Shooting help

I have made a character in as2 and made him shoot. Although I want a way of creating a shotgun bullet (5 seperate balls that are attached and get wider the further away from the character you could do the time the bullet is on the scree) I also
want a way of making the gun have a accuracy variable.
And finally a quick question how to create a torch effect using a mask. I know it is simple but I could never do it and its been driving me crazy.