Was the SPAS 12 a flop

[Stevie-Ray]

Seems like it cost me somewhere between 450-650 back in the day but it's been half my life ago.

That's about right. I was buying one of my handguns when the counter guy said, "Here's the guy to pick up that SPAS." I asked him about it and what a SPAS was, and he and the buyer that had just walked in showed it to me. It was 600 bucks, which I thought staggering at the time, of course not so much now.

I paid a little less for my shotgun, a Mossberg 930SPX, a little over a year ago and thought I got a decent deal.

 

[RCArms.com]

The SPAS-12 is the only firearm that I've had sellers regret over.

Wish I still had it. HEVAY, but very unique.

Don

 

[Centurion75]

A buddy of mine owns one and I think it may be the worse deisgned shotgun I have ever fired. The controls are not user friendly at all. If you are into 80's action movies it's cool but thats about it IMO

 

[taozen79]

SPAS 12 , The one and only !!!

[/B]
The Spas 12 is one of the most visual but most misunderstood shotguns of all times.[/B]..

I have owned one since the early 80s... It is very misunderstood... but if you study it, each part is designed for the military world not Civilian use. It is a tank... I have shot hundreds of rounds through this...low power, high power, whatever...It eats them all. 4+ rounds per second...fast...as one owner puts it...'hang it on a sling and walk through walls. " I must say, after all these years, I drag the thing out...run a box of buck through it...and still say..."Awesome!!"

Most of the negativity you hear about the Franchi Spas if from those who only causally picked one up and found out they could not figure out how to jack the slide back or those who have never shot one at all.

The complex parts of the weapon have special purposes...(see note from Chris's site)


This was taken from Chris's Site Spas12.com.. a world of knowledge about the shotgun.

"""Military shotguns are designed or adapted for use in the battlefield. They have the same basic needs as the Police, plus they are carried for miles, dragged around everywhere, hid with their user in ditches. If a battle takes place they may fire several dozen rounds, may be shot till their barrels start to glow. A good functional barrel heatshield is needed, not some simple after-thought clamped on deal that gets hot after 16 rounds. Military finishes like Parkerizing or phosphating are used vs. the high-tech black finishes on Police guns, bluing on Hunting guns.

The SPAS12 is an example of a Military shotgun. It has a heavy heat guard over areas of the gun likely to get hot during prolonged operation. It has a latch on the magazine loading door that keeps out rocks and such when crawling along in a trench with it. It has a "hook" on the end of the folding-stock that acts as a carry handle and a shooting support. It has a number of other special features that adapt it specifically for police and military use, such as a magazine cut-off button that stops feeding of shells from the magazine so that the slide may be opened without a new round coming out of the magazine. This could allow a special round to be manually inserted. """


Chris supplies the replacement buffers, gas rings, etc that will be needed if you own one...

 

[Sam1911]

It is very misunderstood... but if you study it, each part is designed for the military world not Civilian use. ...

Which I think is the long way to say what I said in post 4!

Tried to be so much, and in the end wasn't what the folks who were expected to want such a thing wanted after all.

When you've discovered that the needs of a solider on a battlefield are better served by carrying 8+ 30-rd mags of 5.56mm rifle ammo (with which he can effectively engage targets from 3-600 meters) instead of 4-5 20 rd mags of 7.62mm rifle ammo (which might stretch his range a bit further)...handing a soldier a >50 yd. weapon that only holds 8 rounds, is slow to reload and for which the ammo is very bulky and heavy is really a non-starter.

There are uses for a military shotgun, but they're few, and are MORE THAN handled by the simpler, lighter 590s and 870s.

 

[sidibear]

I own one and love it despite its drawbacks. Yes it can be complicated, but only if you don't know how to use it. Its like all guns, use it, practise with it and get familiar with it.
Apparently only 130 imported into the USA so if you get a chance to own one buy it as it may be your last opportunity.
I read somewhere, may have been on Chris's site, that it was designed for the Italian police riot squad and they wanted something that looked intimidating and so hired a psycologist to assist in the design.

Like it or loathe it, buy one and you will keep it, sell it and you will regret it.
Buy one for your kid, and when his mates come over you will be the coolest dad ever.

And I guarentee you that anyone over the age of 15 will recognise it and know what it is. How many guns can you say that about?

 

[FIVETWOSEVEN]

And I guarentee you that anyone over the age of 15 will recognise it and know what it is. How many guns can you say that about?

AK 47, M16, MP5, Desert Eagle, etc, etc

 

[Sam1911]

I read somewhere ... that it was designed for the Italian police riot squad and they wanted something that looked intimidating and so hired a psycologist to assist in the design.

That's awesome! That's one of those phrases that, even if it isn't true at all, it SHOULD BE!

 

[taozen79]

Apparently only 130 imported into the USA so if you get a chance to own one buy it as it may be your last opportunity.


WOW ...only 130 or so in the USA??? havent be able to come up with a number but that would explain why you dont see one often..

It is a keeper....and hey still fun to run a box of mags through it..

 

[50 Shooter]

I wouldn't say it was a flop, more like ahead of it's time. Benelli copied it (Super 90 M3) but made it better and lighter. The folding stock was also a carrying handle, when straight you could turn the handle part and it would wrap around your forearm. This allowed for one handed shooting, yeah yeah more Hollywood but it was cool to do. As was already stated it was built like a tank, controls weren't that hard to learn (I owned mine before I was 18!). As long as you remembered that it took heavy loads to operate it in semi you were fine. It was that or switch over to pump and shoot whatever you wanted to.

