East Systems Tac 12

East Systems Tac 12
ES Tac 12 shown with 12 gauge shotgun shell
Type	Pump Action, Bullpup Shotgun
Place of origin	Grasmere
Service history
In service	1993-Present
Used by	Grasmere
Production history
Designer	Lou Armstrong, Lyle Yates
Designed	1988
Manufacturer	East Systems
Produced	1992-Present
Number built	36,000
Variants	GT12A1
Specifications
Weight	9.1 lb (4.1 kg)
Length	26.3 in (670 mm)
Barrel length	4.5 in (110 mm)
Width	20 in (508.0 mm)
Height	7.3 in (185.4 mm)
Cartridge	12 Gauge, 2.75 and 3 inch shells
Action	Pump Action
Effective firing range	Dependent on ammunition used
Feed system	8-round box magazine
Sights	Front bead, micro red dot sight (Grasmeran Armed Forces Specification)

The East Systems Tac 12 is a pump action, bullpup combat shotgun from Grasmere.

History

The Grasmeran Armed Forces began a procurement program for a new 12 gauge pump action combat shotgun in 1990. East Systems, fresh from winning a competition to supply the SA2 to the armed forces, knew that Brad Smyth would go all out to try and beat East. Smyth designed the SS187, a conventional pump-action shotgun with a 6 round tube magazine, optimized for inexpensive production and reliability. Smyth hoped to capitalize on the armed forces sudden emphasis on cost effectiveness by creating what he called "the SA2 of shotguns". Lyle Yates of East Systems believed that a box magazine was a better fit for the project, and designed an 8-round, spring fed box magazine to fit his prototype XE12. While the XE12 was a perfectly fine weapon, Yates feared that it would be costly to produce, and was unable to reduce the manufacturing costs with subsequent revisions. A break finally came for Yates when a small arms company based out of Allendale, Bravo Precision, declared bankruptcy. Bravo had been experimenting with a bullpup version of its dual tube fed, pump action 212BB, despite the dual tube feeding system proving unreliable. Bravo had called the weapon the Tactical 12BB. Yates purchased the rights to the T12BB and set to work modifying the action and frame to accept his 8 round shotgun shell magazine. The final product, dubbed the Tactical (or Tac) 12, used enough parts from the 212BB that Yates went back and purchased the remainder of Bravo's assets from liquidation in order to produce the weapon at low cost. Although Yates was proud of his creation, many were skeptical that the armed forces would take a risk on an unproven weapon layout. Nevertheless, during the 1990 competition the judges were impressed with the Tac 12's comfort, accuracy, and fire rate. Although heavier than the SS187, it proved easier to wield due to its more compact design, and had lower recoil. It was officially adopted by the Grasmeran Armed Forces in 1993, as the GT12.

Design

The Tac 12 features a lever safety above the trigger. The original Bravo design featured a cross-bolt safety, but Yates was concerned with reliability and chose to add the lever safety. It features a picatinny rail integrated into the receiver. In Grasmeran Armed Forces specification, the weapon includes a small, red-dot type sight mounted on the rail to assist aiming; this feature was added in response to complaints from troops in 2002.

In 2008, East introduced the New Tac 12, called the GT12A1. This model addresses some early reliability issues with the actions of the original models. It also raises the receiver rail and adds a groove down the middle of it to create three dot iron sights. Screw-in replaceable chokes are now included (previously, to change the choke the entire barrel assembly would have to be swapped out). Despite these improvements, the Armed Forces have not acquired any new units of the weapon. It is expected that, given the age of the weapon, the GAF will look to replace it with a new, semi-automatic shotgun in the near future.

Users

•  Grasmere: Grasmeran Army, Eureka Capital Guard, Military Police. In service with the Grasmeran Armed Forces since 1993 as the GT12.