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The subject of this article appeared in Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2. The subject of this article appeared in Call of Duty: Black Ops. The subject of this article appeared in Zombies mode The subject of this article appeared in Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 3. The subject of this article appears in Call of Duty Online The subject of this article appears in Call of Duty: Ghosts The subject of this article appears in Call of Duty: Modern Warfare Remastered The subject of this article appears in Call of Duty: Modern Warfare (2019) The subject of this article appears in Call of Duty: Warzone The subject of this article appears in Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2 Campaign Remastered The subject of this article appears in Call of Duty: Modern Warfare II The subject of this article appears in Call of Duty: Modern Warfare III
For the Gun Perk in Infinite Warfare, see Master Key (gun perk).

The Shotgun, in some cases called Masterkey, is a weapon attachment featured in Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2, Call of Duty: Black Ops, Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 3, Call of Duty Online, Call of Duty: Ghosts, Call of Duty: Modern Warfare, Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2 Campaign Remastered, Call of Duty: Modern Warfare II and Call of Duty: Modern Warfare III. It is also cut from Call of Duty: Modern Warfare Remastered. It is an underbarrel shotgun compatible with most in-game assault rifles, and is attached in a similar manner to the Grenade Launcher.

Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2[]

Campaign[]

The Shotgun is available in the campaign mission "Wolverines!" on a SCAR-H with a Red Dot Sight. It is also seen as the attachment for many Ultranationalist and Brazilian Militia weapons, such as the FAL and the AK-47. It can also appear on some of the SCAR-Hs that the Rangers use. It has a capacity of seven shells.

In Modern Warfare 2 Campaign Remastered, the attachment is identified as "Masterkey" in the HUD, and holds four shells like the multiplayer version of the original MW2.

Multiplayer[]

In Multiplayer, the underbarrel shotgun is unlocked for assault rifles by getting 20 kills with the Grenade Launcher.

The underbarrel shotgun has relatively low damage and long range compared to other shotguns. The underbarrel shotgun only fires six pellets per shot, tying the Striker and Ranger for the lowest pellets per shot of all shotguns. At any range short of 12.5 meters, the underbarrel shotgun will deal 25 damage per pellet, needing four pellets to kill. Damage decreases linearly until 43.5 meters where it ceases to do damage, giving the underbarrel Shotgun a remarkable range for weapons in its class, with all other shotguns having an absolute maximum damage range of 17.5 meters, less than half of the underbarrel's. However, despite the long range, the underbarrel shotgun struggles to net one shot kills, as it needs at least four pellets to hit to secure a kill, which becomes increasingly difficult as distance to the target increases. The underbarrel shotgun's kill potential is greatly enhanced when using Stopping Power. At any range short of 12.5 meters, the Shotgun will deal 35 damage per pellet, needing three pellets to kill.

The underbarrel shotgun has a low rate rate of 78 RPM. With such a slow rate of fire, users may not live long enough to fire a second shot if the first shot does not finish the job. This problem is exacerbated due to the underbarrel's lackluster accuracy, with no iron sights to speak of. The underbarrel shotgun's accuracy disadvantage lies in its hip-fire spread, which is equal to the size of the single Ranger. While not terrible, this hip-fire spread is a definite step down from other shotguns in terms of hip-fire accuracy. The large hip-fire spread ultimately holds the underbarrel shotgun back in spite of its long damage range, as the spread makes landing pellets rather luck-based. Steady Aim is highly recommended to tighten the hip-fire spread and make the Shotgun more consistent.

The underbarrel shotgun allows users to move at the same pace as the assault rifle it is attached to, meaning users will move at 95% of the base speed. The underbarrel shotgun reloads on a shell-by-shell basis, meaning that reloads are somewhat long. Tube capacity is just four shells leading to a small starting ammo loadout of only 12 shells total.

Overall, the underbarrel shotgun provides the benefit of theoretically freeing up the secondary weapon slot, as well as being the only shotgun that can be used in conjunction with One Man Army. However, the low damage per pellet, combined with low accuracy and a small pellet count, limit its potential in the absence of Stopping Power and Steady Aim, even in spite of the unusually long damage range.

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Call of Duty: Black Ops[]

The Masterkey shotgun is an available underbarrel attachment for most assault rifles in Call of Duty: Black Ops.

Campaign[]

The Masterkey is a rare attachment found in the singleplayer campaign. It can be found on the level "S.O.G.", mounted to the player's starting M16. In the same level, the Marines will occasionally drop an M14 with this attachment when killed. Before entering the rat tunnels in "Victor Charlie", it can be found on an AK-47, where it comes with a unique eight-shell magazine instead. It is also found on the second part of "Rebirth," on Hudson's Enfield, along with an Infrared Scope, a combination impossible in multiplayer. If the player searches around in the submarine base on "Redemption", they may find a Galil with the attachment.

