Gun

Guns are long-ranged weapons that use an explosive charge (assumed, not explicitly used in WoW) to propel a bullet. They are similar to bows and crossbows in use; all three use the shooting skill and related hunter skills. Character stats are applied the same way for each type, although the item stats will be different for each type.

Acquiring and Upgrading

Guns can be bought, looted or earned from quests, but unlike bows and crossbows, engineer characters can craft guns (and ammo for guns).

The gun 'types' are purely cosmetic; boomstick, [Blunderbuss], shotgun, rifle, etc, all use the gun weapon skill.

A gun may be enhanced by installing an engineer-crafted scope on it.

Training

Dwarf and tauren hunters start with the gun skill. All other hunters, rogues and warriors can learn the gun skill from some trainers (see weapon trainers for details). (The rogues and warriors then 'shoot' rather than 'throw'.)

Dwarves have a racial trait that improves their ability to use guns - Gun Specialization: Increase Gun Critical Hit chance by 1%

Ammo

Guns use Bullets as ammunition, which can be found on any General Goods Vendor (quality will vary) or Gunsmith Vendor in packs of 200 bullets, or crafted by Engineer characters. Ammunition stacks to 1000, or 5 packs of 200. Guns are capable of using different types of bullets which will affect the gun's damage output. Specific bullet types have different names, such as shot, slugs, shells, etc.

Ammo Pouch

An ammo pouch is a bag item which holds only bullets. Bullets can be stored in the ammo pouch or in regular bags. As of Patch 3.1.0, bullets and arrows stack to 1,000, and the increased rate of fire once provided by ammo pouches is now bundled in the [Auto Shot] ability. An ammo pouch is thus beneficial only if larger than otherwise available regular bags.

Ammo pouches are mostly useful to hunters, who burn through substantial quantities of ammo. Rogues and warriors can also use ammo, but will probably prefer to use bag space to hold small quantities of ammo, as they generally use only small amounts for the occasional pull.

Lore

Firearms are a relatively new dwarven invention. Despite the dangers of dealing with volatile explosives, dwarves are fascinated by the possibilities. Dwarven gunmakers constantly tinker with the guns they craft, trying out new designs and upgrades, naming and decorating their weapons.Template:Cite

Gun Types

• Blunderbusses

This basic firearm deals damage to anyone in a 5-foot wide path beyond that distance, out to maximum range. It holds a single shot and thereafter it is required to reload for another shot.

• Flintlock Pistol

A flintlock pistol is powerful but inaccurate, not so much a small version of the long rifle as it is like firing a bomb though a short tube. It holds a single shot and thereafter it is required to reload for another shot.

• Long Rifle

The king of small arms, a long rifle is nearly as long as a dwarf is tall. Thanks to the innovative barrel design, a skilled sharpshooter can use the long rifle to knock an apple of an orc’s head from nearly half a mile away – assuming the rifleman can resist the urge to shoot the orc instead. The long rifle holds a single shot and thereafter it is required to reload for another shot.

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  A blunderbuss

• 

  A flintlock pistol

Cataclysm

Cataclysm Class Preview: Hunter | 2010-04-09 16:00 |  Nethaera

A major change coming for the hunter is the removal of ammunition. Guns, bows, and crossbows will now do damage without consuming ammunition at all. There will be no more ammo slot on the hunter’s character display. Any ammunition that a hunter has at the time of the change will become gray sellable items. Existing quivers will be converted into large bags -- though each hunter can only have one and non-hunters will not benefit from this change -- and we will not be making any additional quivers.

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See also

• Per Class Proficiencies for which classes can learn to use which weapons.
• Ammo Pouch - Special bags that hold only bullets.