The Terrible Shotgun

The Terrible Shotgun is a weapon 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.

Location

 * It is in the possession of Smiling Jack in the Evergreen Mills bazaar.

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).

Strategy

 * The best way to use this weapon is for point blank shots.
 * Shots from ten feet away throw pellets so randomly that it will occasionally dismember different body parts of the victim, even though the player might be aiming for the head of an opponent. Although there is a large cone-like spread of fire that is released when the trigger is pressed, a high concentration of the burst must hit the target to deliver maximum damage.
 * Relying on the 95% V.A.T.S. rating is not wise. Although V.A.T.S. can be used at medium to close range for greater accuracy, sometimes the shots will not connect with the desired body part, or simply not at all.
 * If using The Terrible Shotgun in V.A.T.S. aiming for the chest is always a tactical choice. The spread of the shotgun will most likely hit some kind of vital appendage, still dealing maximum damage.
 * However, The Terrible Shotgun does have unrivaled stopping power (80 dmg vs a regular combat shotgun's 55 dmg when Small Guns skill is capped at 100).
 * Its ideal usage is either for fast moving animals (Deathclaw or Yao Guai), room to room fighting, or for other near point-blank confrontations. In other words, this gun is best suited for use in urban environments with occasional application in wilderness.
 * One might question why such a devastating close-range weapon would have the name "Terrible" in the name. This is due to the shotguns awful degradation rate. Only after a few clips, the wear of battle will clearly show on the weapons DAM rating and Condition status. Be prepared to make frequent trips to your chosen repair shop or use other Combat Shotguns to maintain this weapon.

Obtaining the gun from Smiling Jack

 * You can kill him (no Karma effect) and get not only his gun but all his inventory, in which case you should sell him as much of your inventory first as he has caps, then you get back your stuff and still all the caps which he doesn't seem to have on him otherwise.
 * You can engage him in combat, the goal being not to kill him, and just shoot it out of his hand, and picking it up before he does. Leave the Bazaar and come back after a minimum of 48 hours. This is the time it takes for an NPC or group of them to "forget" about the trouble a player might have caused. Return, and you still have a valuable business partner.
 * Possibly the most effective and quickest way of obtaining the shotgun, pickpocket his shotgun ammunition, leave the Bazaar, save the game then reload and re-enter the Bazaar. The gun will then be an available item in his inventory and can now be pickpocketed (possibly a glitch).