The AA-12....what was the point?

JohnRaven

New member
What was the point?

The point was....

Pure awesome.

Whats the point of having dozens of different semi auto hand guns on the market when they all do basically the same thing?

Life would get pretty boring without variety.
 

stonewall50

New member
Actually one purpose that they talk about on that very show is as a mounted weapon. 2 AA12s mounted sidebyside controled by a computer. Imagine the devastation that would be had in an urban environment that is very compact. fire it 20 time full auto and that is 180-240 lead balls depending on shot size.

Versatility would be another huge factor as well. High caliber rounds? Explosives? Anti-riots gun? It is a shotgun so basically the point is to upgrde the firepower aand abilities of current shotguns.

This is not an LEO weapon...but would fall more along the lines of things like the M2, M240, M249s, MK19s etc.
 

USMCGrunt

New member
Cool range toy but I really don't see anything practical about it at least in the realm of a defensive weapon. The shotgun is at it's best inside 25 meters where speed comes into play. Something this heavy and bulky reduces the main benefit the shotgun brings to the fight, speed and stopping power at close ranges. Now it may have practical purposes for riot control assuming it will function correctly with less than lethal munitions but in many cases, reliability with an auto using munitions like this tends to be lacking so that brings us back to square one, I really don't see a practical real-world purpose for this thing.
 

stonewall50

New member
This is quite practical in a military setting. Outside of that? It isn't. That is why it isn't legal for civilians to purchase without the full auto license lol.

But realitically speaking it would be devastating in a close range environment. It would be heavier, but about the same length as an assault rifle. It would certainly be a hell of a lot more deadly and have a much more versatile range of ammo(it can pack the explosive and armor piercers). BTW this is not the first full auto shotgun. Check out the SPAS12
 

colostomyclown

New member
The SPAS 12 is not full auto, lol. You should check your facts before you spout them. Also, would you care to link us to these "armor-piercers" you speak of?



It's worthless unless firing FRAG-12 rounds, which IS the real point of the gun. Personally, I think it's pretty stupid and would waste a lot of ammo quickly. The Saiga 12 is the pinnacle of shotgun development, period. AA12 is bulky, ugly, and an answer to a question no one asked. Even though I believe the Saiga is the pinnacle of the shotgun's development, it could probably stand some refining in function with bolt hold open and mag seating reliability. Until then a pump is anyone's best bet, much to the chagrin of the video gamer poindexters that come on here and speak of full auto SPAS-12's and SOOp3r Shotguns.
 

stonewall50

New member
@Colostomyclown: Honestly I should just allow you to look like an idiot with the whole armor piercing comment, but I will just go ahead and point out that the frag12 ammo that you are talking about comes in ARMOR PIERCING. Maybe you should not jump the gun and be so anxious about stepping on someone's toes and actually watch the video posted? Start the video at 4:40 and you will see.

Oh and my mistake about the SPAS. I mistakenly said that when I meant the pancor(which was never practically used).

Oh and I am far from a "video game" gun nut. I have spent YEARs on the 870, and I have been shooting shotguns for 16 years(I started at 5). The pile of waterfowl alone under my feet is pretty impressive(though the hunting sucked these past 2 years), let alone dove and broken clay pigeons. I suggest you stop being a D on the forum and actually treat people with some respect. You might get farther in a discussion. So if you want to discuss like a big boy I am open to it.
 

egor20

New member
It reminds me of a full auto version of the "street sweeper" shotguns that were popular in the late 90s. BTW the semi auto street sweeper's the only weapon banned in Virginia, but I could get one of these with a class 3 tax stamp, weird huh :confused:
 
I see its use as a great semi-auto platform, but full-auto?....

Why is if folks are okay with a platform that is semi-auto, but see no need for a faster rate of fire? Recoil reduction in semi-auto would be great, but it is the recoil reduction that really helps make full auto reasonable in a man-portable package without blinding muzzle brakes.

