SHOT Show 2025: Bronco Brings Back the SPAS-12 Special Purpose Automatic Shotgun

The SPAS-12 is one of the many weapons from my childhood that remains inaccessible. It’s the gun of Muldoon in Jurassic Park, the T800 in Terminator, and it still appears in every Ubisoft game. While the SPAS-12 was never a particularly good shotgun, it’s a famous one.

The gun suffered from both reliability and safety issues. One of the most realistic depictions of the gun was in Jurassic Park, where it fired two rounds and jammed. Safety issues meant the gun could fire when you moved the safety to the off position. Yikes.

Look at that sweet 1980s stock design (Travis Pike for SNW)

It wasn’t a great gun, but it had neat ideas. It was convertible from semi to pump, looked cool, and had a nest folding stock. If you’ve always wanted a Spas you might finally get your chance.

The Turkish SPAS-12

The Turkish company Bronco Arms had their take on the SPAS-12 on display at SHOT. It looked the part…mostly. I speak absolutely zero Turkish and the guys at the booth didn’t speak much English. According to our limited communication, they’ve improved the design by fixing a problem in the receiver. They also tell me that old SPAS-12 parts would fit.

While I’m an expert on being a SPAS-12 fan, I’m not an expert on the SPAS-12 itself, but I see some differences.

The Bronco SPAS-12 isn’t a direct 1 for 1 clone. (Travis Pike for SNW)

The Bronco version has a swept-back pistol grip, and the forend has some grippy inserts the OG version didn’t have. The magazine cutoff button, which is also used to open the loading gate, is now directly under the charging handle rather than slightly ahead of it.

The stock still folds over the top and features that silly little arm hook. I like the look and feel of the new SPAS-12 and if it sucks, at least I’m getting an authentic SPAS-12 experience. I can’t help but be a little giddy over a SPAS-12 clone that might even be affordable. We shall see.

 

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