The M3 (SG) is the second shotgun made available to players in Resident Evil 5. It can be found in Chapter 3-3 in a case in the second dock area. If missed, it can be purchased in Chapter 4-1 and onwards.
To start, the M3 has a firepower of 300, a reload speed of 3.00 seconds, and a capacity of 5 shells. Fully upgraded, it has a firepower of 900, a reload speed of 2.70 seconds, and a total capacity of 10.
At first glance and when compared to the other shotguns, the M3 has the highest firepower (but the Hydra can outclass it with the Attack Range), but lacks any kind of exclusive upgrade and has also the smallest capacity (On par with the Hydra), and the attack range is greatly outclassed by the Hydra. The M3 has a large spread. This is excellent for crowd control at close range, but this will really hurt the accuracy rating if you would use the M3 against a single target.
The M3 seems to be similar to the previous Riot Gun, having good specifications and replacing the first shotgun. With a maximum firepower of 900, it is the second most powerful shotgun available in Resident Evil 5 (The Hydra shotgun being the most powerful when fully upgraded, which fires 14 pellets, inducing 2.14 X 550 [1177] of firepower.)
Upgrade chart
| Level | Firing Power | Cost | Reload Speed | Cost | Capacity | Cost |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 300 | Default | 3.00 sec. | Default | 5 | Default |
| 2 | 320 | 1,000₦ | 2.70 sec. | 3,000₦ | 6 | 1,000₦ |
| 3 | 350 | 1,000₦ | N/A | N/A | 7 | 1,500₦ |
| 4 | 370 | 2,000₦ | N/A | N/A | 8 | 2,000₦ |
| 5 | 400 | 2,000₦ | N/A | N/A | 9 | 2,500₦ |
| 6 | 420 | 3,000₦ | N/A | N/A | 10 | 3,000₦ |
| 7 | 450 | 3,000₦ | N/A | N/A | N/A | N/A |
| 8 | 480 | 4,000₦ | N/A | N/A | N/A | N/A |
| 9 | 500 | 4,000₦ | N/A | N/A | N/A | N/A |
| 10 | 550 | 5,000₦ | N/A | N/A | N/A | N/A |
| 11 | 600 | 5,000₦ | N/A | N/A | N/A | N/A |
| 12 | 650 | 8,000₦ | N/A | N/A | N/A | N/A |
| 13 | 700 | 10,000₦ | N/A | N/A | N/A | N/A |
| 14 | 900 | 12,000₦ | N/A | N/A | N/A | N/A |
Fully Upgraded Shotgun Stats
| Stat \ Shotgun | Ithaca M37 | M3 | Jail Breaker | Hydra |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Range | All equal: after 25 paces all shotguns inflict 0 damage | |||
| “Range” Upgrades* | 0 | 2 | ||
| Max Damage | 400 | 900 | 350 x 2.14 = 749 | 550 x 2.14 = 1177 |
| Number of Average Shot Pellets | 7 | 15 | ||
| Damage per Shot Pellet | 58 | 129 | 50 | 79 |
| Rate of Fire** | 12s | 11s | 9s | 8s |
| Reload Speed*** | 2.4s | 2.7s | 1.8s | 3.3s |
| Capacity**** | 25 | 10 | 15 | 10 |
| Critical Chance Multiplier | 1***** | 0 | ||
| Spread | Equal: All shotguns spread to the same average circumference | |||
*Attack Range upgrades increase shot pellets by 50% each level - effectively doubling pellets from 7 to 15 when fully upgraded.
**Rate of Fire: the time it takes to fire 10 rounds.
***Each shotgun has a set 2 shell reload animation. With infinite ammo, all reload animations are negated.
****With infinite ammo, all shotgun capacities are infinite.
*****Ithaca: 1 (in comparison, M92F has 3, VZ61 has 2)
These statistics were obtained by firing at a large wall.
