Armsel Striker

The Armsel Striker is a 12-gauge revolving shotgun designed by Hilton R. Walker, a Zimbabwean (formerly Rhodesian) citizen, in the early 1980s. Its most distinctive feature is a 12-round non-detachable revolving cylinder, giving it an exceptionally high capacity for a shotgun. The original Striker uses a pre-wound clockwork spring mechanism to rotate the cylinder: the operator winds the spring with a key before loading, and each trigger pull releases tension to advance the next chamber into alignment with the barrel. This double-action-only trigger mechanism results in a heavy but consistent pull. The weapon features a top-folding tubular metal stock with a rubber buttplate, reducing overall length from 792mm to 508mm for compact storage and transport. A vertical foregrip aids in controlling recoil, and an ejector rod on the right side of the barrel is used to manually extract spent casings. Walker emigrated to South Africa and brought the design with him, where it was first manufactured in the mid-1980s by Armsel (Pty) Ltd. In 1989, Walker redesigned the weapon as the Protecta, replacing the clockwork spring with a manually advanced cylinder operated via a side-swinging front grip, and adding an automatic cartridge ejection system. The Protecta and its compact Bulldog variant are still produced in limited quantities by Reutech Defense Industries in South Africa. In the United States, the Striker was manufactured under license by Sentinel Arms and later by Cobray/SWD as the Streetsweeper. In 1994, the ATF reclassified the Streetsweeper and Striker-12 as destructive devices, effectively banning civilian sales without a special tax stamp.