Franchi SPAS-15

Franchi SPAS-15 History

The

Franchi SPAS-15 Shotgun is an automatic shotgun capable of firing multiple rounds without the need for traditional and traditional pump-action manual slide systems. At the time of its introduction, the shotgun type was one of the few to be considered truly automatic, as the user did not need to manually operate the pump push rod to insert new shells into the firing chamber.

The gun can fire conventional bullets, buckshot, arrows or flares from a 3, 6 or 8 round detachable magazine.

Luigi Franchi SpA took some of the mechanics of the previous SPAS-12 combat shotgun, the pump/air system, and developed the new SPAS-15 series. A key differentiating factor is the ability to fire from a detachable magazine in semi-automatic mode, as opposed to a tubular magazine design. Visually, the SPAS-15 also adopts a more automatic-firing "assault rifle" shape, including a long-barreled grip on the receiver, a foldable wire rest, a straight magazine, a pistol grip, and a pump slide grip.

The barrel was placed under the gas pipe and closed with a muzzle brake. The pull handle is mounted on the receiver inside the handle ring.

The SPAS-15 weighs 8.5 pounds and has an overall length of 39 inches, the foldable butt when folded reduces its overall size to 30 inches. The smoothbore size is 18 inches, and the gun can accommodate 12-gauge shells. The ignition action is accomplished by a pump-actuated device or a gas-driven system using an internal pivot mechanism.

Effective range is reportedly up to 130 feet, but accuracy at close range is generally better.

Franchi has since completed all series production of the SPAS-15 series with the main operators being the Italian Army, Portugal and Serbia. Since then, many other semi-automatic and automatic shotgun shapes have entered the development or shotgun market, many with potentially lucrative military contracts in mind.

Specification

Roles

Dimensions

Performance

Changes