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WHAT WAS IT?

nhspas12nhspas12 Member Posts: 3 ✭✭
edited June 2003 in Ask the Experts
several years ago i had the opportunity to shoot an interesting shotgun. my memory is a little faded, but it looked similar to an oversized ar-15. the charging handle was on the forestock(right side i think) and it accepted a box magazine under the reciever. i believe it was a 10 round magazine. like i said the structure wa similar to an AR(pistol grip, full buttstock, right side ejection port) it was selectable between semi and fully automatic. can anyone tell me what it was? i would appreciate any input..thank-you
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  • rldowns3rldowns3 Member Posts: 6,096
    edited November -1
    Was it a Spas-15?

    Annoy a liberal by working hard and being happy.

    Your life is not my fault.
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  • mark christianmark christian Member Posts: 24,443 ✭✭✭✭
    edited November -1
    What you saw was a USAS 12 shotgun. This shotgun was based on a 1971 design by Maxwell Atchisson and other than a few Remington prototype 7188 shotguns developed during Viet Nam by Carroll Childers of the Navy Surface Weapons Center, was one of the very few full auto shotguns ever designed, firing at about 360 rpm. When the Viet Nam conflict came to an end the market for such a firearm disappeared and the design laid dorment until around 1980 when Bill Shepler of Spectre Arms in Georiga bought the rights to produce the gun. Some prototypes were made by Spectre, but the design soon moved overseas where John Trevor of and James Harless of the Gilbert Equipment Compnay got a look at it.

    The USAS as we know it today was originally produced by Daewoo in South Korea in selective fire for military sales. Daewoo improved on the Actisson design, incorperating several design changes to speed production by use of CNC equipment, and up dated its over all look to be one of an enormous AR-15. Of course it did not take long for such a firearm to attract the attention of collectors here in the United States. Naturally full auto importation was out of the question, but a semi auto model was quickly designed and prototypes were sent to the BATF Technologies Branch for import approval. The request was denied due to the fact that the USAS did not comply with the "sporting purpose" test which all imported firearms must meet. Gilbert sued the BATF over this ruling...and lost in Federal Court. Back to square one.

    The solution to the import problem was solved (as was so often the case) by manufacturing the shotguns here in the United States. The Gilbert Equiment Co. in Alabama received a license from Daewoo and with the help of RAMO (the .50 BMG manufacturuer) began to produce these monsters for sale to U.S. citizens. If I remember right these bad boys were 40 inches long, had 18-1/2" barrels, and weighed in at about 13 pounds empty and 15 pounds loaded with a 10 round box magazine. There was also a 20 round clear plastic drum magazine available. The USAS had something like 178 total parts (a very low number for this type of firearm) and fired from a closed bolt.

    I owned one of these years ago and tried to interest LE agencies to purchase a few. I always use Winchester shells and accuaracy was surprisingly good- slugs would group at about 3" at 100 meters and 00 buck always had a nice pattern. The two posistion flip up rear sight was rather too complex with its peep sight for slug shooting, but it worked fine. The nicest part about this gun was that it broke down into its four major components very easily and was simple to clean and reassemble--ever clean a Franchi SPAS-12? You won't enjoy it much I assure you! I never was able to interest any LEO's in the USAS as Remington and later Benelli had pretty much captured the police shotgun market.

    Sadly for the USAS it came to the attention of the Brady Bunch and other groups of anti gun fanatics who took it uopon themseleves to determine for all American's what guns were good (nearly none) and which guns were evil (pratically all of them). When the Clintonistas' rolled into DC in 1993 the Brady's found a very willing group of federal lackies more than happy to carry their water and the Slickster himself was a rubber stamp just waiting. In the end, Sec. of the Treasury Bentsen (who was once a VERY pro gun Texas Senator) ruled that the USAS, the Street Sweeper, and the Striker shotguns were NFA destructive devices due to their over .50 caliber bore. The fact that these guns were originally denied importation was used as further justification to reclassify them as Title II weapons- no sporting use. These shotguns had to be registered, although the $200 NFA tax and LEO sign off was waived. That is where the USAS is today. I can go on into much more detail about this gun...but I already have a reputation for long winded posts and don't want to bore you any further.

    Mark T. Christian
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  • nhspas12nhspas12 Member Posts: 3 ✭✭
    edited November -1
    mark,
    thank you for taking the time to answer my question. that was one awesome weapon. i an owner of two SPAS-12 shotguns, one folder, one fixed. they are both NBF and i love 'em, but nothing like the USAS 12.
    thank again
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