There are 4 basic styles of Shotgun action:

Break-Action
The shotgun version of a Swiss Army knife that only does one thing: opens in half. You flip a latch, the barrel tips down, and you hand-load one or two shells like you’re feeding a very impatient pet. No magazine, almost no moving parts—just pure, simple reliability with the elegance of a door hinge.

Lever-Action
Think “cowboy, but with a scattergun.” You work a big lever under the trigger guard to cycle the next shell. It’s mostly a novelty these days (and rare), but it looks cool and makes you feel like you’re about to settle a dispute at high noon—with birdshot.

Pump-Action
The reliable workhorse. You manually rack the fore-end back and forth (“cha-chunk”) to eject the empty and load a fresh shell. It’s loud, deliberate, and has been scaring burglars and clay pigeons since forever. Simple, tough, and the sound alone does half the job.

Semi-Automatic (gas-operated)
The “set it and forget it” option. Fire one shell and the gun uses gas or recoil to automatically cycle the next round. Faster follow-up shots, less arm workout, and a little more mechanical complexity. Great for competition or when you don’t want to manually operate anything except the trigger.

Click on the video below to see an example of how each one cycles the shells.