It just blows my mind how IW reasoned that shotguns should be moved to primaries AND nerfed way down.

Actually I think the AA12 is the only shotty that's remotely close to what it should be.

However, every other shotgun is terrible outside of knifing range. Even in knifing range you have to aim perfectly centered on the target to get a ohk.

IMO the best way to balance shotguns is to increase their range because I like requiring some skill to kill someone with it. Also probably increase the damage a bit.

Here is my 2 cents on using shotguns in cod..First a shotgun with an 16" to 18" barrel using 00 buck is going to have an effective range of around 25 yards.  And even at that distance always going to toss a pellet or two off the target unless gun is completely clean or has modified/choked barrel and in that case the spread well be reduced at closer enagagements.  Shotguns are used for close combat or breaching not long range unless you toss in a slug.  More rounds? How many are you statring with the real AA-12 has an 8 round mag.  And jusr fyi I have put about 10000 rounds of 00 through my issued 870.  Love the gun but always pull my M4 first.

The shotguns just need more range. My 12 gauge turkey gun has a red dot scope and is sighted in at 35 yard and I have taken birds at that range. Now with buckshot like used in this game, we should be able to see kills at 20 yards or so.

The automatic and semi auto seem okay because you have follow up shots to finish the job quickly.  But the 1887 and the spas are not very good in their current state.  Even with the damage proficiency on my spas I get hitmarkers because even if I were to get every pellet on the guy at max range the total damage would only be 56.  I haven't unlocked the 1887 but I did tests with it off line and with damage and steady aim on you still don't get consistent kills from longer than 25-30 ft.  I think the damage per pellet on the spas should be 40close-20max range with the damage proficiency on.  That is the same as the spas in mw2 without stopping power and no one was really complaining about it then.  Based on that the 1887 should either have higher damage than that, or equal damage and more range to compensate for its slower rate of fire.  And the hip fire spread on them could be smaller without steady aim.  you shouldn't be forced to use any perk to make a weapon effective.  The spreads on the spas and 1887 were too inconsistent to compensate for their lack of damage.

100% support

It amazes me how I shoot someone almost point blank and getting hitmarkers.

The striker is amazing
shotguns are great, the only gun i use is the striker
i also agree with the MP9, it whales
MP9 and striker is amazing!

I've done a ton of work with the 1887 (about half way through level 30).   At first I though the gun was absolute trash but now I love it.   Damage preficiency really cuts down on the hitmarkers but doesn't eliminate them completely. 

best tips I can give:

Stay inside as much as possible and of course stay out of the long sight lines.

Don't try to use the 1887 on a bad connection. 

Use Assassin and Dead Silence,  most people seem to think if they can't see you on the mini map then you aren't there. 

Not having fun trying to rank up the spas because it seems like every kill takes two shots. I hope the increase the power just a little on them.

No...because I like having to shoot someone three times with a shotgun to kill them.

I think most of the problem that we experience when using shotguns is just that even a tiny flaw in hit detection or lag can completely ruin our chance for a quick kill, while the moron who's spraying an automatic can spam shots only vaguely towards you and make kills just as fast either way.

In a few games I was fortunate enough to have lag kept to a minimum and it was surreal how much of an improvement it was to shotgun lethality. All of the shotguns which only appeared to have favorable stats on paper were suddenly just as effective in reality. The only thing that's separating the two is the hit detection.

No coincidence that the most effective shotguns are the ones that can spray, and therefore avoid the risk that missing just one crucial shot will screw you over. All the same, I won't readily condone making the other shotguns more sprayable as a solution for this issue. Spraying is obnoxious, and even the shotguns shouldn't have to rely on it. No one should.