General Facts
- TYPE
Shotgun - ORIGIN
Italy - NICKNAMES
- - DESIGNED
1980's - DESIGNER
Franchi - PRODUCTION
1980's - present - PRODUCERS Italy - Franchi
- QUANTITY
Unknown - UNIT COST
About $330 to $400 in 2010 - CHARACTERISTICS
Rugged and reliable
Limited production costs
Able to fire low pressure ammunition
Difficult to fit accessories
Introduction
The PA-7 is a late Cold War era shotgun of Italian origin. It was developed by Franchi as a less cumbersome and less menacing alternative to the SPAS-12 for law enforcement use.
Design
The PA-7 is a pump-action shotgun with a conventional design. The PA-7 has a fixed wooden stock, tubular magazine below the barrel and rearward sliding pump-action mechanism. The iron sights are rather simple. The PA-8 has a plastic pistol grip and comes with a plastic wooden stock or metal folding stock. A variety of screw on chokes is available.
Firepower
The PA-7 fires 12ga ammunition with a 2.75 or 3 inch shell lenght. The magazine capacity is either 5 or 7 rounds. The pump-action mechanism allows for low powered and non lethal rounds to be fired. Reliability is good. Rate of fire and reload speed are limited.
Users
The PA-7 and PA-8 used on a limited scale by law enforcement units around the world.
PA-7
The PA-7 is the original model with fixed wooden stock and rifle type grip. The wooden stock is painted black. The PA-7 comes with a barrel lenght of 18.5 or 24 inch, with the former being more common.
- Specifications:
- PA-7 (18.5")
- PA-7 (24")
| Type | Shotgun |
|---|---|
| Caliber | 12ga 3" |
| Magazine | 5+1 or 7+1 round tubular magazine |
| Operation | Pump-action |
| Fire selector | 0-1 |
| Rate of fire | Pump-action |
| Barrel length | 475 mm |
|---|---|
| Rifling | Smoothbore |
| Muzzle velocity | ? |
| Stock | Fixed |
| Length | 1.08 m |
| Width | ? |
| Height | ? |
|---|---|
| Weight | ? |
| Sights | Iron sights |
| Remarks | - |
| Type | Shotgun |
|---|---|
| Caliber | 12ga 3" |
| Magazine | 5+1 or 7+1 round tubular magazine |
| Operation | Pump-action |
| Fire selector | 0-1 |
| Rate of fire | Pump-action |
| Barrel length | 610 mm |
|---|---|
| Rifling | Smoothbore |
| Muzzle velocity | ? |
| Stock | Fixed |
| Length | 1.08 m |
| Width | ? |
| Height | ? |
|---|---|
| Weight | 3.2 kg |
| Sights | Iron sights |
| Remarks | - |
PA-8
The PA-8 is a further developed version of the PA-7. It differs in having a plastic pistol grip. The PA-8E has a fixed plastic stock, the PA-8I has a metal folding stock that folds over the top. Both models come with barrel lenghts of 18.5 or 24 inch, with the former being more common.
- Specifications:
- PA-8E (18.5")
- PA-8E (24")
- PA-8L (18.5")
- PA-8L (24")
| Type | Shotgun |
|---|---|
| Caliber | 12ga 3" |
| Magazine | 5+1 or 7+1 round tubular magazine |
| Operation | Pump-action |
| Fire selector | 0-1 |
| Rate of fire | Pump-action |
| Barrel length | 475 mm |
|---|---|
| Rifling | Smoothbore |
| Muzzle velocity | ? |
| Stock | Fixed |
| Length | 0.94 m |
| Width | ? |
| Height | ? |
|---|---|
| Weight | 2.9 kg |
| Sights | Iron sights |
| Remarks | - |
| Type | Shotgun |
|---|---|
| Caliber | 12ga 3" |
| Magazine | 5+1 or 7+1 round tubular magazine |
| Operation | Pump-action |
| Fire selector | 0-1 |
| Rate of fire | Pump-action |
| Barrel length | 610 mm |
|---|---|
| Rifling | Smoothbore |
| Muzzle velocity | ? |
| Stock | Fixed |
| Length | 1.08 m |
| Width | ? |
| Height | ? |
|---|---|
| Weight | 3.1 kg |
| Sights | Iron sights |
| Remarks | - |
| Type | Shotgun |
|---|---|
| Caliber | 12ga 3" |
| Magazine | 5+1 or 7+1 round tubular magazine |
| Operation | Pump-action |
| Fire selector | 0-1 |
| Rate of fire | Pump-action |
| Barrel length | 475 mm |
|---|---|
| Rifling | Smoothbore |
| Muzzle velocity | ? |
| Stock | Foldable |
| Length | 0.93 m / 0.69 m |
| Width | ? |
| Height | ? |
|---|---|
| Weight | 2.9 kg |
| Sights | Iron sights |
| Remarks | - |
| Type | Shotgun |
|---|---|
| Caliber | 12ga 3" |
| Magazine | 5+1 or 7+1 round tubular magazine |
| Operation | Pump-action |
| Fire selector | 0-1 |
| Rate of fire | Pump-action |
| Barrel length | 610 mm |
|---|---|
| Rifling | Smoothbore |
| Muzzle velocity | ? |
| Stock | Foldable |
| Length | 1.07 m / 0.83 m |
| Width | ? |
| Height | ? |
|---|---|
| Weight | 3.0 kg |
| Sights | Iron sights |
| Remarks | - |
SPAS-12
The PA-7 series was derived from the SPAS-12 and the PA-3, which it complements.
