The Auto Assault-12 (AA-12) shotgun (originally designed and known as the Atchisson Assault Shotgun) is a firearm that was first developed in 1972 by Maxwell Atchisson, existing in its present form as the 2005 version, 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 weapon can fire in semi-automatic or fully automatic mode at 300 rounds per minute (5 every second) and has a magazine of 32 rounds - either a standard box, or a drum magazine.
In 1987, Max Atchisson sold the rights of AA-12 to Jerry Baber of Military Police Systems, Inc. The company in turn developed the successor simply known as Auto Assault-12, which was redesigned over a period of 18 years with 188 changes and improvements to the original blueprint. MPS also teamed up with Action Manufacturing Company, and Special Cartridge Company to combine the gun with FRAG-12 High-Explosive ammunition into a weapon system.
Changes to Present Day Version
The weapon was shortened to 966 mm but retained same barrel length as the original, and lightened to 4.76 kg. The CQB model has 13-inch barrel length, and is half a pound lighter than the regular model. Uncommon in other automatic shotguns, the AA-12 fires from an open bolt, a feature more commonly found in heavy and squad level machine guns. It uses 8-round box, 20-round drum, or 32-round drum magazines, as opposed to the original 5-round box magazine. It is designed to fire three different types of 3" 12 gauge shells: Buckshot, slug, or Frag-12 rounds. Due to the abundant use of stainless steel, and the loose manufacturing allowed in a shotgun, MPS has claimed that the weapon requires zero cleaning or lubrication. [1]
Usage
In 2004, ten firing models of the AA-12 were produced and demonstrated to the United States Marine Corps.
The HAMMER unmanned defence system by More Industries uses dual-mounted AA-12s on the H2X-40 Turret. [2]
Neural Robotics has also mounted the weapon on their AutoCopter UAV. [3] (More videos of this vehicle, with more examples of the weapon in use at the end of the page)
Changes to Present Day Version
The weapon was shortened to 966 mm but retained same barrel length as the original, and lightened to 4.76 kg. The CQB model has 13-inch barrel length, and is half a pound lighter than the regular model. Uncommon in other automatic shotguns, the AA-12 fires from an open bolt, a feature more commonly found in heavy and squad level machine guns. It uses 8-round box, 20-round drum, or 32-round drum magazines, as opposed to the original 5-round box magazine. It is designed to fire three different types of 3" 12 gauge shells: Buckshot, slug, or Frag-12 rounds. Due to the abundant use of stainless steel, and the loose manufacturing allowed in a shotgun, MPS has claimed that the weapon requires zero cleaning or lubrication. [1]
Usage
In 2004, ten firing models of the AA-12 were produced and demonstrated to the United States Marine Corps.
The HAMMER unmanned defence system by More Industries uses dual-mounted AA-12s on the H2X-40 Turret. [2]
Neural Robotics has also mounted the weapon on their AutoCopter UAV. [3] (More videos of this vehicle, with more examples of the weapon in use at the end of the page)
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