Minishark

The Minishark is a machine gun that can be bought from the Arms Dealer and uses Musket Balls or Meteor Shots. It has a speed of 'Insanely Fast' and deals 5 damage per shot not including ammunition used. It can be crafted into a Star Cannon.

Description
The Minishark has an incredibly high fire rate, making it devastating against most Monsters. It is efficient against all 3 Bosses. However, because of its low per-projectile damage, it does have some problems against Monsters with high armor, such as Bone Serpents, which take 1 damage per shot, even with Meteor Shots. Skeletron takes only 4-5 damage from this weapon, but there are few great weapons available before you first kill him. By end game, weapons such as the Phoenix Blaster should be considered as an alternative.

Acquisition
At a cost of from the Arms Dealer, the Minishark is the second most expensive buyable item in Terraria, the first being Illegal Gun Parts. If the player is not negligent with his money, and mines plenty of Gems, the Minishark can be purchased pretty early. This is particularly interesting, as there are few other weapon choices early game that can match the Minishark.

Ammunition Consumption
The Minishark consumes a lot of ammunition. Without proper preparation, the Minishark will eat through all of its Ammunition, and be useless. When using the Minishark, it is recommended to always have at least 250-500 Meteor Shots, and about 1000 to take on Skeletron.