Plus SPAS-11, SPAS-14. SPAS-15, LAW-12, SAS-12, PA3, and more
A UK Resident Buys One of Each
Hi Chris,
Thanks for the reply. Yes I do live
in the U.K. and both SPAS have 24" barrels and are
restricted to three shots overall. They
are great fun to use although a little greedy with
the ammo. I always wanted a SPAS 12 and
15 since I was a kid and a long time
before its common use in films, and I
must say that it was the discovery of your site on
the web that spurred me on to acquire
both.
Both guns were very reasonably priced and
the SPAS 15 was quite a bit less than the
one that was purchased by the chap on
your page. Franchi were very helpful dealing
with my inquiries and altered both guns
at no extra cost. I would especially like to
thank Stefano Bernardini, who was most
helpful.
Keep in touch.
Regards,
Simon.
[I wrote and asked about the 3 shot capacity restriction with the 8 round magazine extension on the SPAS-12. He wrote:]
Regarding your comment about my SPAS 12
looking as if it has an
extension fitted. I believe it has and
it was supplied like this direct from the
factory, I did not order it in this configuration
and to try to make it comply to
the regulations they supplied a three
shot plug. This was supplied as a plastic
rod which at one end was the size of a
cartridge so it sat snugly in the
magazine tube. But the rest of the length
was down to half this diameter and
marked in incriments of a cartridge length
and at each incriment a number
indicating the number of cartridges in
the magazine tube. The idea behind
this I believe is to enable you to trim
down the plug to the desired number of
cartridges you which the magazine tube
to hold.
Although this is not enough to meet current
U.K. regulations as the plug can
be removed and the magazine tube returned
to its original capacity. My
SPAS 12 came with this plug as mentioned
earlier as I suppose Franchi
thought that this was enough to comply
to the regulations. This being the
case when my SPAS 12 came into the country
it was sent off to the Proof
House in Birmingham to have the magazine
tube crimped, permanently
deformed, as to only allow it to hold
two cartridges. The magazine tube was
also stamped with a Proof House inspection
mark and a certificate is then
issued stating as such.
I hope this answers your question.
Keep in touch, regards,
Simon.