Atchisson AA-12
Automatic combat shotgun / From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
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The AA-12 (auto assault-12), originally designed and known as the Atchisson Assault Shotgun, is an automatic combat shotgun developed in 1972 by Maxwell Atchisson (however, the original development by Atchisson seems to have produced only a few guns at prototype-level, with the development that ultimately lead to the gun entering the market being done later by Military Police Systems, Inc.[6]). The most prominent feature is reduced recoil. The current 2005 version has been developed over 18 years since the patent was sold to Military Police Systems, Inc. The original design was the basis of several later weapons, including the USAS-12 combat shotgun. The shotgun fires in fully automatic mode only. However, the relatively low cyclic rate of fire of around 300 rounds per minute enables the shooter to fire individual rounds through the use of short trigger pulls. It is fed from either an 8-round box magazine, 20-round drum magazine, or a 32-round drum magazine. The charging handle is located at the top of the gun and does not reciprocate during firing.
Atchisson AA-12 | |
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![]() AA-12 automatic combat shotgun | |
Type | Automatic combat shotgun |
Place of origin | United States |
Production history | |
Designer | Maxwell Atchisson (1930–2003); further developed by Military Police Systems, Inc. |
Designed | Original design: 1972 MPS design: 2005 |
Manufacturer | Maxwell Atchisson[1] |
Specifications | |
Mass | 5.2 kg (11 lb) less magazine. 7.3 kg (16 lb) with loaded 32-round drum (original version) |
Length | 991 mm (39.0 in) (Atchisson Assault Shotgun, 1972) 966 mm (38.0 in) (AA-12, 2006)[2] |
Barrel length | 457 mm (18.0 in) |
Cartridge | 12 gauge |
Action | API blowback[2] |
Rate of fire | 300 rounds/min[3] |
Muzzle velocity | 350 m/s (1,100 ft/s) |
Effective firing range | 100 m (110 yd) (12 gauge slug) |
Maximum firing range | 200 m (220 yd) (FRAG-12 ammunition)[4][3] |
Feed system | 8 rounds in box magazine, 20 or 32 rounds[5] in drum magazine |
Sights | Iron sight, 2× zoom optical scope |