy process, and some Vanguard builds that enable one-shot kills have slipped through the cracks. As a result, the Vanguard options are wildly overpowered at the moment. The situation is totally out of line with the game’s longstanding balance philosophy, so we expect all of these to be nerfed shortly. When that happens, we’ll update these rankings to reflect the new ecosystem.
The best Shotgun in Warzone Caldera
For now, the Einhorn Revolving is the best shotgun in Warzone. As it stands, every Vanguard shotgun is capable of one-shotting enemy players. The Einhorn provides the best mix of fire rate and range, helping it edge out the competition. We'll break each weapon down in detail below.
Here is the best Shotgun in Warzone Caldera:
- Einhorn Revolving
- Combat Shotgun
- Double Barrel
- Gracey Auto
- Gallo 12
- Streetsweeper
- R9-0
- Jak-12
- Origin
- VLK
- Ironhide .410
- Hauer
- Model 680
- 725
Einhorn Revolving - Best Shotgun in Warzone
You’ve probably seen clips by now of Einhorn Revolving users wiping entire four-man squads in under a second. As it stands, this fast-firing, one-shot-capable cannon is perhaps the most dangerous weapon in Warzone. An Einhorn in a building spells a quick, messy fight. At the moment, there’s really not much else to say. This is a functionally semi-automatic weapon that can one-shot any player. It’s broken, and it will be nerfed in short order. Until then, it’s the best Shotgun in Warzone.
Combat Shotgun
The Combat Shotgun can also one-shot kill, which means it’s also quite overpowered. As a pump-action, it won’t vaporize entire squads quite as fast as the Einhorn. You’ll just have to settle for vaporizing them one at a time instead. That will suffice in most situations. The Combat Shotgun also has a range advantage, so you may pick up some one-shots slightly further out than with the Einhorn. Your choice between the two really boils down to that. Go with the Einhorn for faster shots, or Combat for more range. Both are extremely powerful (read; unbalanced) and due for a nerf soon, so enjoy them while you can.
To get your shotgun groove on check out our Combat Shotgun Warzone loadout guide.
Double Barrel
For the most reliable “one-shot” of all, look no further than the Double Barrel. One of this Shotgun’s higher-level attachments is the Akimbo perk, which allows you to dual wield and fire both of your Double Barrels at once. Technically that is two simultaneous shots, but that is about as much damage as you can possibly put out in a single instant. With Akimbo Double Barrels, you can afford to be slightly less accurate than with a Combat Shotgun or Einhorn Revolving simply because you fire twice as many pellets at a time. Of course, your ammo is extremely limited, so this will be most effective in Solos and Duos. Even in team modes though, instantly erradicating two players should make it easy for your teammates to clean up. This is another extremely powerful shotgun that is due for a nerf soon.
Make the most of both barrels with our Double Barrel Warzone loadout guide.
Gracey Auto
You could make a strong argument that any of the Vanguard shotguns is number one, and the Gracey Auto is no exception despite its current rank. Vanguard’s only true automatic option will remind users of the Gallo’s heyday, and can quickly clear a room. However, it can also one-shot enemies, albeit at a noticeably shorter range than the Einhorn or Combat Shotgun. Still, that kind of power on a weapon with this kind of fire rate is extremely formidable. The Gracey is the more forgiving, easier to use Shotgun, but is no less capable of obliterating a team.
Create maximum carnage with our Gracey Auto Warzone loadout guide.
Gallo 12
The Gallo’s big advantage is range. Obviously, range is a key limiting factor on Shotguns in general. Shotgun damage falls off hard and fast, so the further out you can deal peak damage the better. The Gallo 12’s damage holds up better at range than the Streetsweeper, Origin, or Jak-12. Plus, it has a tighter hipfire spread, so you’ll hit more pellets per shot.
Of course, the Streetsweeper has a larger magazine, and the Jak-12 and Origin have much faster reloads. Still, you’re going to get more reliable kills with the Gallo, and that outweighs the downsides. If the Vanguard one-shots are nerfed, the Gallo will be in a great spot. Check out our guide to the best Gallo 12 loadout in Warzone for more info.
R9-0
The R9-0’s unique, double-barrel pump design makes it about the closest thing you can get to a one-shot kill with a Shotgun in Warzone. If you catch an enemy off-guard, you can fire two shots extremely quickly, much faster than they can react. There was a time when that made the R9-0 a terror in Warzone, but that time is long gone.
Still, you can near-instantly kill enemies with the R9-0 if you get close enough. If you’re looking for that one-shot playstyle you know from traditional multiplayer modes, this is as close as you will get in Warzone. Just make sure you get close enough to your enemies before you pull the trigger.
Streetsweeper
The Streetsweeper is the most spammable shotgun in Warzone. It may lack the range and accuracy of the Gallo, but there’s something to be said for just shooting a whole lot of shells. No other shotgun puts pellets downrange like the Streetsweeper, which will unleash its 18-round magazine about as fast as you can pull the trigger.
The Streetsweeper is arguably the best shotgun for squads purely because of that magazine. It’s highly unlikely that you will wipe a team with the Gallo before running out of ammo, but the Streetsweeper can manage it. If you’re looking to really lay on the trigger, the Streetsweeper is the shotgun for you. Visit our Streetsweeper loadout guide to get the best build.
JAK-12
The Jak-12 is slow and unwieldy, but it really just rips through enemies. Its place as the only full-auto shotgun in Warzone makes it appealing, but unfortunately, the Streetsweeper mostly does the Jak-12’s job better. The Streetsweeper actually fires faster if you have the trigger finger for it, and has a bigger magazine.