Multiplayer[]

The Masterkey shotgun can be purchased for CoD Points logo BO1000. It is compatible with most assault rifles, with the exception of the G11. As with the Flamethrower and the Grenade Launcher, the Masterkey cannot be combined with other attachments.

The Masterkey fires eight pellets per shot. At any range short of 7.5 meters, the Masterkey will deal thirty damage per pellet, needing four pellets to kill. Damage decreases linearly until 12.5 meters. At 12.5 meters, the Masterkey will deal ten damage per pellet, needing ten pellets to kill. The Masterkey ceases to do damage past 12.5 meters. The Masterkey has low penetration power, and pellets do not deal extra damage on a headshot. In Hardcore game types, up to three pellets can be needed to kill an opponent, and the Masterkey has a one pellet kill range of 7.5 meters.

The Masterkey is pump action, with a maximum rate of fire of 79 RPM.

The Masterkey has the same hip-fire spread as the Stakeout when standing still, and the hip-fire spread doesn't expand with movement or firing. The Masterkey has a centerspeed value of 1400.

The Masterkey reloads shell-by-shell. The Masterkey has a tube capacity of four shells, and has a starting ammo loadout of sixteen shells. The Masterkey is incapable of receiving extra ammo through Scavenger Pro. The only way to receive extra ammo for the Masterkey at all is to collect ammo from a fallen assault rifle that also has the Masterkey, and has ammunition in it.

The Masterkey has two significant differences when equipped on the Commando. The Masterkey on the Commando has a starting ammo loadout of just twelve rounds instead of the usual sixteen, and the hip-fire spread of the Masterkey expands with movement and firing. These differences make the Masterkey on the Commando inferior compared to using the Masterkey on any other assault rifle that can equip it.

Zombies[]

It is available on the Pack-a-Punch version of the AUG, and seems to do relatively high damage, even when compared to the Stakeout. It sports increased damage and reloads two shells at a time. However, it starts to lose its ability to kill in one hit at about round 17.

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Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 3[]

Campaign[]

It can be found in the campaign level "Stronghold", attached to an AK-47. It is located near the window that Yuri and Price jump out of onto the bridge during their escape, when Yuri detonates the C4. It has limited use, as there is little shooting to do before they get in the jeep and drive off. It is also found earlier in the level, in the security office on one of the shelves to the right.

Multiplayer[]

The Shotgun attachment returns in Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 3 multiplayer as a weapon attachment available exclusively for every Assault Rifle, and is unlocked at weapon level 20. The shotgun attachment appears to have been buffed and is now affected by perks and proficiencies. It is slightly less effective than an actual shotgun in combat, but it has become much more useful than its previous version especially when used with the Specialist Strike Package.

Survival Mode[]

The Shotgun attachment is available in Survival Mode for all Assault Rifles, and is unlocked at level 45 costing $1500. This attachment is extremely effective in Survival Mode as it can one hit kill enemies from commando troops wielding ACRs and below until round 19. It can allow for extra firepower when engaging enemies without switching weapons or to finish off enemies without wasting bullets. It is attached to the starting ACR with an ACOG Scope on the map Off Shore in Survival Mode.

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Call of Duty Online[]

The Shotgun attachment returns in Call of Duty Online.

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Call of Duty: Ghosts[]

For the standalone variant, see Bulldog.

"Under Barrel mounted, semi-auto shotgun that can be fired instantly with the lethal control."
— In-game description

The Shotgun attachment (referred to as MAUL in the game files) reappears in Call of Duty: Ghosts with a new model, and it is only available in multiplayer. Unlike previous incarnations, the Shotgun attachment can be equipped not only on assault rifles, but on LMGs as well (except for the Chain SAW).

The Shotgun attachment fires six pellets per shot. At any range short of 6.4 meters, the Shotgun will deal 34 damage per pellet, needing three of the six pellets in a single shot to kill. Damage linearly reduces until 12.8 meters. At 12.8 meters, the Shotgun attachment will deal five damage per pellet, demanding twenty pellets need to hit to score a kill. As the Shotgun attachment can only fire six pellets in a single shot and it has a four round magazine, this means that 20 of the 24 pellets fired across the four shots need to hit an enemy to secure a kill at the extent of the Shotgun attachment's range. Past 12.8 meters, the Shotgun attachment will not do any damage. After 10.2 meters, the Shotgun attachment is guaranteed to need more than one shot to kill an enemy at full health.

The Shotgun attachment is semi-automatic, with a maximum potential rate of fire of 300 RPM.

