Daewoo Precision Industries USAS - 12 The Daewoo Precision Industries USAS - 12 ( Universal Sports Automatic Shotgun 12 gauge ) is an automatic shotgun designed as a combat shotgun manufactured in South Korea by Daewoo Precision Industries during the 1980s . Design . The USAS - 12 is a gas - operated , selective - fire weapon which is designed to provide sustained firepower in close - combat scenarios . It accepts detachable 10 - round box magazines or 20 - round drum magazines . Both types of magazine are made of polymer , and drum magazines have their rear side made from translucent polymer for quick determination of the number of shot shells left . It has an effective range of 40 m . The latest version of the USAS - 12 is capable of fully automatic fire . History . The history of the USAS - 12 dates from the 1980s vintage designs of Maxwell Atchisson . In about 1989 , Gilbert Equipment Co . ( USA ) decided to bring up the selective fired weapon , broadly based on principles employed in Atchisson shotguns . The design of the new weapon was produced by John Trevor Jr . Since Gilbert Equipment Co . had no manufacturing capabilities , it started to look for possible manufacturers . It turned out that the only maker that agreed to produce this weapon was the South Korean company Daewoo Precision Industries , a part of the high - tech Daewoo conglomerate . Daewoo engineers adapted the new weapon to their manufacturing techniques , and mass production commenced in the early 1990s . This gun sold well to military and security forces of several ( unspecified ) countries in Asia , and more than 30 , 000 of USAS - 12 shotguns were made by mid - 1990s . During the same timeframe , Gilbert Equipment Co . tried to bring semi - automatic version of USAS - 12 to the U . S . market , but the BATF promptly classified this weapon as " having no sporting purpose " , so it became a " destructive device " under the U . S . National Firearms Act of 1934 . This greatly restricted its civilian use . During the late 1990s , RAMO Defence Co . began to assemble USAS - 12 shotguns from Korean and U . S . - made parts for sale on domestic market , but sales of this weapon were limited to government agencies only . Today , this gun is still being manufactured by S & T Daewoo in Korea for military and law enforcement sales only . Recently , a US firearms manufacturer , Ameetec Arms LLC of Scottsdale , Arizona , has started the manufacture of a USAS - 12 semi - automatic clone , called the WM - 12 ; it mainly differs from the USAS - 12 by the lack of fixed sights and carrying handle , replaced by a Picatinny rail . The manufacturer states that the WM - 12 is not a " destructive device " , and is thus readily available to civilians . As of January 2008 , however , the WM - 12 was no longer to be found on Ameetec Arms online catalogs due to the fact that it was discontinued after its initial semi - production run . Only a few WM - 12s were actually built using USAS - 12 Demilled shotguns . The semi - automatic version of the original USAS - 12 is presently manufactured by DGN Enterprises Inc near Martinsville , Indiana , under the store front Guns & Ordnance . The new production USAS - 12 is still registered as a " destructive device " .