![]() ![]() In another comparison to pump or break-action shotguns, semi-auto shotguns as a rule have a lighter recoil impulse when shooting the same loads because some of the pressure from the shell is used to cycle the action. Compare this to something like a Mossberg 500 shotgun, which usually just comes with a corncob front pump handle, sling swivel posts, barrel with a manual safety, and a simple bead for a sight. In more food for thought, AR-12s often ship with decent AR-style front and rear flip-up sights and are ready to right out of the box for accessories and optics, slathered with standard Picatinny rails and M-LOKish slots across the barrel and upper receiver. To illustrate this, Panzer is now on their third generation of AR-12 in less than a decade and Armscor/Rock Island Armory is on their second. In another tip, beware of guns that are brand new to the market as these will often have teething problems that will only be addressed in later runs due to feedback and warranty returns by users who are, in effect, beta testers. ![]() A break-in period of at least 100 assorted shells is recommended to get a feel for the shotgun. ![]() Ammo Reliabilityįor home defense purposes, buck and slug loads generating over 1325fps and up tend to run all day. In most cases, the Garaysar Fear series Silver Eagle SE122TAC, TAC PRO, TAC-LC Iver Johnson Stryker Rock Island Armory VR60 and VR80 Panzer Arms AR-12, AR-12 PRO, BP-12, BR-99, and FR-98/99 pattern shotguns can all accommodate the same magazine, usually in 5- and 10-round formats, although larger 20- and 28-round drums are increasingly available. While the Saiga/Vepr magazines, along with those for their American-made KS-12 and KOMRAD half-brothers, run in these Eastern European style guns, generally the standard AR-12 mag is the original Turkish-pattern MKA 1919 mag. Kalashnikov-pattern Saiga and Vepr series shotguns, manufactured in Russia by Izhmash and Molot, introduced something of a standard to the box-magazine-fed semi-automatic 12 gauge. Add in support for drum mags and you’ve got a serious amount of firepower on tap. ![]() Having 10 or more rounds of 12 gauge ammunition on tap, reloading only takes a couple of seconds if there is a fresh mag available, meaning big medicine if needed and a heck of a lot of fun on the range. Capacityįurther, in a hat tip to the old CAWS program, AR-12s scores points with a quick and natural training curve for those familiar with other AR platforms. Note: we know first hand that they make absolutely great slug guns for deer and hog. In fact, with barrel lengths typically under 20 inches, these guns are about the size of a standard AR carbine, although often a little heavier.Īs a value-add, most come with a variety of screw-in choke tubes, typically of common Win-Brn-Moss pattern threads, that allows the guns to offer the kind of accuracy you’ll need for a range of hunting scenarios should hunting and sporting customers want to clock in with an AR-12 in the field. Meanwhile, AR-12 style semi-auto shotguns, with their vertical-oriented box or drum mags keep the package shorter, which is ideal for use in home defense or transitioning around targets in a competition. Modern gas-operated semi-autos with a traditional horizontally oriented under-barrel tube-magazine layout, such as the excellent Beretta 1301 and Benelli M4, can have their capacity stretched with extended tubes but these add length and weight to the frontend of the gun. These included Maxwell Atchisson’s AA-12, John Trevor’s follow-on Daewoo USAS-12, the Franchi SPAS-16, and the infamous guns pitched by AAI, Heckler & Koch, and Smith & Wesson for the Army’s ill-fated magazine-fed Close Assault Weapon System. However, most of those in circulation have been– and continue to be– fed in the traditional manner of multi-purpose repeating shotguns, via an underbarrel tube magazine that pushed shells back into the action’s lifter.įast forward to the 1970s and 80s, and a wave of experimental magazine-fed scatterguns that used a detachable box magazine with the nascent platform were trialed but never reached market success. Semi-auto shotguns have been around for over 120 years, with John Browning’s iconic “humpback” Auto 5 being designed in 1898 during the administration of President William McKinley– the latter a decorated Civil War vet. In short, if the user knows how to work an AR15 or even an AR10/SR25, they can figure out an AR12 shotgun in a few minutes. What they do have in common is the general layout and placement of most surface controls, magazine use, as well as the tactical visual aesthetic of the famed modern sporting rifle. ![]()
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