A myth busting video by The Firearm Blog on whether shotguns used in World War I were effective against the German grenades thrown into the trenches... "We look at an old soldier's myth about using a heavy, cumbersome trench shotgun to counter German grenades flying at them. Since they were using 00 buckshot, and there are only 9 pellets per shell, it would seem you'd be NINE times more-likely to hit a grenade than if you shot at it with a rifle or a pistol. But because the pattering of buckshot is SO random, it may be just a matter of luck no matter how good of a shot you are."