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Armsel Striker

1983 COLD WAR MODERN

History

The Amsel Stiker is a two-handed, semi-automatic, bolt-action shotgun that fires a variety of 12-gauge ammunition from a 12-round rotary cylinder. The weapon features a folding stock, pistol grip with additional trigger set, 12" barrel and an integral foregrip. Originally developed by Hilton Walker in the Republic of Rhodesia (on the northern border with South Africa), the system was put into use by the South African police and army under the Amsel brand after arriving in the Republic of South Africa in the early 1980s (Rhodesia heard ceased to exist in 1979, 1980 become Zimbabwe).

Since then, the weapon has gained some notoriety and has proven to be more than just a fancy new shotgun. Its high magazine count and short barrel length make it an ideal weapon system for military and security missions - the former can be used as a deterrent and sabotage "tool", while the latter can be used in counterinsurgency missions.

The automatic shotgun has been the dream of many gunsmiths since the inception of the shotgun. Most shotguns of the 20th century relied on the action of an operator to remove a spent case and then insert a new case into the chamber to fire. This is usually accomplished by an action such as a pump-slide mechanism. Striker now allows the operator to select a semi-auto fire mode with a healthy 12 rounds of ammo.

Instead of operating levers or pump push rods, the operator simply pulls the trigger to fire each round in succession, enabling higher rates of fire than modern shotguns. Essentially, the Striker draws on proven principles developed in the heyday of the standard revolver.

Reloading the cylinder itself is a manual operation through a right port located on the rear plate of the cylinder block. During all actions, the cylinder itself remained on the gun body and was only removed for maintenance.

However, to compensate for the Stiker's larger and heavier magazine, the Walker relies on a pre-wound "clockwork" type spring to rotate the cylinder. While effective in some ways, it made the auto-reloading process take longer than expected, and the act of rotating the cylinder itself tended to skip the available bullets in the reloading chamber.

The striker, despite being relatively short in length, also proved to be a bit bulky, albeit more due to its large cylindrical magazine case, as the stock folds over the top of the frame. Forced to re-evaluate his weapon, Walker reimagined it in "Protecta," a design that did away with the slow-rotating cylinder and introduced a hand-rotating cylinder in its place.

In addition to the original Striker and upgraded Protecta, the weapon system evolved into a number of useful variants, including the shortened "Protecta Bulldog", the "Sentinel Arms Striker-12" for the US market, and the "Cobray/SWD Streetsweeper". 18" barrel for budget-conscious and small Cobray/SWD ladies home companions.

As an "offensive weapon," the striker is banned in Canada and has limited, but not impossible, availability in the United States.

The

Striker was a revolutionary product in its own right, becoming one of the first production attempts at trigger/barrel shotguns for security and the military. In a way, Walker's initial forays today have been refined in new advanced fully automatic shotgun designs actively used and tested by forces such as Russian Special Forces and the U.S. Marine Corps.

Technology provides capabilities, the military provides demand, and today's soldiers can be equipped with devastating countermeasures and enable the ultimate "unlocker" and Auto Assault- 12 (AA-12).