What is Mozambique Shotgun?

It's the SA-3 Mozambique, a three-shot pistol shotgun in Apex Legends that players joke about because it's so underpowered compared to the rest of the loot pool.

Where did Mozambique Shotgun come from?

The gun first appeared in Respawn's Titanfall 2 on October 28th, 2016, then returned in Apex Legends when the battle royale launched on February 4th, 2019, where it became a community joke.

What does Mozambique Shotgun mean?

In meme form it's shorthand for a bad weapon pick or a troll gift, tied to Lifeline's in-game callout "Mozambique here!" that plays when the gun is pinged.

How do you use Mozambique Shotgun?

Players typically ping a Mozambique to bait a teammate into grabbing it, or post clips of themselves winning fights using only the Mozambique as a bragging joke.

Is Mozambique Shotgun still popular?

The meme peaked in the first weeks of Apex Legends in early 2019 and stuck around as a classic reference within the game's community, with Respawn itself joining the joke by March 2019.

Mozambique Shotgun

2019in-game jokeclassic

Published September 6, 2026

Mozambique Shotgun is the notoriously weak three-round pistol shotgun from Apex Legends that players roasted into a running joke after the game launched in February 20191. Its reputation as the worst gun in the loot pool turned pinging one for a teammate into a community troll, and it grew into one of the defining in-game gags of the early Apex era.

gaming catchphrase memes gun memes trolling memes so bad its good memes

Overview

The Mozambique Shotgun meme centers on the SA-3 Mozambique, a triple-barrel pistol shotgun that Respawn shipped in Apex Legends when the battle royale launched on February 4th, 20191. In the loot pool it holds only three shots, hits softly at range, and tends to show up on the ground exactly when players want anything else, which is the whole reason the gag works2.

The joke usually takes one of two shapes. Players ping a Mozambique on the ground to bait a teammate into thinking a real weapon is waiting for them, or they clip themselves winning a fight with nothing but the little shotgun and treat it like a rare feat3. The character Lifeline's default voice line "Mozambique here!" turned into a catchphrase that stuck to the weapon and got repeated in Reddit threads, YouTube compilations and Twitch chat.

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Origin & Background

Platform

Apex Legends (in-game) / Reddit and Twitter (viral spread)

Creator

Respawn Entertainment; Apex Legends community

Date

2019

The gun itself first appeared in Titanfall 2, the Respawn-developed shooter released on October 28th, 2016 for Windows, PS4 and Xbox One4. Originally a semi-automatic secondary with a four-round mag, the Mozambique was reworked in the October 31st, 2017 "Trick and Treats" patch into a fully automatic weapon with two extra rounds and primary-slot eligibility5.

The meme version arrived with Apex Legends, which Respawn announced and dropped the same day on February 4th, 20191. The Apex build cut the magazine down to three shots and left it feeling anemic next to the other floor loot, and players started complaining almost immediately in the game's subreddit and on Twitter2.

How It Spread

Within days of launch, calling out an unpicked Mozambique became an in-joke inside Apex lobbies, with players pinging the gun to troll squadmates who assumed a better weapon was waiting3. On February 8th, 2019, Twitch streamer Kephrii announced the "Mozambique Challenge," offering 100 U.S. dollars to anyone who could win a stream match using only the Mozambique, and completed it himself the same day6.

Respawn eventually acknowledged the meme directly. On February 20th, 2019, senior designer Sean Slayback answered a Reddit question in the "Respawn Check In" thread about whether the studio planned to buff the gun7. The developers leaned further into the bit on March 4th, 2019, when the official Apex Legends YouTube channel posted a video celebrating 50 million players that included a gag about the Mozambique being useless8.

How to Use This Meme

The Mozambique bit typically shows up in two forms in Apex clips and screenshots. One common convention is pinging a Mozambique on the ground with an enthusiastic callout so a teammate sprints over expecting a real weapon, only to find the joke gun. The other is the "Mozambique-only" flex, where a player wins a fight or a whole match using nothing but the pistol shotgun and posts the clip with Lifeline's "Mozambique here!" line as the punchline.