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The M4 Shotgun holds 6 rounds and accepts 12 of the 15 weapon attachments.
Damage is one body hit with 
12 Gauge Buckshot, up close.
| Ammo | Damage | Headshot | Velocity | Damage per second |
|---|---|---|---|---|
Handmade Shell | 144, 20 pellets of 7.2 | ×1.25 | 130 m/s | 132 |
|
12 Gauge Buckshot | 168, 14 pellets of 12 | ×1.25 | 292.5 m/s | 154 |
12 Gauge Incendiary Shell | 120, 10 pellets of 12 | ×1 | 130 m/s | 110 |
12 Gauge Slug | 64 | ×2 | 292.5 m/s | 59 |
Damage is one body hit up close, with no armour. A headshot multiplies it against players only. Damage per second empties one magazine and counts the reload. Velocity and spread are applied locally by your game client, while the server bounds their limits.
Muzzle
Military Silencer: -25% Damage
Muzzle Boost: -10% Time between shots, +0.15° Spread aiming down sights, +0.5° Spread from the hip
Muzzle Brake: -15% Damage, +0.5° Spread aiming down sights, +2° Spread from the hip
Oil Filter Silencer: -30% Damage
Soda Can Silencer: -30% DamageSight
8x Zoom Scope
Holosight: -20% Spread aiming down sights
Simple Handmade Sight
Variable Zoom ScopeUnderbarrel
Weapon flashlight
Weapon Lasersight: -20% Spread aiming down sights, -50% Spread from the hip, while switched onMagazine
Extended Magazine: +25% Magazine sizeCrates, barrels and NPCs that drop the M4 Shotgun, most likely first
| From | Chance | Amount | Condition |
|---|---|---|---|
 Locked Crate | 9.1% | 1 | 100% |
 Elite Crate | 1.2% | 1 | 1 to 3% |
Heavy Scientist | 0.94% | 1 | 100% |
 Helicopter Crate, 4 crates per Patrol Helicopter | 0.94% | 1 | 100% |
 Bradley Crate, 3 crates per Bradley APC | 0.52% | 1 | 100% |
Chance is for one container opened or one NPC killed. Amount is how many it holds when it holds any. Condition is the state the item comes out in.
A repair bench charges 20% of the item’s recipe to fix a broken item, less when it is only worn. A component in the recipe is charged as the first ingredient of its own recipe instead, or not at all when it has no recipe.
What the M4 Shotgun gives back in each recycler
| Recycler | Efficiency | You get |
|---|---|---|
| Red recycler | 75% | 15  High Quality Metal, 3  Metal Pipe, 2 + 25%  Metal Spring |
| Green recycler (powered) | 60% | 12 High Quality Metal, 2 + 40% Metal Pipe, 1 + 80% Metal Spring |
| Green recycler | 50% | 10 High Quality Metal, 2 Metal Pipe, 1 + 50% Metal Spring |
| Yellow recycler | 40% | 8 High Quality Metal, 1 + 60% Metal Pipe, 1 + 20% Metal Spring |
The M4 Shotgun breaks down into High Quality Metal, Metal Pipe and Metal Spring.
A recycler takes one at a time.
Figures are for one item in perfect condition. Each recycler’s name opens its full table at this item. “2 + 25%” means 2 every time and a 25% chance of one more.
In Rust, M4 Shotgun is a ranged weapon in the Weapons category (item ID #678698219, console shortname shotgun.m4). In active play, it follows standard server rules for ranged weapon gear across procedural maps. Inventory storage holds a single unit per slot, and uncollected ground drops despawn after 1 hour.
A semi automatic military issue shotgun.
In Rust, M4 Shotgun has no player crafting recipe; acquisition relies on 5 world loot tables read from the Rust game files. Shredding a spare copy at a green recycler recovers base materials at fifty percent yield (vs forty percent at safe-zone yellow units). Damaged copies repair at a Repair Bench for a fraction of recipe cost.
