That was one of the weapons I classed as bad.
I don't remember specifically why, but it may have been something like reloading after every shot or two shots.
In the end, I found both the sawed off and the pump shotgun so aggravating I sold those weapons to the nearest vendor just to get rid of them!
Combat Shotgun is what I prefer.
Bees like honey, they don't like vinegar.
PC/EUR server
Just so I know I'm on the same page...
You want easy ways to level up but are not willing to do some of the easiest tasks {weapon leveling}. Same page? Cool.
Option 1. Play the damned game. You get xp for shooting things. It's an MMO. Not designed to fly through to be max level. Do your pursuits. That will level you the fastest.
Option 2. Be more patient. If you're not willing to do anymore pursuits and are going to rely on xp alone to level up, sit back and get cozy, because it'll be a long ride. Grab a drink and have fun shooting things in the face.
Option 3. Continue to make threads like this. The more ppl demand what they're entitled to{leveling without actually needing to do anything}, the more likely the devs will add an xp bundle in the bit store...
Yea they have never been my favorites. But I ended up having a lot of fun leveling them. I equipped a regular sawed-off and a courier and just blurred around for about a week shooting everything I could find (the courier gives you some distance and the regular was good for shooting in the face). Then I switched over to the pump and did the same thing. Using blur also helped with that pursuit for traveling 10,000 meters (I think that's it) in blur, which is worth 15 ego points, as I recall.
So you get ego points every time you level the sawed-off shotgun or your pump shotguns (I think about 150 total) plus the 15 ego points for completing the blur pursuit. This is really a good way to spend your game time -- to compare, think about how time and how many expos one would have to do to earn 15 ego points. Plus you earn a ton of XP along the way.
Just my two cents. Your two cents may be different.