SPAS-15: Franchi's Improvement on the SPAS-12
Forgotten Weapons
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The SPAS-15 was Franchi’s successor to the SPAS-12, improved with detachable box magazines (6 round capacity) and a construction of simple sheet metal samplings and polymer. Like the SPAS-12, the -15 allows the used to switch between manual pump action and semiautomatic at basically the touch of a button. There is a grip safety as well as a manual safety, and that manual safety is integrated into the slide lock in an interesting way. The SPAS-15 entered production in 1986, and apparently 180 were imported into the US before the 1994 Assault Weapon Ban prohibited them. In 2005 production ceased so that Franchi could focus on sporting arms while Beretta (which acquired the Franchi firm in 1993) would cover the security and law enforcement market.
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