Resident Evil 7 – How to Get the Shotgun and M21

You can find the Resident Evil 7 shotgun fairly early in the game, but there’s no fun in blasting evil if you aren’t doing it with one of the best shotguns in the game. This article covers how to find the normal shotgun, as well as how to obtain the M21 shotgun much later in the game. The M21 shotgun is considered to be one of the best shotguns in Resident Evil 7. If you’re looking to get some extra bang for your buck, finding the M21 shotgun in Resident Evil 7 is your best bet, but you won’t be able to grab this more powerful shotgun until after you find the Toy Shotgun—or Model Shotgun as it is referred to in Resident Evil 7. For now, you’ll have to make do with the normal shotgun.

Find the Shotgun

The shotgun is the first strong weapon that players find in Resident Evil 7. Once you’ve made it to the main hall, you might have noticed this beauty resting in the hands of a statue across the room. If you’ve tried to pick it up, then you know that doing so causes the door behind you to slam, closing you in.

Before you can acquire the shotgun, and stop the statue from locking you in, you’re going to have to make your way into the Processing Area, which is located in the basement of the Main House. To do this, you have to first solve the Projector Room puzzle, which is also found in the Main Hall. 

To solve the Projector Room puzzle, you’re going to have to find a Wooden Statuette. If you played the “Mia” tape found in the Recreation Room, then you already know how these projector doors work. If you haven’t, they aren’t that hard to complete.

Head up to the second floor of the Main House and make your way to the bathroom in the corner. Drain the bathtub inside, and pick up the Wooden Statuette. This will help you solve the Projector Room puzzle.

Head out of the bathroom, where you’ll run into an old friend. The thing that makes this part of the game so challenging, is that Jack Baker will begin to patrol the area, so you’ll need to lure him away. We did this using the other areas of the house.

Once you’re clear, return to the Main Hall and use the Wooden Statuette on the Projector. This will allow you to enter into the lower levels of the Main House.

Now it is just a matter of continuing through this area until you find the Scorpion Key in the room to the left of the Incinerator Room. The key will be sticking out of a lump of flesh. Grab it, and then head back upstairs. Jack will still be patrolling, so look out for him as you make your way up the stairs to the second floor of the house. Head back to the Recreation Room and use the Scorpion Key to enter Grandma’s room.

Inside this room you will find a Broken Shotgun. In order to solve the Shotgun puzzle, and keep the door from closing and locking you in, you must replace the Broken Shotgun where the Shotgun is. This will keep the door open while also allowing you to hold on to the Shotgun. Later on the Broken Shotgun can be replaced by a Model Shotgun, and then combined with a Repair Kit to unlock the M21 Shotgun, the strongest shotgun in the game.

Find the M21 Shotgun

To obtain the M21 shotgun, you need to collect the broken shotgun on the second floor of the main house. This nonfunctional weapon is found in Grandma’s room. You will also need to pick up the Snake Key so you can head into the attic, which also serves as Jacob’s room. Inside the attic you’ll find the model shotgun.

Once you have the model shotgun, make your way into the yard as you move toward the two sets of stairs that lead up to the main house. Between the stairs there’s a loose side panel that can be removed to find a repair kit in the box just beyond, then head back into the house. Switch the model shotgun for the broken shotgun found on the statue located on the far side of the first floor so the door opens again, then combine the repair kit with the broken shotgun to create a fully functional M21 shotgun.

If you haven’t found any guns at all, be sure to check out our coverage on how to find a gun, as well as information on how to heal yourself in the game. We’ll have more on Resident Evil 7 all this week!