I was just thinking that shotgun shells are so versatile. Anything you can fit in the shell can be fired out. I just thought it might be helpful to have a list of some of the common, and more exotic types of shotgun rounds. All rounds are lethal, unless otherwise specified.
Bird shot, small pellets, good for birds, small game, and other moving targets.
Buckshot, larger pellets, good for larger game, greater range, more punch per shot
Slugs, a single projectile. In a 12 gauge, it basically turns the gun into a 75 caliber rifle.
Pepper shot, just what it sounds like. The shell fires pepper, for a non-lethal disabling effect.
Rubber shot, instead of lead or steel, rubber balls. Again, non-lethal engagement.
Rock Salt, less lethal, causes internal burning sensation.
Flechette rounds, small darts, excellent penetration, capable of going through Kevlar.
Chalk dust rounds, just what it sounds like. Fires a cloud of red or white chalk dust for signaling, or non-lethal disabling effect. Imagine getting chalk dust in your eyes, nose and mouth... not pleasant.
Dragon's Breath, turns your shotgun into a 100 yard flamethrower, with a 1 second blast of fire.
Flares
Bolo rounds, fires 2 balls connected by piano wire. Comes out spinning like a lawnmower blade. Cuts down anything in its path.
Bird Bombs, non-lethal, fires the equivalent of an M-80 firecracker, for harassment purposes.
Shredders, fires explosives, destroys everything within a 10 foot radius.
Door Busters, non-lethal, used by SWAT teams. Just fires a concussive blast. At point-blank range, will blow a door of its hinges.
Knees knockers, non-lethal, fires wooden pellets, when aimed at the knees, has a severe disabling effect, as I'm certain you can imagine.
Anyone else know of any other exotic shotgun rounds?
You're not really supposed to, but technically you can load (or overload) a shotgun with anything you can get your hands on, turning it into a sort of blunderbuss (anybody see that episode of Mythbusters where they fired a dozen steak knives out of a cannon? It's like that, only smaller).
Overall I think you've got it covered. I'm pretty sure I've read about mini-grenade type weapons made for use as shotgun shells, along the lines of things like tear gas, smoke, and so on.
I could easily see someone with a high enough tech bias building gyrojet rounds (a shotgun-style cloud of which is a really disturbing idea, btw - like having Tony Stark's Jericho rocket in your holster).
(anybody see that episode of Mythbusters where they fired a dozen steak knives out of a cannon? It's like that, only smaller).
Never saw that. Let me guess, all of the knives turned around in flight and hit the target handle first, didn't they?
In case you're interested, you can get Mythbusters from NetFlix. (You just inspired me to check on it.)