Halo P-12

P-12 with HK UMP 45

This is rumored to be a possibly forthcoming pump action shotgun called the Halo P-12.   I am going to try real hard to not get your expectations too high, though. As there may only be 0-2 of these weapons in existence. It is said to weigh less than 9 pounds and be at least 27 inches in length overall. I have not seen any data to this affect, but I think we can assume that the barrel would be at least 18 inches to keep civilian ownership easy.  The weapon is a bullpup design with a top mounted magazine in line with the barrel, very similar to the FN P-90. The magazine shares the horizontal lay of the shell (perpendicular to the barrel) and the 90 degree turn to prepare the shell for chambering.




The P-12 would be limited to 2 3/4'' shells for pump operated fire, but you can hand load and fire 3" magnums. Ejection is said to be from the bottom. The Halo Mfg website does not have any new info on the P-12 and it was orginally de to be released in 2008, but I certainly haven't seen one. Rumor has it that the design is currently being refined by Monolith Arms. I would love to see  it come to market and offer some competition to the Kel-Tec KSG. I would like to see a muzzle brake of some kind added, maybe just a standoff breacher-type, because recoil is likely noticeable in a bullpup 12 gauge firing slugs. A nice beefy rubber recoil pad would not be out of place either.

P-12 with FN P-90

Whether or not we will see this design come to market remains to be seen. Certainly there is plenty of vaporware out there these days, seemingly invented just to torment us.
                                           (I am looking at you Kel-Tec PDW. )

Kel Tec KSG 12 gauge

This is the new shotgun from Kel-Tec, the KSG. It is a bullpup 12 gauge shotgun with dual magazine tubes. Ever since it was announced a few months ago, I have been excited about it. The KSG manages to be as compact as legally possible with a 26.1" overall length and an 18.5" barrel. It is pretty neat design, almost revolutionary, the only other thing that is close to it is the South African Neostead.

http://homemadedefense.blogspot.com/2009/10/weird-guns-part-4-neostead-dual-tube.html




The magazine tubes carry seven 2-3/4" or six 3" shells apiece for a total of 14+1, which is nearly ridiculous (-ly awesome). The user can switch between the tubes with a three position lever located in the area behind the trigger guard. The lever can also be set to a central detente area to allow the chamber to be emptied with the pump action without feeding a new shell from the mag tube. The pump is linked to the bolt via dual operating bars. The spent shells are ejected down through the loading port. Once the selected magazine is empty, the user must manually switch to the other tube. There is a cross bolt safety located above the pistol grip and a pump release lever at the front of the trigger guard.

The KSG comes in at 6.9lbs (unloaded I am assuming) and while that is maybe a little heavy, you will likely want that extra weight to soak up the recoil. Which I imagine will be, ummm, noticeable even with the rubber butt pad. It has a Picatinny rail along the bottom of the pump to mount a grip, light or laser and another rail on the top of the weapon for sights. As of right now, it seems it will come bare, and that is a bad decision on the part of Kel-Tec. If I buy a gun, it should come with sights. So do me a favor and throw a cheap fiber optic on there. Forward and rear sling loops are built in, and a regular sling is included. There is a cheek rest structure that also functions as a type of blast shield in case of a catastrophic failure of the chamber or barrel. And that is nice, because, you know, your face goes there.

KSG field stripped

There have been some internet rumblings about perceived shortcomings of the the design though. One thing is recoil, which in large bore bullpups can be a bit much. Another is the fact that its extremely short overall length may lead to negative views by the media, law enforcement or the States. I could easily imagine California, for example, looking on the KSG with scorn. There are also some issues with the magazine selection lever and the trigger. But keep in mind that any design takes a little while to reach maturity and this is still a new design, not yet for sale at this time.

In the pic above you can really see how much more compact the KSG is compared to a standard pump shotgun. If the design proves solid, I think it might find a lot of acceptance in the Law Enforcement and civilian areas. MSRP has not been stated, but it has been mentioned to be in the $800 US range. Hopefully that would make it about $625-675, which I think would be a good price, I would probably be willing to pay that, but they are not going to find a lot of people willing to pay $800 for a pump action 12 gauge, no matter how stumpy.

Guns I Wish I Had (part3) IMI TAR-21

Israeli Military Industries Tavor Assault Rifle- 21st Century, also known simply as the Tavor.


Designed to replace M16 and M4 rifles and carbines, the Tavor is chambered in 5.56NATO and is compatible with STANAG AR-15 magazines and all NATO 5.56 cartridges.

The Israel Defense Forces decided that they were unhappy with the overall performance and characteristics of the M4, especially its high rate of stoppages and overall length. They began a lengthy process to design a new rifle that would be much more reliable with a shorter overall length, while retaining some of the positive features of the AR-15 series.

The TAR 21 is a bull pup-style assault rifle, meaning that the operating group and magazine are located behind the firing hand, decreasing the overall length of the weapon while not reducing the barrel length. This makes the Tavor much easier to use in urban areas (such as Gaza) and when exiting vehicles than longer weapons. The Tavor was also designed with a red dot sight and a IR/visible laser aiming module built into the weapon. It also has a fold-up iron sight.

The ambidextrous safety/selector has a semi auto, burst, and fully automatic mode and the optic powers off when the safety is on. The end result shows that the Tavor is a very accurate and reliable weapon and in addition to the IDF it has been adopted by several Special Forces and SWAT units worldwide, including India, Turkey, Georgia, and Portugal, with more units and Countries likely to adopt in in the future.

The Tavor is offered in 4 variants:
T.A.R. 21--Basic Carbine

G.T.A.R. 21-- Notched barrel version for attaching a 40mm grenade launcher such as the M203

C.T.A.R. 21-- Compact version for Special Forces



S.T.A.R. 21-- Sharpshooter's version with a bi pod and magnified optic scope

Civilian-legal semi automatic versions of the Tavor are being made, although I have yet to see one for sale, and I imagine they will be quite pricey, likely over $2,000. Oh well.

For purposes of comparison, look at this TAR 21 and a SIG 556. As you can see the Tavor is much shorter than this SIG and yet retains the accuracy of a longer weapon.
Fight smarter.