Firepower is a term that generally should only be applied to weapons of massive destructive capability. We're talking miniguns, belt-feds, Mk 19 grenade launchers, 20mm cannons. But there's a new breed of weapon out there—not crew-served, not airborne, not vehicle-mounted—that earns the right to use firepower as a descriptive.

Say hello to the world's first full-automatic 12 gauge shotgun. The Auto Assault 12 is here, but a rapid fire duck gun alone isn't what qualifies for the firepower honorarium.

If you think 12 gauge buckshot is an effective close-combat round, consider this: in October 2004, the Marine Corps began testing a new family of explosive 12 gauge ammunition. These new rounds were developed by a private company to defeat reinforced, protected, and materiel targets, and other targets requiring a high explosive or armor piercing warhead. Called the FRAG-12, the family of cartridges consists of a high explosive blast round, a high-explosive fragmentation round and a high explosive armor-piercing projectile with a shaped charge penetrator.

Initial testing has confirmed that the HE blast round will produce about a 1-inch hole in quarter-inch cold rolled steel plate with secondary spalling effects on the downrange side of the plate. The HE Frag warhead is designed to have blast and fragmentation out to a two meter casualty radius and the HEAP round is claimed to be able to penetrate 4 inches of aluminum armor and over a half-inch of steel. All three rounds have a 200 meter effective range.

Back to the shotgun
The Auto Assault 12 was painstakingly brought to market by two of the most talented "behind the scenes" guys in the gun business, Jerry Baber and Boje Corneal from MPS Inc. The story of the gun's development is described in the accompanying sidebar, "Birth Of A Shotgun," so let's get right into the meat of the matter. In spending three days at the MPS factory, I learned more about casting and production technology than almost anyone would want to know, and much of it required my sworn secrecy.

For instance, I learned that during the 18 years of slowly developing the Auto Assault 12, Baber and Corneal had another business to operate, one of which was manufacturing parts for some 40 major gun companies at the B&H Precision foundry. His customers include some of the best names in the business such as Freedom Arms, North American Arms, Shilo, Smith & Wesson, Cobray, Atagua, Charter Arms and Barrett. Ronnie Barrett describes Jerry Baber as a "master caster."

In spite of their full schedules, Baber and Corneal continued work on the AA-12, finding more problems every step of the way. After learning about a new state-of-the-art, high-speed digital movie camera, Baber purchased one along with a Savage Snail Bullet Trap to study the mechanism fired in ultra-slow motion. This was the key to ironing out the final bugs in the gun and by the fall of 2004, 10 firing models of the AA-12 were produced. Several of these guns were demonstrated to Marine Corps officers with extremely favorable results.

A Peek Inside
But here in the factory, amid the casting trees and machines, I'm sworn to secrecy on what I'm about to see. What I can tell you is that most major components of the AA-12 are precision cast from exotic aircraft stainless steel using the lost wax process. However, during this process is a separate and unique operation that ensures a part that is about 99.9 percent finished. When I asked Baber who else in the world uses this unusual method, he told me he had invented the process and it's a closely guarded secret. After being cast, the parts are gas forged to add integrity and strength. They then receive intermediate heat treatment before minor machining, and are then final heat treated to hardness to ensure optimum smoothness in operation and maximum wear. Much of the process is the same as that used in jet aircraft turbine technology.

Speaking of heat, the maximum temperature of the AA-12 has been measured at 256° C at the gas port and 150° C at the barrel. The glass impregnated nylon stock will begin to melt at 450° C to 475° C of heat with deformation beginning just past 375° C, so heat is not a factor with the gun.

Like the original design, the new AA-12 uses an 8-round box magazine and a 20-round drum, made of the same tough synthetic as the stock. While the new magazines resemble the original prototypes, many subtle improvements have been made to assure reliability. In fact, Baber showed me cases of 8-shot magazine bodies, 400 to a case, that were to be scrapped because a single minor improvement had been made. The 8-round box and 20-round drum are the only feed devices that will be offered for the gun, although a 32-round drum has been designed. A means of attaching two 8-round magazines side by side is not out of the question. The magazines are inserted into a channel similar to that used on the Thompson submachine gun, and the magazine catch/release works like that of the M16 rifle. Pushing the release with the right index finger allows the magazine or drum to fall free. Insertion of fully loaded magazines is easy even with the bolt forward.

