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Old 09-07-2011, 06:21 AM
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waiting4something waiting4something is offline
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Location: midwest, U.S.A.
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Quote:
Originally Posted by StainlessSteelCynic View Post
You have a USAS-12... not that I'm jealous... much...
But onto the topic. The USAS-12 is an example of where the design concepts behind the AA-12 got it partly right. Both shotguns are the result of Max Atchisson's desire to increase shotgun firepower and while the USAS-12 is only broadly based on Atchisson's original AA-12, they at least managed to get away from the bad mag support/mag catch design of that weapon.

Like you, I am still surprised however, that they didn't put a proper magazine well on the weapon. I imagine it was to make the drums easier to manufacture or fit to the weapon or something like that but when you've got a 20-rd drum of 12g attached to the weapon, I would have liked to see a proper magazine well to support the mag rather than the truncated well they went with.
The lack of a decent magazine well just blows my mind. It shows how the magazine fed shotgun development has not improved since the 1970's. When I saw the new AA-12 having the same feed design I just knew this gun was going nowhere. The combat shotgun really is a gun without much change through the years. Its' been over a hundred years and we still have the tube magazine. we just can't seem to get past that point. I don't think with a limited capacity it matters that much if the shotgun is semi or pump. Both have strengths and weakness, and they will both run dry faster then you could want.
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