Wait, the BMR is actually in Baldurs gate 2, for reals?
That settles it, I need to get my hands on that series of games.
From what I'm reading (
wikipedia,
world.guns.ru) the primary advantages (read: reasons) for pump action being used in shotguns is flexibility (and popularity, the sound and sight of a pump action is well known).
A semi auto/self loading/recoil operated weapon recquires the ammunition being fired to have enough force to cycle the mechanism and load the next round. A pump action (or for that matter, any manually cycled weapons such as revolvers, bolt or lever action weapons, some types of electrical weapons might also apply, like chainguns) can use weaker ammunition, which would not normally have the level of force required to cycle the mechanism. Useful for less than lethal applications.
Of course, such mechanisms are also simpler in design than self loading variants, and far more reliable (if a round is a dud, just cycle the mechanism and try again). That reliability issue a large part in why revolvers are still around, though less important nowadays when the manufacturing quality (and therefore reliability) of "official" (military or law enforcement) grade ammunition has improved.
Also note the wiki article: "It is much faster than a bolt-action and somewhat faster than a lever-action, as it does not require the trigger hand to be removed from the trigger whilst reloading."
Which practically means that as long as there's ammo in the tube, you can fire almost as quickly as an automatic.
Oh, and: "When used in rifles, this action is also commonly called a
slide action."
Maybe look for that? Looks like it's used for a couple of big game hunting weapons...
Så länge skutan kan gå, så länge hjärtat kan slå, så länge solen den glittrar på böljorna blå...
)
)
I'd go with a hammer that's cold iron and shells full of pixie dust (and lead shot, natch). When the hammer breaks into the shell the dust explodes and the gun fires.
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