Just about anyone can slaughter away with the sawed-off. I've heard tell that Dr. Death is the most efficient killer with this gun, but I do believe that's just unsubstantiated rumor, unfit to appear in a thoroughly researched and accredited source such as this. Uh, yeah.

Check the sawed weapon variables from the Outlaws olweap.lab data file.

Proposal for a New Standard Sawed-Off Shotgun

[Disclaimer: The author is not a ballistics expert and has never fired a shotgun. The following proposal is based on a passing knowledge of firearms, experience playing the Outlaws PC game and discussion with other Outlaws players.]

Purpose:

Given that the default Outlaws sawed-off shotgun carries a charge so powerful that its use is banned in almost all on-line matches, and that Outlaws editors have now discovered the method of altering weapon strength on individual multiplayer maps, there is no reason to leave the sawed-off unused if a new standard weapon model for a play-balanced sawed-off shotgun can be agreed upon and implemented in future maps.

Proposal:

Each aspect of the weapon can be modified as needed to adjust the power of the sawed-off shotgun to a level more in keeping with the other Outlaws weapons. Outlaws map makers can include the modifications in their new maps, replacing the overpowered default sawed-off shotgun with the modified, play-balanced version.

Spread and Range:

The sawed-off currently fires in a very wide spread that restricts effective use of the weapon to very close ranges. This seems in keeping with the effect on weapon accuracy produced by a drastically shortened barrel and does not seem to require modification.

Rate of Fire:

The current sawed-off reloads slightly faster than the full length double-barreled shotgun. If we assume that the sawed-off shotgun is a modified 12-gauge originally identical to the double-barrel shotgun, then the increased speed seems to be in keeping with the decrease in weight resulting from a drastically shortened barrel which would facilitate manipulation of the weapon while reloading, and does not seem to require modification.

Payload:

The current sawed-off shotgun fires 30 pellets from a single barrel and 32 from a combination of both barrels. The current full length double-barrel shotgun fires 5 pellets from a single barrel or 10 in combination. Thus the payloads for single/double barrel fire on the sawed-off shotgun need to be changed so that the amount fired from two barrels equals twice the amount fired from a single barrel.
 
However, the total amount of pellets fired should remain significantly higher than the amount fired from a standard shotgun. This is necessary to effectively model a wide shot spread without leaving large gaps in the firing pattern.
 
In order to preserve the original spread density as much as possible, the author proposes modifying sawed-off shotguns to fire 20 pellets from a single barrel and 40 pellets from both barrels combined.

Damage:

The current sawed-off shotgun inflicts tremendous damage out of keeping with the other shotguns in the game. The six pellets fired by the 10-gauge single-barrel shotgun and the 10 pellets fired by the dual barrels of the 12-gauge double-barrel shotgun will kill a lightly armored opponent in a single shot provided all the pellets hit. This restricts single-shot kills with either weapon to very well-placed, close range shots. In contrast, the 12-gauge sawed-off shotgun can kill a healthy character with an accurate blast from a single barrel at close range. Even a glancing hit from both barrels fired together can kill a fully armored opponent instantly.
 
Friction and air resistance slow projectiles fired down a barrel. The short barrel of a sawed-off shotgun will minimize projectile speed reduction, resulting in a shot more powerful than that fired from a shotgun with a longer barrel. Thus, the sawed-off should inflict slightly more damage than the full length double-barrel shotgun with a direct hit.
 
The author proposes modifying a pellet from the sawed-off shotgun to inflict one third of the damage of a pellet from the double-barrel shotgun. With the double-barrel shotgun firing 5 pellets per barrel and the modified sawed-off shotgun firing 20 pellets per barrel, this will result in a point-blank shot from the sawed-off inflicting 33% more damage than a point-blank double-barrel shot.

Summary:

The sawed-off shotgun serves a useful spot in the Outlaws armory, providing unmatched point-blank firepower at the expense of range and accuracy. The current implementation of the sawed-off inflicts an incredibly unbalanced amount of damage when compared to the other available Outlaws weapons. This proposal aims to set a new standard for sawed-off shotguns, reducing the damage inflicted to slightly more than that of the other shotguns at point blank range. Because of the spread of the weapon its effective use will be restricted to very close ranges, thus balancing the superior power.
 
The numbers proposed by the author are preliminary. The author has no direct knowledge of the particular values required by Outlaws weaponry. In addition, any modified weapon will require extensive play testing and very probably some tweaking before it achieves the perfect balance required for its acceptance as a new standard to be used in future Outlaws multiplayer maps. The author hopes that this proposal will begin a process culminating in the restoration of a long-neglected weapon to on-line Outlaws play.
 
In order to bring this about, as many players as possible must participate in the process. A discussion forum is needed; the official LawMaker message board at DarkJedi.com seems ideal for this purpose. A new thread containing the above proposal has been begun at DarkJedi site; the board can be reached by selecting "Msg Board" from the main menu and then clicking on the "LawMaker Now!" button located on the main Msg Board page. The author strongly urges all Outlaws to contribute to this discussion; with your help we can make a lasting, positive impact on the Outlaws multiplayer experience.

Modification 11/26

After I wrote th' proposal I got ta lookin' at th' actual game datafiles an' came up with th' followin' modifications to th' original proposal:
 
I'd like to thank th' Doominator for supplying those actual weapon variables. When I wrote th' proposal I didn't have these figures, and I knew the proposal would have to change a bit when they came to light.
 
I want to change as little as possible from LEC's gun design. I hadn't realized that th' sawed-off only actually fires 5 pellets per barrel and that th' other bulletholes that appear are just for looks. 5 pellets per barrel seems to work just fine for the current sawed-off so I think that's what we should stick with. Besides fewer particles makes hitting with it more unpredictable, which I would say is a good thing. Also, having more shots puts more strain on the CPU, especially rendering all the little clouds of dust they'd kick up. Let's stick with LEC's setting.
 
So we have 5 pellets per barrel, or 10 from a dual shot. The damage I proposed initially was 133% of the double barrel's damage. Well the double shoots 10 pellets also, each one doing an average of 1 point of damage. So, I think each pellet from the sawed should do 1.3 points of damage, which is pretty close to the 133% of the initial proposal.
 
One last thing I think could be changed: the sound. Right now a single shot from the sawed uses the double barrel .wav file. As StanJr pointed out to me that means nasty people can try getting away with cheating in a ML match by using just a single barrel of the gun, pretending they're firing the double barrel shotgun. That's bad. Besides that, I never really liked th' rather muted sound of the sawed-off. If the barrel is shorter, the sound should be louder as far as I can tell.

Modification 12/13

Lawmaker and double-barreled shotgun owner Slater's Dog pointed out that because shotguns burn their powder as it travels down the barrel, shot travelling down a shortened barrel will not attain normal muzzle velocity. So a sawed-off should actually do less damage than a shotgun of the same gauge with a full length barrel. Slater estimated damage being around 2/3 to 3/4 that of the double, which translates to 0.7 points of damage per pellet, or 7 points overall (actually I just realized that most characters do 0.9 pts per pellet, Anderson's the only one with 1.0 but heck that's close enough).
 
I'm extremely glad to hear from someone who actually knows shotgun ballistics inside and out. I think we'll have to test the sawed-off and play with the damage variables anyway to get a truly balanced weapon. It may be that lowering the damage below that of the double barrel will prove a playable solution and if so I'll certainly be all for it.

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