CS2 Sawed-Off shotgun displayed in the weapon inventory

Sawed-Off Guide for Counter-Strike 2

Damage per pellet, range, the $900 kill reward, and why it only works up close.

The Sawed-Off is the T side's shotgun and the hardest-hitting one in the game: eight pellets at 32 damage with 75% armour penetration. Point blank, four of those eight pellets kill an opponent without armour and five kill through kevlar. It costs $1,100 and pays $900 a kill.

The trade-off is range, and it is severe. The Sawed-Off is accurate to 2.2 metres standing, the shortest of any gun, and loses 55% of its damage for every 500 units. It moves at 210, slower than the other three shotguns, and fires once every 0.85 seconds. This page goes through the numbers, the spread, when to buy it, and the skins and cases.

Last checked

September 2026

Weapon stats checked against CS2 build 1.41.7.6.

Sawed-Off at a Glance

The full stat sheet, straight from the game.

Every number below comes from the game build of 18 March 2026. Two of them define the Sawed-Off: 32 damage per pellet and 2.2 metres of accurate range. It hits harder than any other shotgun and reaches less far than any gun in the game. What it gives up beyond range is speed - 210 mobility, the slowest of the four.

Damage and money

Price	$1,100
Kill reward	$900
Side	T only
Damage per pellet	32
Pellets per shot	8 (256 max)
Armour penetration	75%
Headshot multiplier	4x
Damage lost at 500 units	55%
Wall penetration	100%
One-pellet headshot, no helmet	155 u (about 3.9 m)

Handling and ammo

Rate of fire	71 RPM (one shot every 0.85 s)
Magazine	7
Reserve	32 (39 total)
Reload	4.22 s for a full 7, 0.55 s a shell
Deploy	1.00 s
Mobility	210 (knife is 250)
Tagging power	60%
Accurate range, standing	2.2 m
Running inaccuracy	85.8
Recoil	No set pattern
Console command	`give weapon_sawedoff`

256 damage in one trigger pull is the most any gun in CS2 can do at once, but only if all eight pellets land - and at 2.2 metres of accurate range that means the opponent is right on top of you. Running inaccuracy is 85.8, the worst of the four shotguns, and shells reload one at a time, 0.55 seconds each.

Sawed-Off Damage & Armour

What one pellet does, and how many have to land.

Shotguns work differently from every other gun on this site. One trigger pull sends eight pellets, each with its own damage, and the question is not how many shots it takes but how many pellets land. Everything here assumes a full-health player at point-blank range. Armour means kevlar on the body and a helmet on the head. The general rules are on the weapons hub.

Damage per pellet

Hitbox	No armour	Armour	Pellets to kill, no armour	Pellets to kill, armour
Head	128	96	1	2
Chest and arms	32	24	4	5
Stomach	40	30	3	4
Legs	24	24	5	5

A single pellet to an unhelmeted head does 128, and through a helmet 96 - four points short, so it takes two. Everywhere else the Sawed-Off needs the fewest pellets of any shotgun: four in the chest without armour, five with it, and three in the stomach.

Where the Sawed-Off drops off

The Sawed-Off loses 55% of its damage for every 500 units, the steepest drop in the game together with the MAG-7's:

Distance	Damage per pellet	Chest pellets to kill, no armour	Chest pellets to kill, armour
Point blank	32	4	5
39 u (1 m)	30.1	4	5
79 u (2 m)	28.3	4	5
118 u (3 m)	26.6	4	6
197 u (5 m)	23.5	5	6
394 u (10 m)	17.2	6	8

Damage is multiplied by 0.45 for every 500 units of distance, and it drops smoothly in between. Past about 370 units - 9.4 metres - all eight pellets through armour add up to less than 100, so a single shot can no longer kill an armoured player however well it lands.

What this means in a fight

Inside two metres the Sawed-Off kills anyone with one shot, and it needs fewer pellets to do it than any other shotgun. The problem is that two metres is also roughly where its accuracy ends (see Pellets & Spread). With 0.85 seconds between shots, a first shot that lands half its pellets usually means a second one.

Sawed-Off Pellets & Spread

The shortest range in the game, and what to do about it.

There is no spray pattern to learn here. Each shot throws eight pellets in a spread that has no set shape, and the gun fires once every 0.85 seconds - too slow for recoil to stack up. What decides the fight is how close you are when you pull the trigger.

Two metres

The Sawed-Off is accurate to 2.2 metres standing. That is the shortest accurate range of any gun in CS2 - the Nova and MAG-7 reach 3.2, the XM1014 3.4. Past it the pellets spread out while the damage falls by 55% every 500 units, so the gun goes from the strongest shotgun in the game to a gun that tickles within a few steps.

