The SPAS-12 featured a pseudo-automatic fire mode. By Staff Writer
The SPAS-12 is a semi-automatic shotgun produced by the Italian firm of Franchi S.p.A. It entered production in the late 1970's as a police and military combat shotgun with two settings - an automatic mode featuring a self-loading semi-automatic setting and the base pump-action setting. The weapon system can chew off nearly 4 rounds in one second in the automatic mode, less that for the manual pump-action mode.
Few variants of the base SPAS-12 exist, though some can be found featuring a shorter 5-round tubular magazine count as opposed to the 8 shot count. The system can also be featured with a full stock or the folding stock as shown.
The SPAS-12 tried to break the sporting gun market in the United States but the system proved too bulky, heavy and complex for any type of big game hunting or competition. The SPAS-12 has actually been outlawed for import into America for it's very militaristic features (heat shield for sustained firing, etc...). Though no longer in production since 2000, the SPAS-12 went on to influence the later SPAS-15 series of automatic shotgun systems for Franchi.
The acronym of the SPAS-12, incidentally, stands for "Sporting Purpose Automatic Shotgun".
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1979
Designation:Franchi SPAS-12 Classification Type:Combat Shotgun Manufacturer:Franchi S.p.A. - Italy Country of Origin: Italy
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