Frag Out! Magazine
Issue link: https://fragout.uberflip.com/i/1516388
SOME ITEMS OR PRODUCTS BECOME ICONIC. EVEN GUNS. POP CULTURE, VIDEO GAMES, MOVIES, ALL OF THESE ARE CREATING ICONS. ICONIC REVOLVER? DO I FEEL LUCKY? S&W M29! ICONIC PISTOL? WALTHER PPK OR MAYBE BERETTA 92FS. ICONIC RIFLE? DEFINITELY AN AK. ICONIC MACHINE GUN (HO, HO, HO, NOW I HAVE A MACHINE GUN)? MP-5. WHAT ABOUT SHOTGUNS? IT MUST BE SPAS-12! T he famous Italian Franchi SPAS-12 shotgun was featu- red in Terminator, Jurassic Park, Matrix, The Hitcher, Robocop, Bad Boys movies and Half-Life, Rainbow Six or Resident evil video games to mention the most known few. It was developed 40 years ago and around 25 years ago it was… banned. What happened? Luigi Franchi SPAS-12 was unve- iled in 1979 but the design was ba- sed on earlier pump-action SAS-12 and semi-automatic LAW-12 shot- guns. This 12 gauge shotgun is du- al-mode firearm: it can be used as a traditional pump-action or a semi- -automatic gas operated gun. The SPAS-12 was designed to function primarily in semi-automatic mode, with the pump-action mode used to reliably fire low-pressure ammu- nition such as tear gas rounds or less-lethal ones. What "killed" SPAS-12 was the 1994 Assault Weapon Ban in the United States. Semi-automatic operation, "aggressive look", large capacity magazine and original name of Special Purpose Automatic Shot- gun (later changed to Sport Purpo- se Automatic Shotgun) didn't help. Only shotguns delivered to the USA before ban introduction could be sold. The ban was ultimately lifted in 2004 but unfortunately Franchi stopped manufacturing these shot- guns in 2000 (with around 37,000 shotguns manufactured) and never decided to reboot it. Now, there are approx. 2,000 surviving SPAS-12 in the United States, with prices star- ting from around $3000 for used up to even $15000 for brand new ones still in the box. We are lucky to live in Europe because the remaining SPAS-12 are still cheaper and ava- ilable here. The sample in the pho- tos is around 3000-3500 EUR when you add the original butt hook and accessories. TECHNICAL DETAILS 12 ga Franchi SPAS-12 is dual mode, semi-automatic and pump- -action shotgun. The firing mode is switched by depressing the button located under the forend and sli- ding it forwards (semi-auto) or bac- kwards (pump-action) until it clicks into position allowing the rotating sleeve to open or close the two gas ports. The visual check of current position can be confirmed when looking at the rear of the forend aligned with the lettering on the handguard (M – manual, A – auto). Dual mode, as mentioned earlier, was introduced for smooth use of less-lethal rounds which have not enough energy to activate semi- -automatic operation. In semi-au- tomatic mode, the SPAS-12 is gas STORY BY: M I C H A Ł S ITA R SK I PHOTO: M I C H A Ł S I TA R S K I / A D O B E 19 www.fragoutmag.com FIREARMS