If you ever wanted a rotary shotgun like the old Armsel Striker or Cobray Street Sweeper, you have the fun spoilers at ATF to thank for making them tough to get. They arbitrarily decided they were NFA items and pretty much killed the market. Well, thanks to American Gun Craft, you have another chance. Their new ROTO 12 is a short-barreled rotary shotgun without any of the tedious NFA paperwork. It can even be shipped right to your door.
American Gun Craft
If you aren’t familiar with American Gun Craft, they make short-barreled black powder muzzle-loading shotguns with modern touches. Their Diablo and Desperado double-barrel shotguns have been on my radar for a while now. There’s even a newer AR Tactical Shotgun Pistol that uses AR grips and will take an AR receiver extension for mounting a stock.
Because these are black powder muzzle-loading firearms, they don’t fall under the purview of the National Firearms Act. They are classified as “antique firearms.” So, even though the American Gun Craft offerings have some pretty modern touches, they still fall under that antique firearm category. This means that they aren’t regulated like cartridge firearms. They don’t require an FFL and can be ordered online and shipped right to your door.
The ROTO 12 Compact Shotgun
While their double-barrel models are pretty slick, the new ROTO 12 is something else altogether. As the name implies, it’s a rotary cylinder-fed shotgun. It’s 12-gauge bore and each of the eight chambers acts as an individual barrel as well. Think about it kind of like a giant pepperbox revolver. Like a revolver, it uses a double-action trigger and can be fired as fast as you can pull it.
Just like the AR Tactical Shotgun, the ROTO 12 will take an AR receiver extension and stock. It also uses an AR pistol grip, so you can swap that out for your grip of choice if you want. Bet you didn’t think you’d ever see Magpul furniture on a muzzleloader. The overall length (without a receiver extension) is just 8 inches. The weight is 5.2 pounds.
The 8-round cylinder is front-loading. Although it is a muzzle loader, it can be loaded quickly using AGC fast load slugs. The ROTO 12 uses conventional 209 inline primer Breech Plug Design BP for ignition. The suggested load is a 50gr ffg pellet with AGC fast load slugs.
There’s no mention of actual shot loads yet, but I’d be curious about those as well. Not that eight slugs as fast as you pull the trigger is anything to scoff at. It is a shotgun, though, so I’d like to see what it would do with a buck or buck and ball load, too. The cylinder, or drum as AGC calls it, is quick change as well. You can buy spare cylinders and have them pre-loaded for a relatively rapid reload.
Price and Availability
The ROTO 12 is currently available for pre-order with an expected delivery date of early summer 2025. MSRP is $1,255.00. I’m not going to say that’s inexpensive, but this is a unique product. There’s a lot of machine work that goes into a design like that. It’s also a pretty unique niche item.
You are saving on a tax stamp as well, plus transfer fees at an FFL. There’s the convenience of having it delivered right to your door as well. Spare 8 round drums are an additional $219.00 each.
How practical is an American Gun Crafter ROTO 12? I’m not sure, honestly, but I love the idea. AGC is marketing them for defense, and eight rounds of 12 gauge, even in blackpowder mode, is some serious stuff.
I can’t see myself picking a muzzle loader over a conventional shotgun, personally. However, for folks in restricted areas, it might be an option. Heck, this thing is even legal in California. It would also be a lot of fun, I suspect, and that’s good enough reason to get one right there.