Where the damage ends

Five pellets kill an armoured opponent within about 2.7 metres, six out to about 6 metres, and past 9.4 metres a single shot cannot kill one at all (see Damage & Armour). Against players with no armour four pellets are enough out to about 4.5 metres.

Moving and stopping

Running inaccuracy is 85.8, the worst of the four shotguns, and at 210 mobility the Sawed-Off is also the slowest of them to carry. Both make getting into range harder than with the MAG-7 or Nova. Stop before you shoot: tapping the opposite movement key - counter-strafing - brings you to a stop faster than just letting go of the key.

Reloading shell by shell

A full reload of seven shells takes 4.22 seconds, but each shell goes in on its own in 0.55 seconds, and you can break off and fire at any point. After a fight, two or three shells are enough for the next one.

When to Buy the Sawed-Off

What the $900 kill reward is worth, and when $1,100 beats a MAC-10.

The Sawed-Off is an anti-eco and force-buy gun for the T side. It is $50 more than the Nova, pays the same $900 a kill, and asks you to be closer than any other gun in the game.

The $900 kill reward

Every kill pays $900, three times a rifle's $300 and half again what an SMG pays. Two kills pay $1,800, which covers the gun and most of a rifle next round. Against a saving team that is the fastest way to rebuild.

What a buy adds up to

Item	Price
Sawed-Off	$1,100
Kevlar + helmet	$1,000
Smoke	$300
Flashbang	$200
Total	$2,600

The same round with a MAC-10 costs $2,550, with a Nova $2,550 and with a Galil $2,800. The Sawed-Off sits in the middle of the cheap T buys.

Sawed-Off or MAC-10

Against players with no armour the Sawed-Off kills with one shot and pays $900 against the MAC-10's $600. The MAC-10 is accurate to 11 metres where the Sawed-Off is a two-metre gun, carries 120 rounds against 39, and moves at 240 against 210. Take the Sawed-Off for a corner or a spot behind a corner on a rush; take the MAC-10 for anything that needs range or movement.

Sawed-Off or Nova

$50 apart, same reward. The Sawed-Off needs five of eight pellets through kevlar, the Nova eight of nine - a much easier ask on the Sawed-Off. In exchange the Nova is accurate to 3.2 metres against 2.2, loses 30% of its damage per 500 units against 55%, and moves at 220 against 210. The Sawed-Off is the harder hitter, the Nova the more forgiving gun.

Against a full buy

Past 9.4 metres a single Sawed-Off shot cannot kill an armoured player. Against rifles it is a gun for one angle at contact range, not for holding space.

Sawed-Off vs Other Shotguns

What the Sawed-Off does better, and what it gives up.

All four shotguns are close-range guns with a big kill reward. The Sawed-Off is the hardest hitter and the shortest ranged of them. The table below has all four side by side.

vs MAG-7

The CT side's equivalent, $200 more. Same eight pellets, same 75% armour penetration, same 55% damage drop, same five-pellet kill through kevlar - on damage the two are near twins, with the Sawed-Off hitting a little harder per pellet, 32 against 30. Where they differ is handling: the MAG-7 reloads all five shells in 2.47 seconds against the Sawed-Off's 4.22 for seven, moves at 225 against 210, and is accurate to 3.2 metres against 2.2. The Sawed-Off carries 39 rounds against 20. Details in the MAG-7 guide.

vs Nova

$50 cheaper and available to both sides. How the two compare on pellets, range and movement is in When to Buy above. Details in the Nova guide.

vs XM1014

$900 more and available to both sides. It fires six pellets at 20 damage every 0.35 seconds, against the Sawed-Off's eight at 32 every 0.85. Six pellets through kevlar add up to 96, so the XM1014 never kills an armoured player with one shot, where the Sawed-Off does it with five pellets up close. It pays $600 a kill against $900, and holds its damage far better at range - 30% lost per 500 units against 55%. Details in the XM1014 guide.

vs the cheap SMGs

How the Sawed-Off compares with the MAC-10 on money and range is in When to Buy above. The MP9 is the CT side's version of that comparison. More in the MAC-10 and MP9 guides.

Shotgun Stats Table

All four shotguns side by side, with the Sawed-Off already open.

This is the same table as on the weapons hub, but filtered down to shotguns. The Sawed-Off row is open with its damage per hitbox and full stats, and it is already ticked for comparison with the MAG-7, Nova and XM1014 - all four at once.

Click a column header to sort. Damage in the table is per pellet, so multiply by the pellet count for the whole shot. The full table with all 36 weapons is on the weapons hub.

Click any weapon for damage per hitbox, full stats and variants.

	Weapon	Type	Price	Kill $	Damage	Armour pen	RPM	Mag	Total ammo	HS kill vs helmet

Stats from the CS2 Weapon Spreadsheet, game build of 18 March 2026. Shotgun damage is per pellet. Headshot ranges are converted from game units at 39.4 units per metre. Zeus and knife values come from the game files rather than the sheet.

