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.410 Street Sweeper (Link Inside)

13K views 7 replies 7 participants last post by  Banshee 
#1 ·
#6 ·
What little I fooled with them, I don't like them. I would rather have a good 870. You sure could run 12 shells through them in a hurry, but the reload was slow. You had to extract and reload each shell one at a time through a loading gate like a Single action rev, then you had to wind the cylinder/drum spring up. The spring helped make the cylinder/drum rotate easier

here is some info I found about them.

The Striker shotgun was originally designed in the early 1980s by Hilton Walker from Rhodesia. After the fall of Rhodesia he moved to the South African Republic, where he continued the development of his counter-insurgency, high capacity combat shotgun. First production models of his shotgun, named "Striker", were made during the mid-1980s, and found its way from the South Africa and into the USA, and other countries. The key advantages of the Striker shotgun were its large magazine capacity, which is doubled the traditional shotguns magazine capacity of that time, and rapid-fire capability. On the other hand, the rotary cylinder-type magazine was bulky, very slow to reload, and the basic action was not without certain flaws. During the late 1980s Mr. Walker redesigned his shotgun, getting rid of its watch clock-like cylinder rotation mechanism, and replaced it with manually operated cylinder rotating mechanism, linked to the side-swinging vertical front grip. The rest of the features of the Striker, including the DAO trigger, cylinder design and top-folding butt, were retained, and the spent cases auto-ejection feature was added to speed up reloading. The shotguns of updated design, called "Protecta", are still manufactured in South Africa by the Reutech Defense Industries, and offered in various barrel lengths, ranging from 171 mm (Protecta Bulldog) to the 760 mm, and with various finishes. .
The key advantage of the Striker and Protecta shotguns is their large magazine capacity, but the price for this advantage is an increased bulk of the weapon and slower reloading, especially when compared to the recent box magazine-fed combat shotguns, like Italian Franchi SPAS-15 or Russian Saiga-12. This gun, especially in its earlier Striker form, is also much more dangerous to the shooter in the case of the hang-fire, because the "skipped", hang-fired round will remain in the cylinder until removed manually, and may cause damage to the shooter if exploded not behind the barrel. The current US firearms laws listed the Striker and Protecta shotguns, as well as the Streetsweeper (an US-made Striker copy), as a destructive devices, which require special paperwork to be obtained by civilians. In some other countries (like the Russia) the Protecta shotguns can be sold to civilians only with barrels of certain lengths, and with two chambers blocked to maintain allowed 10-rounds capacity limit.

Technical description.
The Striker shotgun is based on the basic revolver scheme, but with some important improvements. In the conventional double action revolver handguns cylinder is rotated when the trigger is pressed in DA mode or when the hammer is cocked in the SA mode. Since the Striker used more or less conventional DAO trigger, and a very large and heavy cylinder (compared to handguns), the trigger pull for the conventional design could be really terrible. So, the Walker used the pre-wounded clock-work spring, located inside the cylinder, around its axis, to rotate the cylinder. The spring is wound using a large winding key, located at the front of the cylinder housing, after the cylinder is loaded with shells. When trigger is pressed, it withdraws the cylinder stop bar, which releases one of the cylinder studs, located under the each chamber on the rear cylinder wall, so the spring rotates cylinder until the next stud is engaged with the cylinder stop. This system, while allowing a really rapid fire, and maintaining acceptable trigger pull, was prone to skipping more than one chamber with partial trigger pulls, and required a spring to be wound after each magazine reloading, further slowing down the already lengthy reloading process.

The cylinder was made from two plates (front and rear), which hold 12 separate chambers together. Cylinder is removed from the gun only for cleaning and maintenance, the loading and reloading is commenced via the loading gate at the rear right side of the aluminum cylinder housing. To remove spent cases or unfired rounds, a spring-loaded ejector rod is fixed to the right side of the barrel casing, much like on the old-time single-action revolvers.

The top-folding butt is made from sheet metal, the front vertical grip and the rear pistol grip, integral with the trigger unit housing are made from plastic.

The Protecta shotgun has a manually rotating cylinder instead of the clock-spring clockwork. The front vertical grip can be swung to the right and back. This movement will rotate a barrel shroud and a pivoting arm, linked to it, which, in turn, will rotate a cylinder for 1/12 of turn, to place a next chamber behind the barrel. The spent cases are ejected automatically from the chamber at the moment of the next shot, by using a small amount of powder gases propelled back from the fired chamber. The last spent case (or unfired cartridges) can be removed using the spring-loaded ejector rod at the right side of the barrel. The reloading of the empty chambers is commenced via the loading gate, similar to one found on Striker shotguns.

Here is what the ATF says about them

ATF Rul. 94-2

The Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms (ATF) has examined a firearm
identified as the Striker-12/Streetsweeper shotgun to determine whether it is a
destructive device as that term is used in the National Firearms Act (NFA), 26
U.S.C. Chapter 53.

