Best Shotgun in Modern Warfare 3

What is the best Shotgun in MW3? If you haven't been keeping up with all the new changes that Call Of Duty: Modern Warfare 3 has brought, you might be surprised to see all your old favourite Shotguns from Modern Warfare 2 are also available in the new game. Thanks to COD's new Carry Forward system which brings old guns into the new version of Modern Warfare, players have a combination of familiar and new Shotguns to try out and figure out which is best for you.

In this guide, we've ranked all nine Shotguns in Modern Warfare 3 from worst to best, so that you can gain a full understanding of which is the best Shotgun in MW3 in the current meta. We'll also break down our reasoning and thoughts on each Shotgun, giving you the freedom to choose whichever Shotgun you think best suits your playstyle.

What is the best Shotgun in MW3?

Despite the solid competition from its eight rivals, the best Shotgun in Modern Warfare 3 is the Lockwood 300. Thanks to the unique Maelstrom Dual Trigger attachment, the Lockwood 300's damage potential blows every other Shotgun in the game out of the water, and easily deserves its spot among the best guns in Modern Warfare 3.

Here is our Modern Warfare 3 Shotgun tier list:

If you want to learn more about each of these Shotguns and why they deserve their spot in our rankings, read on for our list of all Shotguns in MW3 from worst to best.

9. Expedite 12

Calling the Expedite 12 a bad gun isn't really right, because every Shotgun in MW3 can be outfitted to demolish opponents at a close enough range. But in comparing nine such powerful weapons, you have to look at the little details, and the Expedite 12's huge recoil and lower consistency at delivering those one-shot-kills puts it in last place. The faster fire rate makes it a fairly forgiving Shotgun for newcomers, but in Modern Warfare 3 there are simply better options out there.

8. Bryson 890

The claim to fame of the Bryson 890 is its detachable magazine, which makes for some very fast reload times. But that's not exactly what players are looking for when they pick up a Shotgun. In terms of pure stopping power and reliability, the Bryson 890 is among the least of its brethren; and its high recoil makes it tricky to control as well. It beats out the Expedite 12 only marginally, thanks to its slightly better damage profile.

7. Lockwood 680

The Lockwood 680 Shotgun is in our opinion the slightly worse of the two Shotguns that were added with the release of Modern Warfare 3 (the other being the Riveter). The Lockwood 680 is straightforward and powerful at the right ranges, but that range is quite short compared to the likes of the similar-feeling Bryson 800.

If you do want to give it a good try, kit it out for maximum range, or you'll end up quite frustrated. For more details, read our best MW3 Lockwood 680 loadout guide.

6. Haymaker

The Haymaker is another semi-automatic fast-firing Shotgun, and while it beats out the Expedite 12 with its better balance of damage potential and range, it lacks the power of the Riveter and MX Guardian - both of which you'll encounter later in this list. Nonetheless, it's forgiving, as with all full-auto Shotguns, and fairly easy to control. A very beginner-friendly choice, just not the best one.

5. Bryson 800

The Bryson 800 is very similar in nature to the Bryson 890, but it foregoes the detachable magazine (is it too harsh to call it a gimmick?) for slightly increased stats across the board. It features the same damage but with better handling and range than its 890 cousin, and a versatile set of attachments that allows you to kit it out quite well for extended ranges. That said, it suffers from being a jack-of-all-trades, master-of-none Shotgun, and there are better options out there in this era of Modern Warfare.

Still, if you want to make the most of the dependable Bryson 800, check out our guide on the best Bryson 800 loadout in Modern Warfare 3.

4. Riveter

The semi-automatic mag-fed Riveter Shotgun handily beats the Expedite 12 at its own game. This is where Shotguns start to get into truly frightening territory, with the Riveter's great fire rate, high magazine capacity, and surprising range allowing you to use it almost like an Assault Rifle instead of a Shotgun. It lacks the pure stopping power of many others on this list, which is why it appears in the middle of the rankings.

But if you're looking for a Shotgun that doesn't act like a Shotgun, the Riveter will net you a lot of kills - especially with the help of our guide on the best Riveter loadout in MW3!

3. MX Guardian

The MX Guardian is a fully automatic Shotgun that inches just barely past the Riveter thanks to its room-clearing potential when kitted out correctly. You'd think a full-auto Shotgun would sacrifice some damage to get its fire rate up so high, but, well, it doesn't really feel that way. The MX Guardian is still fairly reliable at one-shot-kills, and the fact that you can follow up shots so quickly makes it a true force to be reckoned with. And the best part is it's so forgiving and easy to use. Just point and shoot, very little thinking required.

2. KV Broadside

There's not much separating the KV Broadside from the MX Guardian. Both are very fast-firing Shotguns with almost the same damage profiles and effective ranges. We think the Broadside is just a little bit easier to get killstreaks with thanks to its higher mobility and better recoil control. You wouldn't expect recoil control to be important for a Shotgun, but given how fast the KV Broadside fires, it's a very nice perk to have. It lacks the sheer fire rate of its full-auto rival the MX Guardian, but that doesn't matter too much to us. Scoring double and triple kills with the KV Broadside is frighteningly easy.

1. Lockwood 300

Right now, the best Shotgun in Modern Warfare 3 is the Lockwood 300. And it's all thanks to one attachment: the gamebreaking Maelstrom Dual Trigger. This attachment forces the gun to fire both its shells at once, giving it colossal damage potential far beyond that of any other Shotgun in MW3. The drawback is a decrease in range and the fact that you can only fire one shot before having to reload, so you need to be pretty accurate with the Lockwood 300. But how can you not put this gun top? It does what Shotguns do best, and it does it better than anything else in the game.

Consult our guide on the best Lockwood 300 loadout in Modern Warfare 3 for more details!

That's every Shotgun in Modern Warfare 3 ranked from worst to best. If you're looking for similar tier lists, check out our guides on the best Assault Rifle, best SMG, and best Sniper Rifle in Modern Warfare 3 right now. You can also check out our more general primers on the best guns in MW3 and the best MW3 loadouts in the current meta.