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The Franchi SPAS-12 is a combat shotgun manufactured by Italian firearms company Franchi from 1979 to 2000. Production stopped fully in the year 2000 in favour of the newer, enhanced version, the SPAS-15, however, production of the SPAS-15 ceased in 2005, meaning there are currently no SPAS shotguns being produced. Only five percent (about 1,850) of the estimated Franchi SPAS 12 shotguns manufactured were imported into the United States. The SPAS-12 is a dual-mode shotgun, adjustable for semi-automatic or pump-action operation. The SPAS-12 was sold to military and police users worldwide on the civilian market, and has been featured in many movies, TV shows and video games.〔(【引用サイトリンク】title=Franchi SPAS-12 )〕 The appearance and intended purpose of the SPAS-12 initially led to its "Military" designation as a Combat Shotgun. The SPAS-12 was designed from the ground up as a rugged military shotgun and it was named the Special Purpose Automatic Shotgun. In 1990 Franchi renamed the shotgun to the Sporting Purpose Automatic Shotgun, this allowed continued sales to the United States as a limited-magazine-capacity, fixed-stock model until 1994. Following the United States Federal Assault Weapons Ban, imports of SPAS-12 shotguns were stopped into the United States. In September 2004 the ban had expired, but Franchi had ended production in 2000 of the SPAS-12 to focus on the manufacturing of the Franchi SPAS-15 model. The SPAS-12's retail price in its final year of 2000 was $1500.00 USD averaged for final sales outside the United States to non-restricted countries. Franchi S.p.A. Italy. == Design == The SPAS-12 was designed to function primarily as a semi-automatic firearm, with the pump-action mode used to reliably fire low-pressure ammunition such as tear gas rounds or less-lethal bean bags. The firing mode is switched by depressing the button under the foregrip and also sliding the foregrip forwards or backwards until it clicks into position allowing the rotating sleeve to open or close the two gas ports. The SPAS-12 has a magazine cut-off feature, which prevents loading a new round from the internal magazine when the gun is cycled. This allows the operator to load a specialized round into the chamber without firing the entire magazine first. A unique feature of the SPAS-12 was the hook on folding-stock variants. This hook could be rotated in 90-degree increments, so it would fit under the user's forearm when the stock was extended. With the stock supported under the forearm the gun can be fired with one hand, an example would be allowing the user to fire from a vehicle through the passenger side window while driving. SPAS-12 models feature two safeties: (i) a lever style or push button style safety, and (ii) a "quick employment safety." Lever safeties were recalled by Franchi and were replaced through the importer American Arms in the early 1990s. There are two different types of push-button safeties. The earliest version would actually release the hammer on safe up to 1/4in. of travel when the trigger was depressed. This would cause a lockup of the action that would require the user to relock the bolt assembly to the rear to reset the hammer and then reload the chamber. The later version installed a detent and machined hole in the trigger group frame to prevent an action lock. The detent would prevent the hammer from engaging when the trigger was depressed and would prevent an action lock from occurring. The quick employment safety, which is on the left side of the trigger guard, disconnects the trigger when put into safe mode. The quick employment safety can be disengaged with the trigger finger when ready to fire and is intended for competition or tactical use. A third safety type, a pistol grip safety similar to the later-developed SPAS-15, is known to have been developed by Franchi for the SPAS-12, however the pistol grip safety was not offered for sale to the general public. Examples of this safety are extremely rare, with only two known to exist in the United States. A B-Square rail mount for optics was available for a short time in the 1990s as an aftermarket accessory. The Barrel of the SPAS-12 was externally threaded to accept a variety of attachments. The barrel is cylinder bored and spreads a normal shot charge to about 900mm at 40 meters range, reducing the need for precise aiming. The automatic action will fire about four shots per second, and at this rate of fire, with standard buckshot loadings, it is possible to put 48 pellets per second into a one-meter-square target at 40 meters range. At this range the pellets have about 50 percent more striking energy than a .32 pistol bullet. There are four different Magazine Extension Tubes manufactured for the SPAS 12: # The 5-shell was designed for the 18" barrel. # The 6-shell was designed for restriction on the standard 21.5" Sporting Purpose model. # The 7-shell was designed for the 19 7/8in. Barrel. # The 8-shell was designed for the 21.5 Special purpose model. Many different choke types both original and aftermarket exist for the SPAS-12.〔(【引用サイトリンク】title=SPAS Choke Adaptor )〕 A 44mm grenade launcher used by France was used for explosive grenades capable of a range of 150 meters.〔(【引用サイトリンク】title=Cibles #164 November 1983 )〕 A very rare factory shot diverter that spreads shot vertically or horizontally was originally included with earlier model SPAS-12's.〔(【引用サイトリンク】title=Franchi SPAS-12 Factory Accessories )〕 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア（Wikipedia）』 ■ウィキペディアで「Franchi SPAS-12」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
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