Band Of Brilliance

In the Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare single player campaign, the W1200 shotgun is used for door breaching. Gaz uses the W1200 shotgun in the mission Crew Expendable and Lt. Vasquez uses a unique W1200 with a pistol grip stock that can be found elsewhere infrequently. These "shorty" shotguns are often used by military as breaching shotguns and loaded with breaching shells. The W1200 shotgun is found in the missions Charlie Don't Surf, The Bog, One Shot, One Kill and The Sins of the Father.

In Call of Duty 4 multiplayer, the W1200 shotgun is the first shotgun available (Rank 2, when the Demolitions default class is unlocked), and can be modified with a Red Dot Sight and Foregrip. The W1200 is superior to most weapons in close quarters combat because of the high amount of damage per shell, which usually amounts to one-shot kills, with the exception of players using Juggernaut.

Despite the slow rate of fire due to the pump-action, the W1200 can still be used to engage multiple enemies at close range. However, rate of fire can be accelerated by aiming through the iron sights, firing, and then going off the iron sight approximately 0.88 seconds after firing (which is relatively right after the shot is fired), and then repeating the process. If done correctly, the rate of fire is doubled, creating a Double Tap effect.

When the W1200 is combined with the Double Tap perk, the W1200's pumping speed is increased, resulting in a faster rate of fire and higher recoil. The Steady Aim perk reduces the spread of the buckshot, increasing the W1200's accuracy in close to mid-range combat.

The main disadvantage of the W1200 is its ineffectiveness in mid to long-range firefights. Unlike other weapons, shotguns (W1200 and M1014) will not inflict damage beyond a certain range. Thus, players using shotguns tend to stay in narrow or indoor areas. It also has fairly high recoil which takes a while to reset, making second shots with it fairly difficult. The grip attachment lowers the recoil, making second shots fairly easier.

The W1200 was first confirmed to be in the game when it was seen in the original trailers for Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2. Like the M1911, although it is featured in-game, it is usable in the Museum level, Contingency, and Loose Ends and can be found in the display case with the other guns and found on the bodies of dead NPC's which the player can kill but it is never even seen in any other Single player level. The W1200 is not available for multiplayer use. It seems to have been replaced by the SPAS-12.

Trivia

• The loading cycle of the W1200 in Call of Duty 4, like most pump shotguns in the series, is inaccurate: The shotgun is pumped every time it is loaded, even if there is a shell in the chamber. In real life, this would result in an unfired shell being ejected from the chamber. Also, when reloading with no shells in the weapon, the pump action would come after the 6th shell, to give room for the 7th shell to be loaded.
• The picture of it in the Create-A-Class page lacks the rear iron sight.
• The Winchester 1200's inclusion in Call of Duty 4 is strange, as it was considered obsolete and completely phased out over 35 years ago and all production of the gun has ceased since then. The only pump-action shotguns with any major use in modern combat are the Remington 870 and the Mossberg 500.
• In the Museum level the W1200 has a lighter tone than it's Call of Duty 4 counterpart.
• The W1200 is usually held by the NPCs in the Cliffhanger scene in the Museum. When looked at from a distance it becomes badly rendered. From the other side of the museum it looks like a grey stick.