Still, there’s something to be said for just holding down the trigger and focusing on movement and aim. If you just want to click and hold, you can still clear rooms with a Jak-12. Plus, that detachable magazine reload is a godsend next to the painful, single-shell speed of the Streetsweeper. If you want to give it a shot, visit our Jak-12 guide for the full loadout.
Origin 12
The Origin unfortunately just doesn’t have much of a role next to the other automatic shotguns. Sure, the detachable magazine is nice next to the glacial reload speeds of the Gallo and Streetsweeper, but the hipfire spread and damage range just lag too far behind. If you do want a quicker reload, you might as well just use a Jak-12. There really just isn’t much of a place for the Origin in Warzone right now.
VLK Rogue
The VLK is sort of stuck in between the Origin and the bottom-tier shotguns. It doesn’t quite have the damage of the Model 680 or the hipfire spread of the Hauer, but it will fire faster than both. You aren’t going to be one-shotting anyone anyways, so you definitely want that faster rate of fire.
Add in the significantly faster reload, and this speedy shotgun is just the better option than the pump-actions. However, it fires slightly slower than the Gallo and Origin, and much slower than the Jak-12 and Streetsweeper. It’s hard to justify the VLK over those alternatives.
Ironhide .410
Single-action Shotguns just really, really struggle in Warzone. You won't be able to one-shot a fully-armored player, so the prime advantage of pump and lever-action shotguns in traditional Call of Duty multiplayer is out the window. It's very hard to justify a two-shot-kill weapon over a faster-firing two-shot-kill weapon.
As floor loot, at least, the Ironhide and its peers are ok. You'll get more chances to take on unarmored players early in the game, and in that brief moment these shotguns can shine. For your loadout drop though, you're better off sticking to the faster-firing weapons above.
Hauer
The Hauer’s advantage over the Model 680 is Black Ops attachments. It can achieve a tighter pellet spread and better mobility than the Modern Warfare pump-action. Unfortunately, as mentioned with the Ironhide, there's just no good reason to use it over faster-firing weapons that kill in the same number of shots. Treat this one the same as the Ironhide; pick it up for a cheeky one-shot in the early seconds of a game, but leave it out of your loadouts.
Model 680
It pains me to place the Model 680 down here (see the Gold Camo screenshot above) but this gun is just bad for Warzone. Technically you could one-shot an enemy if you hit them in the head with every single pellet, but that’s just never going to happen under practical game conditions. Without one-shot potential, pump shotguns struggle, and the Model 680 is the slowest firing, least forgiving of the bunch. There’s just no stat that can help you justify a Model 680 in Warzone.
725
The 725 brings up some unpleasant memories for those who experienced the early days of Modern Warfare multiplayer. Thankfully, it has never been quite so dominant in Warzone. Really, it has the opposite problem. The 725 just isn’t very good. Mechanically, it’s not a fit for Warzone at all, outside of Solos. You won’t be one-shotting anyone, so you will have to expend both barrels to drop an enemy. Reloading between every kill is going to lose you games. Unless you plan to camp buildings in Solos (and please, please don’t do that), you should avoid the 725.
Warzone Shotgun stats
Below is a full stat table for every Shotgun in Warzone to provide context for our list. These damage numbers assume that every pellet hits, so you’ll often deal less damage per shot than this. That’s why tightening your hipfire spread is so important on Shotguns. You need to hit as many pellets as possible while staying mobile.
| Name | Damage | Shots To Kill | RPM | Mag | Reload | ADS | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Model 680 | 300 | 208 | 208 | 208 | 1-2 | 1-2 | 1-3 | 1-3 | 70 | 8 | 7.09s | 310ms | |||
| R9-0 | 206 | 166 | 166 | 166 | 1-2 | 1-2 | 1-3 | 2-4 | 280 | 14 | 8.81s | 290ms | |||
| 725 | 206 | 166 | 166 | 166 | 1-2 | 1-2 | 1-3 | 2-4 | 154 | 2 | 2.59s | 300ms | |||
| Origin 12 | 206 | 166| 166 | 166 | 1-2 | 1-2 | 1-3 | 2-4 | 230 | 8 | 3.15s | 300ms | |||
| VLK Rogue | 300 | 208 | 208 | 208 | 1-2 | 1-2 | 1-3 | 1-3 | 131 | 8 | 3.20s | 241ms | |||
| JAK-12 | 122 | 122 | 122 | 122 | 1-2 | 2-2 | 2-4 | 3-5 | 295 | 8 | 2.31s | 300ms | |||
| Haur 77 | 206 | 166 | 166 | 166 | 1-2 | 1-2 | 1-3 | 2-4 | 66 | 5 | 4.50s | 300ms | |||
| Gallo SA12 | 206 | 166 | 166 | 166 | 1-2 | 1-2 | 1-3 | 2-4 | 212 | 7 | 6.00s | 300ms | |||
| Streetsweeper | 206 | 166 | 166 | 166 | 1-2 | 1-2 | 1-3 | 2-4 | 300 | 7 | 14.1s | 250ms |
That’s all for Shotguns in Warzone! This is certainly a niche weapon class, but they’re fun and powerful when used correctly. If you’re looking for some more conventional weaponry, visit our best loadouts in Warzone guide for some ideas. For a full meta breakdown, see our Warzone weapons tier list.