Which is more powerful: A rifle or a shotgun?

Question

I have a .40 caliber rifle and I was just curious how powerful it is compared to maybe a 20-gauge shotgun when it comes to hitting stationary targets from any range.

Answer 1

The shotgun would be powerful at close range, its the pellets that make it dangerous. But the rifle would be best for long distance shooting.

Answer 2

can be answered you have to figure ft.lbs of energy,  but in reality dead is dead no matter what only difference is speed and distance. the receiver at the other end would have a little longer to say their prayers with a shotgun than with a rifle.so to answer in reality you need to figure ft.lbs.energy, distance, muzzle velocity,caliber,etc. to compare.

Answer 3

That all depends on what you mean by Powerful.* Both are Deadly at various distances.* Shotgun can shoot bird shot, or slugs or sabots.* Rifle, Pistol, or Revolver can be used close range or further distances.* All are Powerful within their   effective limited ranges.*

Answer 4

The rifle.

Answer 5

Rifle. Next question

Answer 6

a shot gun is powerful up close

rifle is powerful from a far

Answer 7

A rifle would have more energy behind it than a shotgun at any range but a shotgun does more damage at close range if were talking buckshot.

Answer 8

rifle defently from a far range but up close a shot gun

Answer 9

Shot Gun Close range is definitely the way to go but the incorrect tool when shooting something At a distance. For this I would Recommend using a rifle.

Answer 10

it depends on what ".40 caliber" rifle you have. If it is a .40 S&W carbine rifle, and thats the only common rifle caliber that is .40 exactly, it is less powerful then a 20 gage shotgun at any range. with that one exception though, all other 40ish caliber rifles are definatly more powerful at long range, over 100 yards. the only other 40ish caliber cartidge i could find that is less power then a 20 gauge is the old 44-40 winchester, or 38-40 winchester. if you have a 44 magnum rifle, it is about the same power as a 20 gage at short range, more powerful at long range

Answer 11

All depends on the range of your target, closer up i'd ude the shotgun, but further out i would use the rifle...

Good Hunting...

Answer 12

Both are powerful, but a deer slug out of a shotgun will do a heck of a lot of hurt more than some of the other smaller caliber rifles.

A deer slug is up to .50 caliber vs the .40...(.50 = 1/2 inch).

Answer 13

Rifle,next question

Answer 14

okay, there are rifles, then there are rifles, and then there are RIFLES

you can't make such a simplistic statement and expect any sort of quality answer.

For starters, what chambering are you talking about, all you say is 40 caliber.  Are you refering to a pistol-caliber carbine in 40 SW? That is much weaker than 20 gauge shotgun. The same would be true if you are discussing a 38-40, an old cowboy loading that was pretty common in lever guns, and is 40 caliber.

Speaking of old lever guns, if you mean Teddy Roosivelt's favorite, the 405 winchester, no, that would be a big step up in power, and something like the 404 jefferies, which is used for elephant, hippo, and rhino hunting, again, that's MUCH more potent than a 20 gauge, and I hear that H&H is coming out with a 400 H&H magnum, which would be even more powerful in a knock you out of your shoes recoil level kind of way.

Answer 15

Either you have misnamed your rifle, or you don't actually have one just yet, but here you are, and that counts for much. The question itself is valid in general. Smallbore powerful rifles which hold a lot of powder in the cases, such as a 243, 25-06, or a 270, deliver awesome power at distances where you can't even see the target without a good scope. Bigbore stuff like the 45-70 or 458 Lott are at home standing down a Cape Buffalo charge in the tall grass, close up and personal! A 12 gauge slug would be devestating to elk, but you usually can't get up close enough to an elk with the limited slug range. The same range problem is even more true of buckshot in the 12 gauge, but deer are usually taken at short woods ranges averaging 75 yards, so it barely works out half the time, and works great the other half in the deer woods. Open country deer hunting with a shotgun is simply out. And not for lack of power, but lack of range. Regards, Larry.

Answer 16

Assuming that you're talking about a .40 S&W carbine like the Ruger PC4 or Beretta Storm, a 20.ga shotgun is theoretically more powerful at all ranges depending on what shells you're using.  For instance, a typical .40 cal rifle like the Ruger PC4 has a bullet weight anywhere from 135 grains to 180 grains ( 1 ounce = 437.5 grains ) and a muzzle energy of about 1500 foot pounds, dropping off to around 550 foot pounds at 100 yards. The typical Foster type 20 ga. slug will weigh 328 grains, and have a muzzle energy of  about 1650 foot pounds dropping off to 640 foot pounds at 100 yards. When using buckshot, it becomes more complicated since the overall charge of all the 20 ga.  pellets will still exceed that of a .40 caliber, but individually each pellet carries the weight and energy that is roughly equivalent to a .22 rimfire bullet. Since buckshot spreads as the distance increases, not all pellets will hit the stationary target after a certain range, thus decreasing the overall energy impacted on the target.

Answer 17

rifles are stronger.

Answer 18

a magnum.

Answer 19

All these guys have it, a shotgun shoots a whole bunch of pellets that expand and spread out as soon as it leaves the barrel.  This makes close range shots very powerful because they can cover a larger area at close range.  At far range because of the small size of the pellets, friction slows them down and they won't do that much damage.  A rifle is a single round that will do similar damage at long and short distance, it still has friction to deal with, but does significant more damage at long distances than a shotgun.  A shotgun at long distance might not even break the skin, but a rifle could kill you

Answer 20

A shotgun is only powerful at a very close range for it scatters its buckshot and was call this in western days a " scatter gun" and a rifle is most powerful on penatration and range with a solid projectory. Personally I wouldn't want to be shot by either but if I had my choice, it would be a shotgun while running and fast......Have a good day....