The AA-12's two-piece stock comes standard in black, desert tan and gray. This stock material lends itself to being finished in the extremely tough Duracoat finish, and the stocks on the sample AA-12 seen here has been sent to Lauer Weaponry where they were finished in the Army's ARPAT "digital" camouflage pattern. Lauer Weaponry (www. lauerweaponry.com) offers a seemingly endless array of colors and camouflage finishes, and they all wear like iron! Like a 1928 Thompson, the AA-12 uses a top-mounted cocking handle with a long extension that acts as a dust cover. At the front of the extension is a rocking piece that locks it forward until pulled back with the palm of the support hand. This cocking handle does not reciprocate with the bolt and is pushed all the way back and forward after cocking the bolt group to the rear.

Mounted on the left side of the gun, the selector is moved to the forward position to allow the trigger to be pulled and it is moved to the rear to prevent the trigger from being pulled. An ambidextrous safety/selector is being considered.

Constant Recoil System
No, it doesn't "kick." Honestly. To all but eliminate felt recoil and movement of the AA-12 when fired, the gun uses what is called the "constant recoil system" borrowed from L. James Sullivan, co-designer of the AR-15. Sullivan also used the system in the Ultimax light machinegun he designed for Chartered Industries of Singapore. In a constant recoil system, once the trigger is pulled the bolt group never stops, except to fire a cartridge in battery. The bolt group never bottoms out at the end of its rearward travel, unlike conventional gas operated weapons. Instead, the bolt group stops gradually against a long recoil spring. While it may be hard to believe without experiencing it, this gentle operation causes the AA-12 to have very mild felt recoil. The AA-12's open bolt firing also dampens recoil, resulting in amazingly good control of the weapon. This is enhanced by the bolt, carrier and piston's weight of over four pounds.

While the basic design of the AA-12 incorporated an 18" barrel, a 16" barrel was also perfected, but a special unit of the military asked if a 14" barrel was possible. Baber decided to go even shorter and perfected a 13" barrel for the AA-12 using a redesigned gas port. Called the CQB, this version has the same overall length as an M4. Baber has also designed a system where the butt stock can be shortened by 3" if desired, but this version would have slightly more felt recoil. The sights of the AA-12 are mounted on towers to provide a proper cheek weld, and are quite simple. The front sight is adjustable for elevation by turning it against friction from a nylon bushing, and the rear sight is adjustable for windage via a drum. Two types of rear ghost ring sights have been designed, one in a figure eight for holdover, but a standard ghost ring aperture could easily be substituted.

On the front sight base is an ambidextrous sling mount and a similar mount is found on the top of the butt plate. These mounts accept standard QD sling swivels and we found that the Vickers sling from Blue Force Gear worked as well on this system as it does on the M16. The fast adjustment allows the Vickers sling to be out of the way during transitioning and the AA-12 hangs perfectly at a slight angle when not shouldered.

Inside The Gun
At the front of the gas block is a locking collar for the square tubular recoil spring guide, and on it is an extension to accept a standard M16 bayonet. A collar is also available without the extension. The two halves of the stock are locked together by steel tabs on both sides of the butt, in the middle and behind the gas block, as well as at the rear sight and on the bottom of the pistol grip. Except for those at the gas block, these either slide or swivel to lock in place. The clamshell stock halves can be removed in seconds. Then, with the magazine removed and the bolt allowed to go forward, the butt is pushed forward, causing the recoil spring guide to protrude out the front of the gas block. The locking collar can then be removed and the butt, recoil spring guide and spring can then be allowed to exit from the rear under pressure. Once this assembly is removed, the piston, bolt carrier and bolt can be removed by pulling back on the charging handle.

The handle can be removed out the front of the receiver and the bolt group can be disassembled if necessary. Using a simple pry tool, the barrel lock can be removed allowing the barrel to be removed and replaced with a different one for special purpose missions.

Unless damaged, which is almost impossible, the sear housing, trigger and selector need never be removed. In fact, the same thing holds true for the entire weapon. This is because the special material it is made from requires no lubrication whatsoever. What's more, the mechanism is self-cleaning even when contaminated by sand. In a worse case scenario, a canteen can be used to flush out the ejection port and everything in it. If this sounds too good to be true, you'll just have to take my word for it.

Trigger Time
Having traveled to Tennessee to test the AA-12, I personally fired over 500 rounds in two AA-12s, and witnessed another 500 or so fired by seven others, including two women who work in the B&H Precision foundry. Neither of these ladies had previously fired the AA-12 and they were more than a little nervous. The guns were fired from the hip, shoulder, with one hand, and upside down.

