Daewoo Precision Industries USAS-12

The USAS-12 is a gas-operated, selective fire weapon, designed to provide sustained firepower in close-combat scenarios. It accepts detachable 10-round box magazines or 20-round drum magazines. Both types of magazine are made of polymer, and drum magazines have their rear side made from translucent polymer for quick determination of the number of shot shells left. It has an effective range of 40 m. In the early 1990s, a new CQ model of the USAS-12 was created. It looks similar to the original model, but unlike the original, it lacks the front sight and has a re-modeled carry handle. The bolt locks on 1 cylindrical locking piece that moves up into round hole in barrel extension.

The history of the USAS-12 dates from the 1980s vintage designs of Maxwell Atchisson. In about 1989, Gilbert Equipment Co. (USA) decided to bring up the selective fired weapon, broadly based on principles employed in Atchisson shotguns. The design of the new weapon was produced by John Trevor, Jr. Since Gilbert Equipment Co. had no manufacturing capabilities, it started to look for possible manufacturers. It turned out that the only maker that agreed to produce this weapon was the South Korean company Daewoo Precision Industries, a part of the Daewoo conglomerate. Daewoo engineers adapted the new weapon to their manufacturing techniques, and mass production commenced in the early 1990s. The USAS-12 sold well to military and security forces of several (unspecified) countries in Asia, and more than 30,000 USAS-12 shotguns were made by the mid-1990s.[http://world.guns.ru/shotgun/skor/usas-12-e.html Modern Firearms – USAS-12.] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20121017054517/http://world.guns.ru/shotgun/skor/usas-12-e.html |date=2012-10-17 }} Retrieved July 13, 2011.{{Cite web |last=Thompson |first=Leroy |date=2024-02-27 |title=The Powerful USAS-12 Full-Auto Shotgun |url=https://www.firearmsnews.com/editorial/usas-12-full-auto-shotgun/492320 |access-date=2025-02-16 |website=Firearms News |language=en}}

During the same timeframe, Gilbert Equipment Co. tried to bring a semi-automatic version of the USAS-12 to the U.S. market, but Treasury Secretary Lloyd Bentsen classified this firearm as "having no sporting purpose", so it became a "destructive device" under the U.S. National Firearms Act of 1934.{{cite book|last=Walker|first=Robert E.|title=Cartridges and Firearm Identification|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=THQ1iG8fSG8C&pg=PT369|year=2013|publisher=CRC Press|isbn=978-1-4665-8881-3|page=369}} This greatly restricted its civilian use. During the late 1990s, RAMO Defence Co. began to assemble USAS-12 shotguns from Korean and U.S.-made parts for sale on the domestic market, but sales of this weapon were limited to government agencies only. The shotgun is still being manufactured by S&T Daewoo (now SNT Motiv) in Korea for military and law enforcement sales only.{{Citation needed|date=February 2016}}{{Cite web |date=2010-10-27 |title=USAS-12 |url=https://modernfirearms.net/en/shotguns/south-korea-shotguns/usas-12-eng/ |access-date=2022-11-05 |website=Modern Firearms |language=en}}

A U.S. firearms manufacturer, Ameetec Arms LLC of Scottsdale, Arizona, started the manufacture of a USAS-12 semi-automatic clone in 2007, called the WM-12; it mainly differs from the USAS-12 by the lack of fixed sights and carrying handle, replaced by a Picatinny rail. The manufacturer stated that the WM-12 is not a "destructive device", and would thus be readily available to civilians.[http://www.ameetecarms.com/store/index.php?main_page=product_info&products_id=62&zenid=9707e028c5708f02f8f7253d802255db Ameetec Arms WM-12.] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090305085232/http://www.ameetecarms.com/store/index.php?main_page=product_info&products_id=62&zenid=9707e028c5708f02f8f7253d802255db |date=2009-03-05 }} Retrieved on December 28, 2007. As of January 2008, however, the WM-12 was no longer to be found on Ameetec Arms online catalogs, because it was discontinued after its pre-production run. Only a few WM-12s were built using USAS-12 demilitarized shotguns{{Citation needed|date=April 2023}}.

