IWI Tavor TS12:
A Shotgun Unlike Any Other
Amidst a monotonous field of sameness cluttering up your local gun emporium, one radical In-formation Age scattergun reliably stands out from the crowd. Tucked in alongside the countless sundry AR variants, conventional slide-action shotguns and bolt-action deer rifles is one particularly unique smoke pole. This thing looks like it belongs in the U.S. Colonial Marines arms room onboard the USS Sulaco from the epic 1986 James Cameron movie “Aliens.” Big, futuristic, sexy, and effective, the Tavor TS12 shotgun from Israel Weapon Industries is a whole armload of awesome.
In case you haven’t had the pleasure, this thing is borderline overwhelming up close. The gun is a semiautomatic bullpup design, so it is only 28 inches long despite its 18-inch barrel. It weighs eight pounds empty. The TS12 packs a whopping 15+1 of 2.75-inch 12-gauge onboard in three separate rotating tubular magazines. The manual of arms is unique to the gun but readily mastered. The end result is more raw firepower than you can find in anything that doesn’t involve an impact fuse and a tax stamp.
Ballistic Philosophy
It’s a question as old as gunpowder. How much is enough? If we’re talking about diamonds or Plutonium, then a little bit goes a long way. If I’m trying to fight my way through the zombie hordes, then a Bradley infantry fighting vehicle and Tac Air on call don’t seem out of line. Down here in the real world, however, your typical counter-zombie firepower solution needs to be a bit more portable.
Rivers of ink have been spilled over the thorny question of stopping power. I’ve attended more than my share of gunshot wounds. Here’s what that looks like up close. Handgun rounds make little holes. Sometimes they come out the back; sometimes they don’t. Folks pack handguns because rifles are too bulky.
High-velocity rifle rounds typically produce tiny entrance wounds. However, the corresponding exit versions can be fairly awe-inspiring. Shotguns, by contrast, take all of that to a whole different level.
At appropriate ranges, a 12-bore shotgun will put paid to most anything that walks. Nothing portable carries more downrange thump. In the face of multiple assailants, bad guys on serious drugs or rampant tactical uncertainty, sixteen rounds of 12-gauge chaos means not having to say you’re sorry in any of the world’s recognized languages. The IWI TS12 does that like no other.
Details
The TS12 really doesn’t look like it is of this earth. The polymer slab-sided chassis would be right at home unmodified on any decent sci-fi movie set. The bullpup design puts the action behind the fire controls to minimize length. The gun is bulky but not unduly heavy. Schlepping the thing is really not markedly worse than the same chore with a tricked-out M4.
The gun sports four standard sling attachment points and a reversible charging handle that reciprocates with the action. The top of the weapon features a full-length Picatinny rail for glass and copious M-LOK slots up front. The muzzle accepts standard Beretta/Benelli choke tubes.
The controls are unlike anything I’ve ever handled. However, this gun was designed by the Israelis, who have more practical combat experience than most anybody else. All the switches and ditzels are well-reasoned and easily accessed, and the gas system is readily adjustable without tools.
I’ve had my TS12 for some years now. It’s always been 100% reliable with high brass shells of any flavor. Early on, it did infrequently choke with low brass birdshot. However, now that I have a few rounds through the gun, it is completely reliable with literally anything I feed it.
The forearm consists of a three-part cluster of rotating composite magazine tubes. You can load the magazines from either side. Each individual tube carries either four 3-inch rounds or five of the 2.75-inch sort. Running the gun demands a unique, easily mastered set of skills.
Technical Bits
To load each tube just shove the shells through the gates as you might with any lesser scattergun. You can charge the chamber manually or from one of the tubes. There’s a handy button inside the front of the trigger guard that releases the magazine assembly to rotate around its axis. Hit the switch on the bottom to release the first round into the internal loading tray.
You manage the charging handle with your support hand, so you need not take your primary paw off of the pistol grip. The safety is a basic pushbutton. The manual bolt release is located on the right side of the chassis.
Trigger Time
Everything in the universe is physics. Mass times velocity in one direction will always equal mass times velocity in the other direction. That’s not just a good idea. That’s the law. The TS12’s barrel is low in the action to help minimize muzzle rise. The gas-operated action does a simply superlative job of excising most of the bite out of those spunky 12-bore loads.
The TS12 is a bit like carrying three semiautomatic 12-gauge shotguns at the same time. The first six rounds fire as fast as you can squeeze the trigger. On the sixth round fired, the bolt automatically locks to the rear over an empty chamber. You then press the magazine release lever located inside the trigger guard and manually rotate the magazine to align a second tube. The bolt then slams closed automatically, rendering the gun ready to fire once again. Fire those five, hit the switch, rotate the tubes, and you have the last five rounds ready to go. It’s quicker to do than to describe.
You need to ask yourself what you’re looking for in a tactical shotgun. With an MSRP of $1,399, there are cheaper options. However, the Tavor TS12 is arguably the most radically advanced combat shotgun in the world. Whether the mission is home defense, zombie eradication or just looking awesome at the range, the IWI Tavor TS12 will get you there in style. Learn more at iwi.us.