Not so much a short barrel, but a rifled one. I've read that a rifled barrel will put a spin on a shot cup, thus, when exiting the barrel, courtesy of centripetal force, the shot spreads much faster.

I can see it would be devastating to snakes.

I'm more of a self-defense oriented kinda guy, so I'd want something that would launch buckshot in a tight pattern, forgive me putting my own "spin" on the issue. I don't think theres a single shell that isnt buckshot in this house.

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