parkerbrothersshotguns

The story of American shotguns starts in the colonial era, with the flintlock fowling pieces used by settlers for hunting and home defense. As technology advanced, so too did the design of shotguns. The mid-19th century saw the introduction of the modern shotgun with the advent of breech-loading mechanisms and later the invention of the pump-action shotgun by Christopher Spencer in 1882. These innovations made shotguns easier to load, shoot, and maintain, leading to their widespread use in hunting, sport, and law enforcement.