Unlike previous underbarrel shotgun attachments, users can aim down the sights with the Shotgun attachment, simply using the sights of the weapon it is mounted on. The Shotgun attachment's recoil is not very consequential due to the short range nature of the shotgun. The Shotgun attachment has the greatest hip-fire accuracy in its class, although its accuracy while aiming down the sight is poor. Still, aiming down the sights with the Shotgun attachment is more accurate than firing it from the hip.

By and large, the Shotgun attachment will use the same handling characteristics as the weapon it is mounted do, except for the hip-fire spread. The Shotgun attachment's reload animation is 3.7 seconds long on assault rifles and 4.1 seconds long on LMGs. In either case, the user can Reload Cancel after 2.53 seconds.

The Shotgun attachment has a shell capacity of four rounds, and a starting ammo loadout of twelve rounds.

Although the Shotgun attachment can be paired with other attachments, other attachments - apart from optical attachments that change the iron sights - will not have any performance change on the Shotgun attachment. As such, it is not very important what the second attachment happens to be as it pertains to the Shotgun attachment.

The Shotgun attachment is considered a lethal item. Not only will it take up the lethal slot and leave the user with no lethal equipment to use, but it will consume a perk point, even if the user did not intend on using lethal equipment anyway. As it is considered lethal equipment, users will also need to shoot the Shotgun attachment by using the lethal equipment button instead of the usual fire button. Unlike the Shotgun attachment in previous games, users do not need to make a deliberate action to switch to the Shotgun attachment.

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Call of Duty: Modern Warfare Remastered[]

Throwing Knife menu icon MW3
The subject matter of this article was cut from the final version of a Call of Duty game. Since some information cannot be independently verified, the content on this page may be subject to change.

The Shotgun was a planned attachment for Call of Duty: Modern Warfare Remastered, with an untextured model available via modding. It is able to be equipped on assault rifles, and takes the appearance of the Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2 variant.

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Call of Duty: Modern Warfare[]

The Shotgun attachment appears in Call of Duty: Modern Warfare and Call of Duty: Warzone as the 12-Gauge Deputy. It is semi-automatic, and starts with 6 loaded shells, but ammunition can be picked up to fill the magazine to its full 8-round capacity.

Two different visual models are used for the attachment: one for the assault rifles available at the game's launch, manufactured by Corvus Defense, and one for the rifles added in post-release updates, manufactured by FORGE TAC.

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Call of Duty: Modern Warfare II[]

"Breach and clear tight spaces with this 12 gauge under-barrel shotgun."
— Corvus Masterkey description
"Exert close quarters dominance with this dragon's breath loaded under-barrel shotgun."
— Corvus Torch description

The underbarrel shotgun returns as the Corvus Masterkey.

Campaign[]

The Corvus Masterkey can be found in some missions such as Kill or Capture, Violence and Timing and Dark Water, where it is attached to the M16.

Multiplayer[]

The Corvus Masterkey is available to assault rifles (excluding the Kastov-74u, the Chimera and the four bullpup assault rifles), to battle rifles (excluding the Lachmann-762 and SO-14), to the KV Broadside shotgun, and to the Tempus Torrent marksman rifle.

A variation called the Corvus Torch was added post-release, firing dragon's breath rounds. It is available to the aforementioned weapons, except the Tempus Torrent.

Call of Duty: Modern Warfare III[]

The shotgun reappears in Call of Duty: Modern Warfare III as the Corvus Masterkey.

Trivia[]

Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2[]

  • When a player switches to the Shotgun from the weapon which it is attached to, they pump it. However, when the player switches to the Shotgun from their secondary, they do not pump it.
  • If this attachment is used in conjunction with FMJ via Bling, both the assault rifle and the Shotgun are affected. If this attachment is used in conjunction with a silencer, the shotgun will behave as if it were suppressed as well, keeping the player off the minimap when firing.
  • Shotgun kills are counted as kills for the weapon to which it is attached and add to both the Marksman and Expert challenges. This trait also applies with the Grenade Launcher.
  • When equipped on the FAL, the Shotgun attachment gains infinite range. However, the damage remains unaffected, and will do marginal damage at far ranges, requiring multiple shots to kill an enemy.

Call of Duty: Black Ops[]

  • When wielding a Masterkey, the player will grasp the pump with the left hand, but the trigger is not touched.
  • The shots come out of the barrel of the gun it is equipped to instead of the attachment itself.

Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 3[]

  • Oddly, in Modern Warfare 3, there is no killfeed icon for the shotgun. Kills with it show up as the gun it is attached to. The same applies to the Grenade Launcher.

Call of Duty: Ghosts[]

Call of Duty: Modern Warfare[]

  • When resupplying with the Munitions Box field upgrade or the Scavenger perk, the 12 Gauge Deputy reloads, but does not have a reload animation.

Notes[]

  1. Assault Rifles available at launch
  2. Assault Rifles released post-launch
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