Hard Thorn

Overview
Good against: Bosses and everything that does not have physical resistance, namely Shielders and Chitinous Hide zombies. Also zombies that are closer to the shooter are easier to mow down.

The Hard Thorn is a full auto assault rifle, though it acts more like an automatic shotgun. Each shot of the Hard Thorn sends out a spread of 5 flechettes that deal 102 damage each, for a total of 510 damage per round. Coupled with its high fire rate of 8 rounds per second, quick 2-second reload, and low 15% movement penalty, this gun won't disappoint most. It also has very cheap ammo, $80 for 200 rounds or $320 for 200 High Damage rounds, sharing ammo with assault rifles like the CM 401 Planet Stormer.

The Hard Thorn's downsides are its relatively small clip of 25 rounds and its pierce of 1

Like other shotguns, the flechettes of the Hard Thorn spread out in long-range combat, thus dealing minimal damage to faraway targets. However, its classification of Assault Rifle lets it have more range compared to shotguns with less spread, letting it be more durable for mid-range combats compared to shotguns. 

Though the Hard Thorn has good damage output with its fire rate and flechettes, this does not change the fact that each shot can hit only one zombie. This means that when fighting multiple strong zombies, such as a group of Evolved Bloater Elites or two or more Regurgitators, users of the Hard Thorn will find themselves damaging only one of those zombies for a prolonged period of time when they could be using other hard-hitting guns with greater pierce. (The Hard Thorn could be augmented for Piercing, giving it essentially double the stopping power at maximum, or 3.4 pierce if Elite Augment Cores are used.)

The Hard Thorn is a great general purpose assault rifle; it can be used for nearly everything. Even zombies that are resistant to physical weapons can be cut down pretty quickly due to devastating damage output. It can rend trash mobs, and Bloaters are shot down in a matter of seconds. (It is also good against bloaters because its wide-spread shot can easily hit the worms that spawn, like other shotguns) If the player takes the close-range risk of the Hard Thorn against bosses, all early bosses will be dispatched easily.

A solid weapon for mid-late game, the Hard Thorn will kill nearly anything in its path. With augments such as Deadly, Piercing and Overclocked, the gun goes from great to amazing, and if one wishes to rip through a majority of zombies in their way, one can put all three augments (if slots are given) and the Hard Thorn will decimate even the most physically resistant zombies. Because of its 5 spread-shot, it can take advantage of the Heavy Class's Concussion skill, stopping wave after wave of zombies with the increased stun chance per round, which is also a benefit in close-quarters against bosses.