Uboinik (Shambler)

Uboinik (Shambler)
General Characteristics
Type:	Shotgun

The Uboinik (literally Murderer or Killer in the Russian dub), also known as the Shambler in the English dub of Metro: Last Light and Metro 2033 Redux, and the Automatic Shotgun in Metro 2033 is an automatic revolving shotgun that was created from scrap by the metro dwellers at some point after World War III.

Overview

The Uboinik is one of the most iconic weapons of the Metro Series, featured prominently throughout the game and on numerous promotional materials. It is also one of the more useful guns in the game, being effective against virtually any opponent once up close. Unfortunately, like most shotguns, it has quite a sluggish reload rate, as well as a slightly confusing reloading system.

The Uboinik has a six chamber cylinder design similar to a revolver, but utilizes spring clamps instead of solid chambers, hence the cartridges are not fired from this location, they are only temporarily held in place before they are fed into the chamber for firing.

The mechanism is a short recoil operated toggle joint system similar to that of the Luger P08 or its predecessor Borchardt C-93. After a shell is fired, the barrel and toggle assembly (both locked together at this point) travel rearward due to recoil. The toggle strikes a hook that rotates the cylinder, causing the knee joint to hinge and the toggle and breech assembly to unlock. At this point the barrel stops its rearward movement, but the toggle and breech assembly continue moving (bending the knee joint) due to momentum, extracting the spent shell from the chamber and ejecting it. The toggle and breech assembly subsequently travel forward (under spring tension) and the next shell from the cylinder is loaded into the chamber.

When tapping the "reload" button, Artyom loads one shell and cocks the gun. After that he can load four more shells out of the remaining five since the lower clamp is blocked. After firing off three rounds, Artyom has to manually cock the gun again and chamber the next round to overcome the gap left by the empty clamp. Additionally, after firing once, the empty chambers are exposed and a full six rounds can be loaded.

When holding the "reload" button, Artyom loads four shells into available clamps, cocks the gun and loads the remaining two. Reloading can be interrupted at any point. Likewise empty clamps can be loaded at any time unless they are blocked by the mechanism. Dropping the weapon by picking up any other secondary weapon will empty all clamps and reloading can be repeated from scratch.

Metro Last Light

The Shambler in Metro Last Light functions in a similar principle to the Uboinik in 2033, though the functional design has been altered. The entire toggle action was flipped 90° clockwise, allowing the gun to eject empty cartridges to the side as opposed to straight up, the main advantage of this is that it allows the mounting of optics directly over the action without interfering with the ejection process. Gameplay wise, the Uboinik's unusual reload mechanic has also been altered for easier understanding; instead, it always reloads six rounds when the reload button is tapped, unless the player interrupts the reloading sequence by firing the weapon. The melee attack was removed in Last Light and aiming via sights is now possible, the bayonet attachment is removed as well, but can still be used by NPCs. Although not being able to attach bayonet or capable of melee attack, the Shambler has a wider range of choice for attachments. 

Attachments

• Silencer
• Extended barrel
• Reflex sight
• Infrared sight
• Laser sight
• Bayonet

Variants and Obtaining

Metro 2033

Uboinik: standard shotgun, in addition uses the stock for melee attacks. Can be picked up for free, from most dead human enemies, in Frontline level and onwards. Can be bought in Riga Station, Market and Armory. The player can also obtain one from Bourbon's backpack when he leaves it in the Dry Station's air vent along with Kalash and extra ammo for them.

Uboinik with Bayonet: instead of attacking with the stock, Artyom attacks with the bayonet, seen only in Metro 2033. One can be found on a bandit in the crate maze on the left platform of the Dry Station. One can be found in the flooded back room of the Red's outpost in the Frontline level. Can be bought in Hole Station and Polis. One can be taken for free in Driving to Sparta. One can be found on a dead body in the third room after Demon attack in Library level.

Tactics and Use

The Uboinik is by far one of the most reliable guns in the game for close quarters combat. Its power is quite impressive; It quickly brings down even armored infantrymen with body shots. Unfortunately, it reloads incredibly slowly; each shell has to be loaded by hand, resulting in a terribly slow reload process between volleys. While not so bad against single targets or pairs, this terribly long process can be outright fatal if one does not fight smart. Staying mobile with this weapon is vital, as is taking advantage of the fact that it can fire while it's reloading if there is ammo in the chambers.

