In an attempt to garner more sales, Franchi introduced the shotgun to the civilian market, renaming it the “Special Purpose Automatic Sporting” shotgun in order to attract the attention of sport shooters and trick governments into thinking it was just another civilian sporting shotgun. A few military organizations purchased the weapon, but only in small quantities as military shotguns have a very narrow and limited purpose. Most police organizations saw no need to pony up that much money when a simple pump shotgun could be bought for a quarter of that price, yet be just as effective for law enforcement purposes. Some law enforcement and military organizations purchased the shotgun, however most gave it a pass due to it’s $1,500 retail price. The SPAS 12 was marketed to law enforcement in particular, however it failed to garner many sales. Depending on model, the SPAS 12 had a 5, 6, 7, or 8 round tubular magazine.

Pressing a button underneath the forearm unlocks it, turning the forearm into a slide for pump action mode. When fired in semi automatic mode the forearm is locked forward an immobile. The barrel is surrounded by a vented heat shield for cooling. Sights consisted of a ghost ring rear sight and a simple blade front sight. Fortunately the hook could be removed, and most likely it was. Now if this sounds silly, don’t worry because it is silly. At the end of the stock was a metal hook with a particularly odd purpose to loop around the arm so that the shotgun could be held and fired with a single hand. The SPAS 12 featured a folding stock made from stamped sheet metal. Often such ammunition lacks the pressures and power needed to operate a semi automatic action, hence why the SPAS 12 had a pump action conversion option. However, it could also be quickly converted to pump action mode in order to fire specialty ammunition such as bean bag rounds, tear gas shells, and other less than lethal ammunition. Like the name suggests, the SPAS 12 was a semi automatic shotgun chambered for 12 gauge. In 1979 Franchi attempted to enter the military and law enforcement market with a combat shotgun called the SPAS 12, SPAS standing for Special Purpose Automatic Shotgun.

The Perfect Shotgun for Action Movies - The Franchi SPAS 12įranchi is an Italian company famous for making civilian shotguns for hunting and sporting purposes.

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