One of the AA-12s we fired was the CQB model, and this little gun had over 5,000 rounds fired in it and had never been cleaned, much less lubricated. One look and it was obvious. The entire mechanism was black with carbon and it was also totally dry. However, neither gun malfunctioned in any way during the shooting, most of which was done using low-brass target rounds, which are always a problem for self-loading shotguns, especially when dirty. Nevertheless, after firing over 1,500 rounds of all makes and types of 2 3/4" 12 gauge in my sample AA-12, it was apparent that certain loads produce more fouling than others, so I would recommend cleaning after every 500 rounds or so. However, the AA-12 does not need any lubrication.

Except for the noise, shooting target loads shells in the AA-12 was more like shooting a .45 ACP subgun. Really! High brass buckshot and slugs produced more noise and a bigger muzzle flash from the CQB model, and also increased the cyclic rate, but the additional recoil generated was barely worth mentioning. It took the two ladies only a couple of short bursts before they were emptying 20-round drums without stopping, and they barely moved. What was also impressive is that single and double shots could easily be obtained because of the relatively slow cyclic rate of 350 rounds per minute. If two rounds were fired, they both hit in the same place out to 25 yards. Even CTS door breaching rounds operated the AA-12, but when using less lethal rounds, the bolt must be cocked each time by hand.

It is a well-known fact that terrorists and insurgents in Iraq and Afghanistan are not afraid of the M4 and its 5.56mm bullet, but they are terrified of shotguns. You can imagine how they would react to the AA-12 with 20 rounds of buckshot, but that's only half the story, as there is something far more effective.

Not Just On The Ground
Calls for service from the Predator drone are twice the available number of units. The military needs alternatives and for some time the AA-12 has been tested with a remote controlled turret mount on military and commercial vehicles. This mount is made by More Industries and mounts the AA-12s upside down. The guns can be fired single shot or in bursts. The system will be tested with two AA-12s mounted side-by-side to provide a total of 40 high explosive 12 ga. grenades. However, the gun can also be deployed in concert with any combination of weapons.

The AA-12 is also being tested successfully on miniature helicopters. In late 2007 a brand-new medium size helicopter will be tested with the AA-12. Powered by a relatively quiet but powerful gasoline turbine engine, this machine has a top speed of 60 mph and a lift capability of 75 pounds, and can stop in mid-air to survey what is happening on the ground. This helicopter can take off covertly from almost anywhere, travel in almost total silence at 10,000 feet to the target by GPS, and then neutralize a threat. It can also fly high above important installations and swoop down in seconds to service an enemy position. It can also easily be equipped with night vision, IR lasers and an IR lens for a "Nighthawk" strike capability, leaving much more expensive (and limited) attack craft for more challenging duty. The sky, quite literally, is the limit.

Using the same mounting systems, the AA-12 has successfully been mounted on tracked robots for use in EOD and IED detection and other roles, instead of putting troops in harms way. Think about it. You're stationed at a high-risk check-point with limited access. You could be issued your M16 or an AA-12 with a 20-round drum of FRAG-12 HE grenades. I took an AA-12 to Gunsite and let 25 Marines shoot it while they were going through Gunsite's Foreign Weapons class prior to rotating back to Iraq, some for the third time. These Marines stood in line like kids next to an ice cream truck, but instead of dollar bills, they were holding loaded AA-12 magazines, waiting to fire the gun. To a Marine, they asked a dozen questions about how they could get this gun and how it was just what they had needed in Falujia. What a wonderful bunch of guys they were!

A life-long patriot, Baber truly loves and respects the men and women who are fighting what far too few understand is truly a global war on terrorism. He also believes that every day our troops don't have the Auto Assault-12 in their hands is another day they're not equipped with a life-saving weapon. Plenty of others believe it too.

As a Class III weapon, the AA-12 is available only to qualified law enforcement agencies and military personnel. Inquires can be made to MPS, Inc at (423) 534-2480.

Specifications: Auto Assault-12 Specs

Caliber: 12 ga. 2-3/4"
Operation: Lng-stroke gas piston.
Mechanism: Open bolt, selective fire via trigger control
Barrel Length: 13" to 18"
Overall Length: 38" (with 18" barrel)
Weight: 10.5 lbs. (with 18" barrel)
Feed Device: 8-round box or 20-round drum
Rate of Fire: 350 rpm.
Safety: Thumb safety/selector blocks trigger
Front Sight: Protected post adjustable for elevation
Rear Sight: Protected ring, fully adjustable
Stock: Glass-filled nylon
Finish: Matte stainless steel

BirthOf A Shotgun
By Gary Paul Johnston

The first effort fizzled but 25 years and nearly 300 design changes later, the Auto Assault 12 is a born.

