20 gauge shotgun shell is a type of ammunition in Fallout: New Vegas.
Background
"Gauge" is used to describe the bore size of a shot-firing weapon. Although bore sizes range incrementally from 1.5 up to 32 (with an aberrant 67.5 topping the scale), 10, 12, and 20 gauge (aside from the .410 shotgun that measures in caliber) are the most common bore sizes, with 12 gauge leading the group in popularity. A 20 gauge shotgun has a bore size of 15.6mm (.62", or 62 caliber), where the gauge number is the number of lead balls of that gun's bore diameter that would weigh a pound.
Sizes of shot is the individual lead or steel pellets that are fired from the weapon, which vary as well. A typical 20 gauge shotgun shell loaded with #3 buckshot contains eighteen to twenty pellets. Each pellet is 6.35 mm in diameter (0.25" or 25 caliber) and weighs 1.52 grams.
Characteristics
Masterson low recoil/max power 20 gauge shotgun shells are very similar to their larger, better known cousins, 12 gauge shotgun shells. Smaller in bore size, they have lighter powder loads and smaller shot, resulting in lower recoil and reduced target effect. 20 gauge shotshells consist of a plastic hull loaded with pistol powder and using multiple projectiles or a single slug.
Weapons using this ammunition
| Materials: | Requirements: | Produces: | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|
Hull, 20 gauge (1) Lead (30) Powder, pistol (20) |  | Repair: 10 |  | 20 gauge shotgun shells (1) |
Breakdown
Breaking down a standard 20 gauge shotshell yields:
| Name | Skill Requirement | Produced on | Items Produced | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Case | Lead | Powder | Primer | |||
| 20 gauge shotgun shell | Repair: 10 | Reloading bench | Hull, 20 gauge | Lead (26) | Powder, pistol (18) | Primer, Shotshell |
Variants
20 gauge, magnum
Magnum shells are standard buckshot shells fitted with a higher internal powder load, increasing velocity and stopping power. The downside is that they cause more damage to the firearm used due to the higher overall pressure, requiring more regular maintenance.
20 gauge, slug
Slugs contain a large lead projectile promoting better accuracy and kinetic energy over a distance. Slugs enable a shotgun to engage targets at a further distance.
20 gauge, 3/0 buck
A sub-type added with the new add-on Gun Runners' Arsenal, these loads sacrifice quantity for quality, in other words there are fewer projectiles overall but they're heavier and pack a bigger punch.
20 gauge, 3/0 buck magnum
A sub-type added with the new add-on Gun Runners' Arsenal, these magnum shells use the larger 3/0 shot size, but with a greater powder load resulting in higher velocity.
20 gauge, pulse slug
A sub-type added with the new add-on Gun Runners' Arsenal, these slugs cause more damage to power armor and robots, and the target gets an extra kick from an electromagnetic pulse triggered by the impact.
Comparison
| Name | DMG | DT | CND | SPRD | Other | Craftable | Empty Casing |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 20 gauge shell | x 1.2 | x 1 | x 1 | x 1 | 7 projectiles | Yes | 40% chance |
| 20 gauge, magnum | x 1.3 | - 2 | x 1.15 | x 1 | 7 projectiles | Yes | 35% chance |
| 20 gauge, slug | x 1 | x 1 | x 1 | x 0.35 | Single projectile | Yes | 40% chance |
20 gauge, 3/0 buck 
|
x 1 | x 1 | x 1 | x 1 | 4 projectiles | No | 40% chance |
| 20 gauge, 3/0 buck magnum
|
x 1.3 | - 2 | x 1.15 | x 1 | 4 projectiles | Yes | 35% chance |
| 20 gauge, pulse slug
|
x 0.7 | x 1 | x 1 | x 0.35 | Single projectile +50 damage against robots +25 damage against power armor |
No | 40% chance |
Notes
- 3/0 buck rounds only have a x1 damage multiplier yet standard 12 gauge shells have a x1.2 multiplier and magnum shells have x1.3, including the 3/0 magnum shells (these multipliers were added as part of patch 1.5 as an incentive to use them over slug rounds). As a result, 3/0 buck actually inflicts less damage than standard shells. It is unknown if this was caused by a bug or by developer oversight.
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