This is Lot 1146 in the upcoming October 2019 Morphy Extraordinary auction.
The Striker shotgun was designed by a Rhodesian named Hilton Walker in the late 1970s, although not manufactured until after he had emigrated to South Africa. He partnered with the owner of the Armsel company to finance production, which was actually done by a company called Aserma Manufacturing. The original Striker version of the gun used a wind-up spring-powered 12-round cylinder coupled with a gas auto-ejection system for all but the final round fired. This was treated as a semiautomatic shotgun by the South African police, and Walker redesigned it in 1991 to be manually indexed (by pivoting the front grip and barrel shroud between shots). This allowed for less regulated sale in South Africa at the time.
For the export market – like the United States – the distinction was not relevant, and it was the Striker model with its wind-up cylinder that was brought in by a company called Sentinel Arms. Both a full-length version with an 18 inch barrel and folding stock, and an “entry” version with a 7 inch barrel and no stock, were sold. In 1994, public pressure led the Clinton administration to designate the Striker-12 along with the Cobray Streetsweeper and USAS-12 shotguns as Destructive Devices under the 1934 National Firearms Act. This was legally possible because the NFA considers all firearms with bore diameters over 1/2 inch to be Destructive Devices, with guns like shotguns exempted if they are considered suitable for sporting purposes.
‘Semi doable’ (or at least a similar) in the WWI period and I would have thought a ‘very’ useful trench gun (at least substantially better than the Winchester M1917) – or would the slow reloading time have been a prohibitive drawback (would it be possible to fit / use pre loaded interchangeable magazines i.e. Lewis gun) ?
When you did your video on the Streetsweeper, you had very little (as in nothing) good to say about it. Is this critter just as bad, or is it a more competent execution if the same basic concept?
The Streetwepper was a numb marketing name for a gun that was different enough from this one to be regarded as different guns. The gun in this video auto ejects until the last round. With the Shitesweeper you had to eject every round after firing before reloading; and that was only easy if the spring was fully wound up. That seems like a right street sweepings of a gun.
The firing experience was seemingly different as well, but without Ian talking about firing this Striker we cannot well compare the two. The original revue of the 12ga is here https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Uoy14h6K5TY
“(…)12-round cylinder(…)a gas auto-ejection system for all but the final round fired.(…)”
Hmm… this make it similar to BECKER shotgun:
https://silvercore.wordpress.com/2014/06/03/the-becker-semi-auto-revolving-shotgun-silvercore-firearms-training-bc/
although this was semi-automatic not spring-powered.
In 1990, I purchased a Penn Inc. Striker 12 never fired and in the original box for $500 at a gun show in Ft. Wayne, IN. The semi-automatic shotgun was placed into my gun safe and locked away with my collection.
In April of 2009, a search of questionable legality was performed in my home by ATF. The Striker 12 was found within my gun safe. I was incarcerated and held in custody without bail. Six months later, I was convicted and sentenced to 18 months in Federal prison for the possession of an unregistered firearm.
The NRA stated in a letter addressed to my Father that I was the victim of a bad law for which there was no defense. My collection of other guns were siezed and forcibly forfeited. I was fined $2000 and I served 18 months in Federal prison ruining my life.