Sawed-Off Skins & Cases

Sawed-Off skins by market listings and price, and where they come from.

Three ways to look at Sawed-Off skins. Most listed are the ones with the most offers across the markets I track, in other words the ones currently offered most often. Most expensive are the skins that stay expensive even in their cheapest wear. Cheapest are the ones that stay cheap even in their best wear. Prices update every 15 minutes, and the range on each card runs from the cheapest variant to the most expensive one, wear and StatTrak included.

Mil-Spec Grade

Spirit Board

$0.05 - $0.50

View prices →

Consumer Grade

Forest DDPAT

$0.01 - $0.42

View prices →

Consumer Grade

Crimson Batik

$0.01 - $24.73

View prices →

Restricted

Analog Input

$0.29 - $5.69

View prices →

Consumer Grade

Runoff

$0.01 - $0.03

View prices →

Consumer Grade

Parched

$0.06 - $0.35

View prices →

Industrial Grade

Snake Camo

$0.02 - $17.50

View prices →

Classified

Kiss♥Love

$2.79 - $21.80

View prices →

All of them, with a price for every wear, are on the Sawed-Off skins page.

Cases with Sawed-Off skins

Every case that can drop a Sawed-Off skin, newest first. The number under each case is how many Sawed-Off skins it holds.

Kilowatt Case2024 · 1 skin

Recoil Case2022 · 1 skin

Dreams & Nightmares Case2022 · 1 skin

Prisma 2 Case2020 · 1 skin

Danger Zone Case2018 · 1 skin

Horizon Case2018 · 1 skin

Spectrum 2 Case2017 · 1 skin

Spectrum Case2017 · 1 skin

Glove Case2016 · 1 skin

Gamma Case2016 · 1 skin

Chroma 3 Case2016 · 1 skin

Revolver Case2015 · 1 skin

Chroma 2 Case2015 · 1 skin

Chroma Case2015 · 1 skin

Operation Vanguard Weapon Case2014 · 1 skin

Winter Offensive Weapon Case2013 · 1 skin

eSports 2013 Case2013 · 1 skin

Sawed-Off skins that never came from a case

Some Sawed-Off skins come from map collections, operations, or the Armory instead of cases. Collections marked "souvenir" also come in souvenir packages from Majors.

The 2018 Inferno Collection1 skin · souvenir

The 2021 Dust 2 Collection1 skin · souvenir

The Alpha Collection1 skin

The Arabesque Collection1 skin

The Ascent Collection1 skin

The Baggage Collection1 skin

The Bank Collection1 skin

The Cobblestone Collection1 skin · souvenir

The Dead Hand Collection1 skin

The Dust 2 Collection1 skin · souvenir

The Dust Collection1 skin

The Harlequin Collection1 skin

The Havoc Collection1 skin

The Italy Collection1 skin · souvenir

The Nuke Collection1 skin · souvenir

The Overpass Collection1 skin · souvenir

The Rising Sun Collection1 skin

The St. Marc Collection1 skin

The Train Collection1 skin · souvenir

Browse all CS2 cases and all collections, or check what your own skins are worth with the Inventory Value Calculator.

Common Sawed-Off Mistakes

Small habits that cost rounds, and what the numbers say instead.

Shooting from too far

The Sawed-Off is accurate to 2.2 metres, less than any other gun, and loses 55% of its damage every 500 units. Five pellets kill through kevlar only within about 2.7 metres, and past 9.4 metres one shot cannot kill an armoured player at all. The numbers are in Damage & Armour.

Treating it as a Nova that hits harder

It does hit harder - five pellets through armour against the Nova's eight - but it is also a metre shorter in accurate range, loses damage almost twice as fast, and moves at 210 against 220. The extra damage only exists at contact range. More in When to Buy.

Aiming at the body up close

One pellet to an unhelmeted head kills out to 3.9 metres, further than a body shot kills an armoured player. Two pellets kill through a helmet. At chest height it takes four pellets without armour and five with it.

Waiting out the full reload

Shells go in one at a time, 0.55 seconds each, and you can shoot at any point. Standing still for the whole 4.2 seconds after a fight is how people get caught mid-reload - two or three shells are enough for the next one.

Rushing with it in the open

At 210 mobility the Sawed-Off is the slowest shotgun to carry, its running inaccuracy is the worst of the four at 85.8, and there are 0.85 seconds between shots. Crossing open space with it gives the other team the fight they want; it works best where they walk into you.

Buying it against a full buy

Against rifles and armour the Sawed-Off is a gun for one angle at contact range. If the round is about holding space, a MAC-10 or a Galil does more with the same money.