My only regret was selling it but I did get a better shotgun, the Benelli Super 90 M3. I would buy another one on just the fact that they're a piece of pop culture. When I saw it in the first Terminator I told my dad about it and we went to the gun store to check it out. I had to work my A** off all summer long to pay my dad back for buying it, I think it was right around $600 bucks. Friends of mine couldn't believe it when they saw it and the fact that I was under 18 and owned one.

 

[HellsXGunsmith]

Spas-12

I have owned a few of them and the only thing that makes me madder then hell is the former owners who don't do a damn thing to clean or maintain them. 4 out of 5 I purchased couldn't even cycle because the former owners lost the Gas O-Rings or let the damn things clog up with carbon in the gas port holes.:banghead:

How I would rate them is about like this... I think its a outstanding shotgun as a 8+1 shell semi/pump and great for driving and shooting one-handed out the passenger window of the truck when the hook is attached. Its only complicated to the one who doesn't read the owners manual and trys out all the options. If the SPAS-12 is maintained correctly and not beat with a hammer by some dorkus it will run great and yes one I purchased was pulverized by a nitwit with a hammer that caused the heat shield to get crushed in and I had to reform the heat shield to get it to pump correctly, its like silk now but was as stiff as a rusted bolt scraping because of nitwit. So take my advice as you will but I rate it in the top 3 of my shotgun types....WHEN MAINTAINED.

 

[Slater]

Used to own one back in the 1980's. In semi-auto mode it was the softest recoiling shotun I've ever fired (due to the weight). Mine never hiccuped and I regret selling it - really had a "cool" factor.

 

[Mainsail]

Franchi spun off two other shotguns based on the SPAS12, the LAW12 semi and the SAS12 pump. I had the SAS12 with the full stock and the folding stock with the butthook. I was aircrew during Gulf War I and considered packing that beast in my hanging bag.

Wish I still had it.

 

[Panzerschwein]

They are awesome, awesome shotguns IMHO.

AT LEAST IN THE LOOKS DEPARTMENT!!!

I've shot a LAW-12 one time, put only about 4 rounds through it. It was soft shooting and pretty nice. Closest I've ever got to shooting a SPAS-12. Whatever it was in REAL life, you've got to admit, this is one iconic shotgun and it's been used in more movies and video games than you can shake a stick at, including some of my favoriters.

Personally, I would love to own one. If somehow Franchi ever made them again and they could be imported, I'd buy one if it had the nifty folding stock that goes above the reciever.

So no, I don't think the SPAS-12 was a flop.

 

[wideym]

I bought one NIB at Pistol Pete's Pawnshop outside Ft. Campbell back in 94' for $500. It felt like carrying an anvil and shot ok, but I liked the Super 90 much better. During the AWB my brother traded it for a Mini-14 (which really pissed me off) but I ended up selling the Mini for $1000 to guy in my unit with more money than brains. (He pestered me for six months to sell it to him and I rattled off $1000 to shut him up)

At work we have a NIB LAW-12 for $600, that's been sitting on the shelf for over 20 years. Its light, but I don't know if it's worth that much.

 

[RustyShackelford]

Works for me.....

That was the catch phrase of tough LAPD RHD Det Sgt Rick Hunter. See www.imfdb.org .
He packed a big SPAS 12 12ga in a few episodes of Hunter, www.imdb.com .

I saw a decent used SPAS 12 shotgun at a local gun shop around 2010/2011.
I heard the weapon had cycle-feeding issues due to the way you could convert it from semi auto to pump, .
I never shot any but I do recall a nickeled version used in a great Miami Vice episode. It had a lot of Hollywood flash but I don't think it really caught on.
In fairness, shotgun shells in the era, 1980s/1990s, were not as well made as today. If the SPAS 12 12ga came out today, it might work better & have more fans. It's one of the "woulda coulda shoulda" type firearms.

 

[rbernie]

The SPAS was the biggest, heaviest, clunkiest shotgun I've ever handled, with enough corners and edges to draw blood at least once every time you used it. It handled like a soggy fence post, and was too large in dimension for many people to use comfortably.

My experiences with 'em were part of my schooling in how shotguns had to do more than look wicked.

 

[MikeRiggins87]

BTW: What I also like about the Spas 12 is that "SPAS" with an "S" added (SPASS) is the german word for "fun"

 

[ApacheCoTodd]

I recall running across several at different times before I retired. They were certainly well made but as we had most any riot/trench gun issued in the arms room and trained religiously with them often - I was always left with this thought: Weight can kill, complexity can kill and non-standardized concepts can kill... just not always the right person.

I just couldn't wrap my head around it being a better service weapon than my favored 870s and 520s. Less hassle, less weight, swung faster and above all I could carry more rounds for the same weight. Compared to the later Mossbergs - not even an option for service duty.

Like commuting with a tow truck... "Yeah, but look what else it can do."

 

[gopguy]

Hardly a flop,it was banned from import in 1989. Still have mine.


The first photo shows the screw on choke that was available. It is stamped Vairomax.



Second shot with the hook deployed for one handed use.