The Terrible Shotgun

 is a small gun that only appears in Fallout 3. It is a unique variant of the Combat Shotgun and has the highest base damage of all weapons in the Small Guns category. However its performance may be disappointing.

It is in the possession of Smiling Jack in the Evergreen Mills bazaar and can be repaired with Combat Shotguns.

Weapon characteristics

 * The Terrible Shotgun has a larger spread than normal shotguns; it does more damage if all pellets hit, but it is harder for that to happen because of its extremely low accuracy (Wide and random bullet spread pattern). The best way to use this weapon is for point blank shots. However, it does have unrivaled stopping power. Its ideal usage is either for fast moving animals (Deathclaw or Yao Guai), room to room fighting, or for other near point-blank fighting. In other words, this gun is best suited for use in urban environments with occasional application in wilderness. The Terrible Shotgun, in good condition, can dispatch almost all Super Mutants with relative ease in the proper environment. Even a Behemoth (mutant) can be felled using the Terrible Shotgun.


 * This particular weapon has poor durability and tends to degrade rapidly. It is recommended to carry at least one other Combat Shotgun if you intend to use the Terrible Shotgun as a main weapon in combat.

Obtaining the gun from Smiling Jack

 * You can kill him (no Karma effect).
 * You can get into a fight with him and just shoot it out of his hand and pick it up before he does. Leave and come back later and he will be neutral again.
 * You can pickpocket his ammo, leave the area, save & reload and re-enter the Bazaar. The gun will then be in his inventory and can be pickpocketed (possibly a glitch).