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Atchisson AA-12

Small Arms And Sidearms

The AA-12 (Auto Assault-12), originally the Atchisson Assault Shotgun, is an automatic combat shotgun chambered in 12 gauge that Maxwell Atchisson designed in 1972 with a focus on reduced recoil, though only prototypes were built under Atchisson's own development. Military Police Systems, Inc. later acquired the design and, in 2005, released a substantially reworked version using a proprietary gas-operated system the manufacturer states absorbs around 80 percent of the recoil a shooter would otherwise feel. The weapon is best known through this MPS-developed automatic configuration rather than the original 1972 prototypes. This description is adapted from Wikipedia contributors under CC BY-SA 4.0; changes were made. https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/

Facts
Classification
Caliber
12-gauge 1
Service Status
Prototype or Experimental 1
Partially Attested
Introduced Year
1972 1
1972 is the original design year; MPS later reworked version released in 2005
Weapon Class
Weapon Class (category)
Small Arm 2
Weapon Class
Fully automatic combat shotgun 2
FAQs

How does the AA-12 differ from Maxwell Atchisson's original 1972 shotgun?

The original was a blowback shotgun; the AA-12 uses a locked breech, gas operated action.

Atchisson's first selective fire shotgun, the Atchisson Assault Shotgun, dates to 1972 and used a blowback action. The design was later reworked from an open bolt blowback action to a locked breech, gas operated action. That reworked design was picked up by Military Police Systems in Tennessee, which offers the AA-12 for authorized military and police users.
Sources
1. Wikipedia: Atchisson AA-12
  • Lead paragraph [introduced-year]
    developed in 1972 by Maxwell Atchisson
  • Lead section
    The AA-12 (Auto Assault - 12), originally designed and known as the Atchisson Assault Shotgun, is a fully 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 led to the gun entering the market being done later by Military Police Systems, Inc.
View the Source
2. Wikipedia: Atchisson AA-12
  • Lead paragraph
    is a fully automatic combat shotgun
  • Weapon class classified from the entity's own sourced description text.
View the Source
Wikidata: Atchisson AA-12
Wikidata Q753977, class allow-list match (w-wdresolver-0926)View the Source
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