Personally, I don't have a need for the special exploding ammo. I could make do with buckshot and slugs just fine.
 

armoredman

New member
I do believe there was only two of the Pancor Jackhammers ever built, one got a cameo in the movie Totall Recall. Also the HK CAWS was a select fire shotgun, IIRC.
The drawbacks to the idea is the bulk of the ammunition and typical range. For CQC only this would be an interesting firearm, if the operator practices fire discipline, for those drum magazines look very bulky to carry many of at once, no idea on the capacity of the standard looking magazines you see so briefly.
The Saiga is a nice semi-auto shotgun, wish I had picked one up years ago.
BTW, the company I referred to earlier, (it was a real outfit, no idea if they are still around, don't care enough to Google it), also made an "armor peircing" 12 guage slug. I also do not play those video games - hell, my first computer was a Commodore Vic -20, for crying out loud, I'm a little old for that stuff.
SPAS-12? No, the SPAS I would want would be the SPAS 15...
 
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grumpa72

New member
The video pretty much explains it and does so quite clearly. Urban warfare and house clearing for the military during urban settings. If you have ever seen videos of house clearing during the Iraq campaign then you would see that this is a shotgun designed for the military.
 

LordTio3

New member
Military Uses for the AA-12 Select Fire Shotgun loaded with Frag-12 HE Ammunition.
FRAG-12%20Projectile_1.jpg

Anti-Vehicular Weapon that shoots flatter and with smaller ammunition than an M203 that is capable of rapid fire.
Anti-Barricade weapon to end stand-off engagements with greater speed.
Mobile Handheld Anti-Air Support Weapon.
And with a 32 round drum magazine loaded with Frag-12 HE Ammunition, you could literally clear an entire single-story structure from a covered position without exposing any member of your team until it's time to secure whatever is left.

For it's size and delivery system, the firepower it can provide in the amount of time it is able to provide it is unprecedented. Yes, it is still able to pump out buckshot and slugs alongside the rest of the shotgun options, but that isn't why it was created. It finds it's niche in the specialty ammunition options that were developed solely for this platform.

Civilian Uses-
Slaughtering clay pigeons.
Weekend toy.

~LT
 

Technosavant

New member
That is why it isn't legal for civilians to purchase without the full auto license lol.

It does not appear that you are acquainted with the ins and outs of the NFA items.

1) There's no such thing as a "full auto license." If you want to legally own a fully automatic weapon, you must have the approved ATF form with a valid tax stamp as per the 1934 NFA. This is not a license. It is a form showing you have paid a tax. There is indeed a difference.

2) Thanks to the rider tossed onto the 1986 FOPA, the full auto registry was closed in 1986. The only fully automatic firearms that can be owned by the public at large are on this registry because it is no longer legal to add things to the registry. Therefore, there's no such thing as a post-1986 fully automatic firearm on which a citizen can pay the tax. One must be an approved SOT (special occupational taxpayer) with a request to demonstrate such a firearm for sale to an approved agency in order to obtain a dealer sample, but those are not available to the general public. (There's certain rules regarding the post-86 dealer samples, but since I am not a SOT, I haven't bothered to learn them; they're irrelevant to me.)

3) The AA-12, although its design was begun in the 1970s, the current design was done about 2005. Therefore, no transferable AA-12s exist since 2005 is obviously after 1986.

Here endeth the NFA lesson (insert "the more you know" image mentally at this point :p).


It sure does look like fun, but as pretty much everybody points out, it has limited utility unless you're doing rather extreme things. But it doesn't matter, since until 922o gets repealed, we can't get them anyway.
 

pelo801

New member
the point is, like the guy in the video said "it's a force mulitiplyer". think about what that means. one man could do an awful lot of damage with one gun. i can see some uses in CQC situations. but to me, it just looks like a whole lot of fun. and probably a whole lot of money getting spent real fast.
 
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