The M4 Shotgun accepts 12 different attachments, as do the Prototype 17, the L96 Rifle and the MP5A4.
When comparing M4 Shotgun against related weapons in Rust, prioritize farming its highest-probability monument containers or recycling surplus components at an unpowered radtown green recycler (fifty percent base yield, versus forty percent at safe-zone yellow units) because this item cannot be crafted at a player workbench.
| Weapon | Damage | Fire Rate | Sustained DPS | Workbench / Source | Blueprint (Node / Path) |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| M4 Shotgun | 168 dmg | 200 RPM | 153.9 DPS | Military crate / Vendor | Uncraftable |
| LR-300 Assault Rifle | 40 dmg | 500 RPM | 160.4 DPS | Military crate / Vendor | Uncraftable |
| Semi-Automatic Rifle | 40 dmg | 343 RPM | 91.1 DPS | Workbench Level 2 | 60 node / 930 path |
| MP5A4 | 37.5 dmg | 600 RPM | 163 DPS | Workbench Level 3 | 120 node / 420 path |
Compare M4 Shotgun with closely related ranged weapon sheets in the Rust item catalog:
To compare M4 Shotgun against every item in its inventory category, browse All 85 items in Weapons.
Loaded with standard ammunition, the M4 Shotgun deals 168 base damage per hit up to a 200 RPM semi-automatic ceiling (153.9 sustained DPS) in Rust, dropping to 25% damage past 60 m. It belongs to the Weapons category under numeric ID 678698219 across 85 weapons.
The M4 Shotgun fires 12 Gauge Buckshot, 12 Gauge Incendiary Shells, 12 Gauge Slugs and Handmade Shells, 6 rounds to a magazine or eight with an Extended Magazine in Rust. Holding the reload key (R) opens the radial selector to swap compatible ammunition types from your inventory.
Up to 4 weapon mods equip simultaneously on the M4 Shotgun in Rust across 12 compatible attachments: muzzle (Military Silencer, Muzzle Boost, Muzzle Brake, Oil Filter Silencer, Soda Can Silencer); sight (8x Zoom Scope, Holosight, Simple Handmade Sight, Variable Zoom Scope); underbarrel (Weapon flashlight, Weapon Lasersight); magazine (Extended Magazine).
The M4 Shotgun drops from 5 container and NPC loot tables in Rust, led by Locked Crate (9.1% chance), Elite Crate (1.2% chance), and Heavy Scientist (0.94% chance). Each listed probability reflects a single container opened or NPC killed, and found copies can be repaired or researched at base.
The M4 Shotgun recycles in Rust at an unpowered green recycler into 10 High Quality Metal, 2 Metal Pipes and 1 Metal Spring plus a 50% chance of one more. Undamaged copies return the full listed yield, whereas worn items scale their recycler output down in proportion to remaining durability.
A repair bench fixes the M4 Shotgun from broken for 7 High Quality Metal in Rust. Repairing at a Repair Bench requires no learned blueprint or rare component body, scaling material cost to missing durability while permanently capping maximum condition by 20% across a full repair.
Dropped with nothing attached or inside in Rust, the M4 Shotgun despawns after 1 hour by default. Picking it back up into a player inventory or storing it inside a base container immediately resets that ground despawn timer, which the server scales by item rarity tier.
The M4 Shotgun has 32-bit signed item ID 678698219 and shortname shotgun.m4 in Rust. Server plugins, custom loot tables, Vending Machine listings, and automated Industrial Conveyor filter strings reference these two identifiers under the Weapons category (stack limit 1 unit per slot).
Server administrators in Rust spawn the M4 Shotgun in the F1 developer console by typing inventory.give shotgun.m4 1 or inventory.giveid 678698219 1 for a single unit. Both console spawn commands work only on dedicated or local worlds where your Steam account holds administrator or moderator privileges.