A shotgun (also known as a fowling piece or scattergun) is a firearm that is usually esigned to be fired from the shoulder, which uses the energy of a fixed shell to fire a number of small spherical pellets called shot or a solid projectile. Shotguns come in a wide variety of sizes, ranging from 5.5 mm (.22 inch) bore up to 5 cm (2 inch) bore, and in a range of firearm operating mechanisms, including breech loading, double barreled shotguns, pump-action, bolt-action, lever-action, and semi-automatic models.