Would a shot gun have been a better choice for Jeremy ?

[Adam]

One bullet in the torso or head would cause an instant and a gruesome death.

The problem is a shot gun only carries two bullets. However firing the first two bullets into June & Neville will put them out of action straight away. Avoiding the kitchen fight which caused Jeremy a lot damage.

A quick re load  and there is a guarantee Sheila and the twins  will die after one bullet each.

Shot guns are loud, but everyone  would be in bed,  sleeping, so would not have time to react.

If Jeremy was trying to avoid it looking like Sheila re loaded, then the rifle was a better choice. But as it happened he still had to re load the rifle. Twice.

It may have been easier to load a shot gun. Making it more plausible that Sheila shot everyone.

Jeremy could not give the story about shooting rabbits if a shot gun was used. But could still claim he saw a shot gun lying around that night which Sheila could have picked up.

Another advantage of using a shot gun, no silencer....

It is much more plausible Neville being scared of Sheila holding a shot gun as it is so powerful. He may not attempt to disarm her.

If a shot gun was not too long for Sheila to kill herself, do people believe this was a better option ?

[lookout]

So why not ONE bullet each instead of the frenzied fashion in which the tragedy was carried out ?
Doesn't it appear to you that this was done by a person who was deranged of mind ?
Why pump so many bullets all in one go ? Damaging the stock along the way which can only happen when a person uses force,such as a female. A male by their very nature are " supposed to be stronger " so wouldn't need to use force along with the holding of a gun ? It doesn't make sense.
It was a woman who carried out these murders !

[Adam]

It was not possible to kill everyone with one shot with the rifle.

Neville was shot four times upstairs, before being brutally beaten downstairs. Hit so hard with the gun, it broke. June was still alive after being shot in the head with her head on the pillow.

It may have been easier for Jeremy to use a shot gun. And more believable.

[lookout]

Oh but it is possible to kill a person with one shot from a rifle !! A marksman would do it,even Jeremy himself knowing where and how to aim.

[No-Bits]

One bullet in the torso or head would cause an instant and a gruesome death.

The problem is a shot gun only carries two bullets. However firing the first two bullets into June & Neville will put them out of action straight away. Avoiding the kitchen fight which caused Jeremy a lot damage.

A quick re load  and there is a guarantee Sheila and the twins  will die after one bullet each.

Shot guns are loud, but everyone  would be in bed,  sleeping, so would not have time to react.

If Jeremy was trying to avoid it looking like Sheila re loaded, then the rifle was a better choice. But as it happened he still had to re load the rifle. Twice.

It may have been easier to load a shot gun. Making it more plausible that Sheila shot everyone.

Jeremy could not give the story about shooting rabbits if a shot gun was used. But could still claim he saw a shot gun lying around that night which Sheila could have picked up.

Another advantage of using a shot gun, no silencer....

It is much more plausible Neville being scared of Sheila holding a shot gun as it is so powerful. He may not attempt to disarm her.

If a shot gun was not too long for Sheila to kill herself, do people believe this was a better option ?

I think Jeremy misjudged the power of the rifle. He opted for the rifle because of the silencer and magazine capacity.

Obviously a shotgun has greater power, but it takes longer to reload, is heavier and louder.

If the plan was to frame Sheila from the outset, then he has a harder time explaining why a shot gun was left out loaded readily available with additional ammunition just laying around.

[No-Bits]

Oh but it is possible to kill a person with one shot from a rifle !! A marksman would do it,even Jeremy himself knowing where and how to aim.

It may well have been possible, but it was not achieved.

[Adam]

Thought a shot gun would be easier to re load. Just two bullets. Looks easy in the films.

Agree that Jeremy may well have misjudged the rifle's power and thought 10/11 bullets was enough.

[lookout]

It may well have been possible, but it was not achieved.

Too much shaking going on for any aim to have been accurate. Fraught with bad-temper and madness,this was the sad result that we got from the pics which were shown. Except for Sheila,that was,whose appearance was calm,serene and perhaps relieved.No distortion of her features as in having been scared,fearful of her life,not the petrified appearance that I fully expected from someone who'd been " forcibly " shot ?

[scipio_usmc]

The power of a shotgun depends on the load.  The beauty of a shotgun is that you are still likely to hit  a moving target because of the spread of the shot.  That doesn't mean you will kill the target. It depends on where you hit the target just like with a bullet.

He might have only wounded both parents and been stuck fighting them both had he used a shotgun.  That is why he wanted a semi-auto shotgun he figured the capacity would mean even if the first shot didn't kill them he would still have another round for each plus a spare.