The Bayonet is an improvement for this gun; it does a fair bit of damage, has no need for ammo, and saves the need to switch weapons to melee attack to break open a door or deal with a small threat, like a lurker. This could be a good backup when you don't have time to reload this complicated weapon. It also effectively doubles the utility of the weapon; by alternating bayonet attacks and shotgun blasts, the Uboinik can quickly bring down the toughest of enemy opposition with some practice. This weapon must not to be ignored due to its good close range capabilities, especially in Metro 2033, which lacks the Saiga, leaving only the Duplet and the extremely rare Abzats.

It's also very effective to utilize the Uboinik as a single-shot gun. Firing the one round of the first reload results in a quick reload of the next. This is very effective when fighting off Lurkers as one shot will usually do them in and won't get Artyom caught up in a slow reload cycle, also, the rest of the rounds in the magazine can be reserved for multiple or tough enemies. As with the Duplet, you may want to make sure you are always have the Uboinik loaded before heading to hot zone due to its very slow reload, this also applies to Shambler, though its reload speed has been increased. Like Saiga-12, you will normally chew out a lot of shotgun shells, so you may have to buy some at the weapon shop.

Using the melee effectively (Metro 2033 only)

The Bayonet attachment takes some getting used to. Simply pulling the trigger causes Artyom to do a quick jab forward with the weapon. Holding the fire button down causes Artyom to pull the weapon back and ready for a much more powerful thrust. The jabs are mostly used for forcing enemies back and holding the line while Artyom reloads; the power thrust is much more powerful; a single strike can prove to be fatal to an unfortunate nosalis or armored soldier with a lucky hit. Likewise, this can cause an instantly-fatal head-strike on many enemies with a fully-readied power-thrust. The Bayonet attachment can come in handy in defense situations, which Artyom may not have time to reload his weapons.

Note that the bayonet, like the trench knife, has a silent attack capability (which means that it will not alert hostiles in the area), and has unlimited uses. Making good use of it can more than double the efficiency with the Uboinik.

Related Achievements/Trophies

Metro 2033

	Weaponsmith (Metro 2033)	40
	Kill at least 1 enemy with each weapon available in the game.

Metro 2033 Redux

	Gunman (Metro 2033 Redux)	Bronze Trophy - 15
	Kill 100 enemies with shotguns

Metro Last Light

	Gunslinger	Bronze Trophy - 15
	Kill at least one Enemy with each Weapon available in the game.

Trivia

Metro 2033

• The prominent rod under the Uboinik's barrel is a cleaning tool and maintenance device; it can be used to clear debris. If the player is idle long enough, Artyom will eventually eject the rod, and use it to clean the inside of the weapon's barrel.
• Along with Kalash, the Uboinik is the most common weapon used by NPCs; Bourbon uses one, as does Vladimir. It's also common among the Nazis. However, none of them ever use the bayonet.
• If the weapon is not empty, less than 4 rounds and Artyom reloads it, then he will reload to 5 rounds only, but if he wastes a round then reloads, he can have 6 rounds.
• Due its complicated design, the Uboinik requires the most time out of all shotguns to be fully-loaded, the reloading sequence can be halted however.
• It is possible for the Uboinik to "consume" rounds, as the rounds loaded into the weapon do not appear to return to the players ammo cache when the weapon is dropped. It is possible to use up all of Artyom's shotgun shells without firing a shot, by swapping, reloading, and repeating.

Metro: Last Light

• The reload of the Shambler is faster than Uboinik, and can be always reload to 6 rounds unless you don't have enough ammo, or the process is manually interrupted by the player.
• The Shambler is slightly smaller than its 2033 counterpart, but the designs are identical.

Bugs/Issues

• When looking at Artyom's watch with the Automatic Shotgun equipped, the screen does not focus on the watch, it is instead completely blurred, this is less of an issue in Last Light or Redux.
• If you zoom in and out too quickly while firing it will shoot an extra shell at seemingly very low accuracy

Gallery

In-game Uboinik, as seen from the first person perspective in Metro: Last Light.

Buying a Uboinik in Metro 2033

Metro LL Uboinik with Reflex Sight

The Uboinik being reloaded

The Uboinik with the reflex sight, seen through Artyom's view