I have recently become the owner of an AA12 shotgun. An interesting thing is though I am the owner I have not taken possession of it or fired the weapon yet.
AA12, my fellow Steemians, refers to the 12 gauge Atchisson Assault Shotgun that was developed in 1972 by Maxwell Atchisson. The original AA12, according to Wikipedia "fired 300 rounds a minute and was fed from an 8 round box magazine, a 20 OR 32 round drum magazine, with the most prominent feature being it had virtually no recoil. The weapon could be fired fully automatic or with a brief pull on the trigger be fired one round at a time". The shotgun was originally designed for military and law enforcement purposes.
Image Courtesy Recoil Magazine
Recoil Magazine stated that "As far as drool-worthy unobtainium goes, the mythical full-auto AA-12 “Sledgehammer” shotgun ranks up there amongst the best of them.
Read more: http://www.recoilweb.com/the-aa-12-sledgehammer-shotgun-is-coming-for-civilian-sale-140383.html#ixzz5jmBvD8Ny
Please don't be alarmed. Though the AA part remains as part of the name, the civilian legal version that will soon be shipping to me is completely Semi-automatic so the "ASSAULT" part is taken out of the shotgun.
Those of you that have had the opportunity to fire a shotgun or any firearm for that matter know that recoil and shooting go hand in hand. The larger the caliber the more recoil that typically takes place. The special thing about this particular design is that due to an extra long recoil dampening spring nestled in the internals of the device, there is very little recoil at all. The finished product is a 12 gauge that doesn't beat you up when you fire it, a device that can be fired for a long period of time without any soreness as a result.
Sol Invictus Arms is currently offering a limited production run of the AA12 semi-automatic shotgun for civilians. I have purchased 1 as an investment. Changes had to be made to allow the ATF (alcohol, tobacco and firearms) approve the AA12 for civilians, primarily the ATF had to be sure the weapon was not easily converted to fully automatic fire, which would make it a machinegun.
Sol Invictus is offering 2 models of the AA12 the first being a more traditional model with an A-frame front site and the second model having an optic sight installed with a Picatinny rail.
Is this a good choice of home defense shotgun?
My answer would be "NO". A shotgun, in general, is a good choice for home defense and higher capacity is also an often choice but in this case, there are so many better options I personally would disqualify the AA12. The weight of the extra 20-32 rounds and overall length of the shotgun would be detrimental as a home defense gun.
The cost would also be a reason to go with another choice of firearm. At a whopping $3000 for the A-frame model and $3250 for the optic model, the sticker shock alone would deter most from ordering.
Many would argue with me, but for a chance to own an improved version of this historic firearm, that may very well go up in value, I think it is a worthwhile and fun investment.
Please leave your comments and opinions below.
AA12 Semi-automatic shown with Optic
