Editing Smoothbore (section)

===Small arms===
A [[shotgun]] fires multiple, round [[Lead shot|shot]]; firing out of a rifled barrel would impart [[centrifugal force]]s that result a doughnut-shaped pattern of shot (with a high projectile [[density]] on the periphery, and a low projectile density in the interior).  While this may be acceptable at close ranges (some spreader [[Shotgun#Pattern and choke|choke]]s are rifled to produce wide patterns at close range) this is not desirable at longer ranges, where a tight, consistent pattern is required to improve accuracy.<ref name="HaagHaag2011">{{cite book|last1=Haag|first1=Michael G.|last2=Haag|first2=Lucien C.|title=Shooting Incident Reconstruction|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=-gmdwdFCsLkC&pg=PA281|date=29 June 2011|publisher=Academic Press|isbn=978-0-12-382242-0|page=281}}</ref>
[[File:Smoothbore flintlock shotgun - DPLA - 25f3b36a44c083f25674ea5d7f59f241 (page 1).jpg|alt=English or French smoothbore flintlock shotgun with an engraved iron mounting|left|thumb|English or French smoothbore flintlock shotgun with an engraved iron mounting]]
[[File:Lane & Reed flintlock smoothbore musket, 68 caliber - DPLA - a8134bbedffd45339573b6617a2c216f (page 1).jpg|left|thumb|An 1836 Lane & Reed flintlock smoothbore musket.]]
Another smoothbore weapon in use today is the 37-mm [[riot gun]], which fires [[less-lethal]] munitions like [[rubber bullet]]s and [[teargas]] at short range at crowds, where a high degree of accuracy is not required.<ref name="Kolman2006">{{cite book|last=Kolman|first=John A.|title= Patrol Response to Contemporary Problems: Enhancing Performance of First Responders Through Knowledge and Experience|url= https://books.google.com/books?id=FY4Eq7_LJGAC&pg=PA102|date=1 January 2006|publisher=Charles C Thomas |isbn=978-0-398-07656-6|page=102}}</ref>

The [[Steyr IWS 2000]] anti-tank rifle is smoothbore. This can help accelerate projectiles and increase ballistic effectiveness. The projectile is a 15.2&nbsp;mm [[Armour-piercing fin-stabilized discarding sabot|fin-stabilized discarding-sabot]] type with armor-piercing capability which the IWS 2000 was specifically designed to fire. It contains a dart-shaped penetrator of either [[Tungsten carbide#Ammunition|tungsten carbide]] or [[depleted uranium]], capable of piercing 40&nbsp;mm of rolled homogeneous armor at a range of 1,000 m, and causing secondary fragmentation.