Ok let me clarify something, the red Xs you see are not coming out of my shotgun, these originate from the center of the screen from where I am standing and expand in all directions 360 degrees, up, down, left, right, everywhere...
In this screenshot I walked back immediately so you could see the shape of the expanding X's, they expand slowly and softly until they reach a certain size and disappear.
They did not come out of my shotgun but only appeared when I "pulled the trigger"... I don't think they are particles, they must be some kind of marker or graphical representation for the sound file that executes when the weapon gets fired... you know since sound travels in ALL directions from the point of origin...
If I can get it on video or the error occurs again I'll post it.
Thanks for all the replies...