More than a quarter of a century ago, the late Max Atchisson developed a unique combat shotgun called the Atchisson Assault 12 (AA-12). A selective-fire weapon, the AA-12 fired from an open bolt and used either an 8-round box magazine or a 20-round drum. Atchisson also developed a prototype 40 round drum that was housed in a box to conceal exactly what it looked like. Using a revolutionary design, the AA-12 had a straight-line synthetic stock with an integral pistol grip. The stock was a clamshell design consisting of right and left sides that mated together when assembled. Being gas operated, the gun used a long-stroke piston and locked with a single vertical lug reminiscent of some sporting semi-automatic shotguns. On its exterior, the AA-12 somewhat resembled an AR-15, which obviously influenced it. The AA-12 fired at the rate of about 300 rounds per minute.

Max Atchisson demonstrated his AA-12 for several years, but the project didn't go anywhere, except for a con-artist that bilked several hundred people out of deposits on guns that were never produced. A few years later the AA-12 influenced the design of the Universal Sporting Automatic Shotgun, made by Daewoo. This Korean-made shotgun used a two-piece clamshell stock and fired from a close bolt using a trigger system similar to that of the M16. After the ATF declared such guns to be "destructive devices," production all but ceased.

By 1987, Atchisson was broke. He sold the rights to the AA-12 to Jerry Baber of MPS, Inc., a brilliant engineer with a long history in the firearms business. Baber is also one of the world's foremost experts in high-precision cast steel parts. With the acquisition of the rights and patents came all of Atchisson's drawings of the AA-12, but not his AA-12 prototype. Along with his partner, Boje Corneal, an equally talented German mechanical engineer, Baber began production of a small number of pre-production samples of the AA-12 for test purposes using Atchisson's drawings. However, they soon discovered that the drawings were flawed when the first complete AA-12 would not function, as built to print.

Thus began an extensive redesign of the AA-12 that extended over an 18 year period with a total of some 230 changes and improvements. These changes involved every aspect of the gun but one—Atchisson's original recoil spring—but even that was to be improved in the final production version.

Scatterguns in Combat
Throughout the history of firearms, weapons firing multiple projectiles have always proven enormously effective at close to medium ranges. This was especially true where cannons fired musket-size shot instead of cannon balls, although the explosive balls were effective against enemy forces in formation. In the realm of small arms, the shotgun is the equivalent of naval cannon raking the decks of an enemy vessel with grapeshot. Because of the sheer devastation of the shotgun in close-quarter battles and the great fear it instilled in those who came up against it, this family of weapons continued to evolve through centuries.

Double barrel shotguns were used with great success during the 19th century and the slide action (or pump) shotgun began its legendary career with the U.S. military during the Philippine Insurrection against Moro terrorists. It's well documented that even the .30-40 cartridge used in the 1898 Krag rifle had trouble stopping the mad charge of the Moro, most of whom were under the influence of drugs and religious fanaticism. The only thing worse than the Krag was the almost useless .38 caliber revolvers issued at the time. However, a load of 12 ga. buckshot put the fanatics down instantly and for good.

The shotgun's reputation was reinstated in the trenches of World War I with the Model 97 Winchester. Continuing its service during World War II, the Model 97 was joined by the more modern pump action Winchester Model 12 and the semi-automatic Browning, this time in the jungles of the Pacific Theater. During the Vietnam War a number of pump and semi-automatic shotguns were adopted by the military, many of which remain in inventory.

Law enforcement agencies throughout America have adopted and issued even more shotguns than the military. Often referred to as "riot guns," these many models have closely paralleled their military counterparts, usually having barrels 18" in length. The shotgun is equally popular with America's prison system, not to mention millions of armed citizens who want the "ultimate" weapon for home defense.

While relatively few pump action shotguns are issued by the military today, semi-automatic models still are, such as the Benelli Model 10-14. Like virtually all shotguns used by the military over the years, the Benelli was based on a civilian scattergun that was originally made for bird hunting. The Benelli Model 10-14 was equipped with a retractable butt stock and a pistol grip especially for the Marine Corps. The powerful lure of multiple projectiles marches on.