• {{flag|Brazil}}: Used by the GRUMEC and army Special Forces battalions{{cite web |title=Armas que o exercito brasileiro usa - armas e bombas.projeteis |url=http://www.ebah.com.br/content/ABAAAfPiQAJ/armas-que-exercito-brasileiro-usa |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170725043147/http://www.ebah.com.br/content/ABAAAfPiQAJ/armas-que-exercito-brasileiro-usa |archive-date=2017-07-25 |website= |publisher=}}{{Better source needed|date=September 2022|reason=Source does not mention the USAS-12, possibly it appeared on one of the images but they are broken}}
• {{flag|Colombia}}{{Cite web |date=2016-03-12 |title=World Infantry Weapons: Colombia |url=https://sites.google.com/site/worldinventory/wiw_sa_colombia |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160312062339/https://sites.google.com/site/worldinventory/wiw_sa_colombia |archive-date=2016-03-12 |access-date=2022-10-08 }}:Used by GAULA,{{Cite web |date=2018-03-15 |title=Con fusiles atacan al Gaula en el occidente de Medellín - 360 Radio |url=https://360radio.com.co/con-fusiles-atacan-al-gaula-en-el-occidente-de-medellin/ |access-date=2022-10-09 |language=es}} and COPES{{Citation |last=Dueñas |first=Ronald |title=COPES - Policía Nacional de Colombia |date=2010-07-20 |url=https://www.flickr.com/photos/ronald-duenas/4816035663/ |access-date=2022-10-09}}
• {{flag|Philippines}}:Used by private security forces.{{Cite web |last1=www.wazile.com |first1=Wazile Technology Solutions- |last2=Wazile |date=2019-02-20 |title=The Pros and Cons of Being a Security Guard in the Philippines |url=https://www.corinthiansgroup.com/the-pros-and-cons-of-being-a-security-guard-in-the-philippines/ |access-date=2022-10-04 |website=Corinthians Group of Companies |language=en-US}}
• {{flag|Peru}}{{Cite web |date=2016-05-29 |title=World Infantry Weapons: Peru |url=https://sites.google.com/site/worldinventory/wiw_sa_peru |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160529045615/https://sites.google.com/site/worldinventory/wiw_sa_peru |archive-date=2016-05-29 |access-date=2022-10-08 }}
• {{flag|South Korea}}{{Cite web |date=2016-03-12 |title=World Infantry Weapons: South Korea |url=https://sites.google.com/site/worldinventory/wiw_as_koreasouth |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160312080849/https://sites.google.com/site/worldinventory/wiw_as_koreasouth |archive-date=2016-03-12 |access-date=2022-10-06 }}:Used by the 707th Special Mission Group
• {{flag|Thailand}}{{cite web |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20191211191444/http://www.smallarmssurvey.org/fileadmin/docs/S-Trade-Update/SAS-Trade-Update-2019.pdf |archive-date=11 December 2019 |url=http://www.smallarmssurvey.org/fileadmin/docs/S-Trade-Update/SAS-Trade-Update-2019.pdf |title=Trade Update 2019: Transfers, Transparency and Southeast Asia Spotlight |publisher=Small Arms Survey |last1=Picard |first1=Michael |last2=Holtom |first2=Paul |last3=Mangan |first3=Fiona |date=December 2019}}

• Grupos de autodefensa comunitaria{{Cite web |title=Ya van 83 detenidos en Michoacán - Al Minuto |url=https://www.alminuto.mx/2014/06/ya-van-83-detenidos-en-michoacan.html?m=0 |access-date=2022-10-02 |website=www.alminuto.mx}}{{Cite web |last=Hernández |first=César |date=2016-06-08 |title=Mexico's lost guns: 13,000 over 10 years |url=https://mexiconewsdaily.com/news/mexicos-lost-guns-13000-over-10-years/ |access-date=2022-10-02 |website=Mexico News Daily |language=en-US}}
• Karen National Liberation Army{{Cite web |title=Julius Schrank - Karen state |url=http://www.juliusschrank.com/stories/new-burma-s-shadows/karen-state |access-date=2022-10-04 |website=www.juliusschrank.com |language=en}}
• Los Zetas{{Cite web |last=ALTHAUS |first=DUDLEY |date=2011-06-10 |title=Zetas' guns, uniforms captured in raid near Eagle Pass |url=https://www.chron.com/news/nation-world/article/Zetas-guns-uniforms-captured-in-raid-near-Eagle-1692024.php |access-date=2022-10-02 |website=Chron |language=en-US}}
• New People's Army{{Cite web |title=NPA squad leader captured, firearms seized in DavOr |website=Philippine News Agency |url=https://www.pna.gov.ph/articles/1174438}}

• Mexican Drug War
• Karen Conflict
• New People's Army rebellion

• Combat shotgun
• List of shotguns
• List of semi-automatic shotguns
• Saiga-12
• Riot shotgun

{{reflist}}

• [https://web.archive.org/web/20100901210647/http://world.guns.ru/shotgun/sh16-e.htm Modern Firearms]
• [https://patents.google.com/patent/US4930399 Patent]
• {{YouTube|SKbC7ldO3fY|title=USAS-12 Combat Shotgun}} — disassembly video

{{DEFAULTSORT:Daewoo Usas-12}}

Category:Automatic shotguns

Category:Military equipment introduced in the 1980s

Category:Post–Cold War weapons of South Korea

Category:Shotguns of South Korea

Category:Weapons and ammunition introduced in 1989