The Striker-12 and Streetsweeper shotguns are virtually identical 12-gauge
shotguns with a spring-driven revolving magazine. The magazine has a
12-round capacity. The shotgun has a fixed stock or folding shoulder stock and
may be fired with the folding stock collapsed. The shotgun with an 18-inch
barrel is 37 inches in length with the stock extended, and 26.5 inches in length
with the stock folded. The shotgun is 5.7 inches in width and weighs 9.24
pounds unloaded. The Striker/Streetsweeper has two pistol grips, one in the
center of the firearm below the buttstock, and one on the forearm. The
Striker/Streetsweeper was designed and developed in South Africa as a
military, security, and anti-terrorist weapon. Various types of 12-gauge
cartridges can be fired from the shotgun, and a rapid indexing procedure allows
various types of ammunition to be loaded into the cylinder and selected for
firing. All 12 rounds can be fired from the shotgun in 3 seconds or less.

Section 5845(f), Title 26, U.S.C., classifies certain weapons as "destructive
devices" which are subject to the registration and tax provisions of the NFA.
Section 5845(f)(2) provides as follows:

(f) Destructive device.--The term "destructive device" means * * *

(2) any type of weapon by whatever name known which will, or which may be

readily converted to, expel a projectile by the action of an explosive or

other propellant, the barrel or barrels of which have a bore of more than
one-half inch in diameter, except a shotgun or shotgun shell which the

Secretary or his delegate finds is generally recognized as particularly

suitable for sporting purposes; ..."

A "sporting purposes" test which is almost identical to that in section 5845(f)(2)
appears in 18 U.S.C. § 925(d)(3). This provision of the Gun Control Act of 1968
(GCA) provides that the Secretary shall authorize a firearm to be imported into
the United States if the firearm is "generally recognized as particularly suitable
for or readily adaptable to sporting purposes." With the exception of the readily
adaptable' language, this provision is identical to the sporting shotgun
exception to the destructive devices definition. The definition of "destructive
device" in the GCA (18 U.S.C. § 921(a)(4)) is identical to that in the NFA.

In determining whether shotguns with a bore of more than one-half inch in
diameter are "generally recognized as particularly suitable for sporting
purposes" and thus are not destructive devices under the NFA, we believe it is
appropriate to use the same criteria used for evaluating shotguns under the
"sporting purposes" test of section 925(d)(3). Congress used virtually identical
language in describing the weapons subject to the two statutory schemes, and
the language was added to the GCA and NFA at the same time.

In 1984, ATF ruled that the Striker-12 was not eligible for importation under
section 925(d)(3) since it is not particularly suitable for sporting purposes. In
making this determination, the 1984 letter-ruling notes that the Striker was being
used in a number of "combat" shooting events. In a letter dated June 30, 1986,
ATF again denied importation to the Striker-12, on the basis that it did not meet
the "sporting purposes" test of section 925(d)(3). This letter states that, "We
believe the weapon to have been specifically designed for military and law
enforcement uses."

In evaluating the physical characteristics of the Striker 12/Streetsweeper, ATF
concludes that the weight, bulk, designed magazine capacity, configuration,
and other features indicate that it was designed primarily for military and law
enforcement use and is not particularly suitable for sporting purposes.

The weight of the Striker-12/Streetsweeper, 9.24 pounds unloaded, is on the
high end for traditional 12-gauge sporting shotguns, which generally weigh
between 7 and 10 pounds. Thus, the weight of the Striker-12/Streetsweeper
makes it awkward to carry for extended periods, as in hunting, and
cumbersome to fire at multiple small moving targets, as in skeet and trap
shooting. The width of the Striker-12/Streetsweeper, 5.7 inches, far exceeds that
of traditional sporting shotguns, which do not exceed three inches in width or
four inches in depth. The large size and bulk of the Striker-12/Streetsweeper
make it extremely difficult to maneuver quickly enough to engage moving
targets as is necessary in hunting, skeet, and trap shooting. The spring driven
revolving magazine with 12-cartridge capacity is a much larger capacity than
traditional repeating sporting shotguns, which generally contain tubular
magazines with a capacity of 3-5 cartridges. The folding shoulder stock and the
two pistol grips are not typical of sporting-type shotguns. Finally, the overall
appearance and general shape of the weapon are radically different from
traditional sporting shotguns and strikingly similar to shotguns designed
specifically for or modified for combat and law enforcement use.

Section 7805(b), Title 26, U.S.C., provides that the Secretary may prescribe the
extent, if any, to which any ruling relating to the internal revenue laws shall be
applied without retroactive effect. Accordingly, all rulings issued under the
Internal Revenue Code are applied retroactively unless they specifically provide
otherwise. Pursuant to section 7805(b), the Director, as the delegate of the
Secretary, may prescribe the extent to which any ruling will apply without
retroactive effect.

Held: The Striker-12/Streetsweeper is a shotgun with a bore of more than
one-half inch in diameter which is not particularly suitable for sporting
purposes. The weight, size, bulk, designed magazine capacity, configuration,
and other factors indicate that the Striker-12/Streetsweeper is a military-type
shotgun, as opposed to a shotgun particularly suitable for sporting purposes.
Accordingly, the Striker-12/Streetsweeper is a destructive device as that term is
used in 26 U.S.C. § 5845(f)(2). Pursuant to section 7805(b), this ruling is applied
prospectively effective March 1, 1994, with respect to the making, transfer, and
special (occupational) taxes imposed by the NFA. All other provisions of the
NFA apply retroactively effective March 1, 1994
 
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