SPAS-12

The SPAS-12 is a shotgun available in Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2, Call of Duty: Modern Warfare: Mobilized, and Call of Duty: Black Ops. Its mode of operation depends on the game it is in; in Modern Warfare 2, it is pump-action, while the Mobilized and Black Ops versions are semi-automatic.

Singleplayer
The SPAS-12 appears frequently in several campaign levels; however, during the missions "The Gulag" and "Cliffhanger", a SPAS-12 with arctic camo can be found. It is also possible, although extremely rare, to find a SPAS-12 with woodland camouflage on "The Enemy Of My Enemy". Its range is regarded as long in terms of a shotgun in both the singleplayer and multiplayer.

Multiplayer
In multiplayer, it is the first shotgun available to the player. The SPAS-12 is one of three pump action shotguns in the game, the others being the W1200, which is only available in the Museum, and the Masterkey Shotgun attachment, which is unlocked by 20 Grenade Launcher kills with assault rifles.

The SPAS-12 is a popular shotgun due to its high damage and range. Since the update which reduced the range of the Akimbo Model 1887, it has become one of the most used shotguns in online multiplayer. Although it statistically has the second highest range of the shotguns, as the shortened range only counts for Akimbo Model 1887s, whereas if you don't use the Akimbo attachment, it will still retain it's very high range. But the SPAS has a higher rate of fire than the 1887, higher than most people give it credit for.

Some players prefer to use Steady Aim with this weapon because at mid range more pellets will hit doing more damage. However, Steady Aim will actually make a poorly aimed shot more likely to miss as the pellets will cover less area. One possible compromise is to use Steady Aim and fire from the hip at mid range but fire by ADS at short range, as ADS increases the spread of the shot, making it more likely to kill, at the expence of quick movement in CQC when movement is essential. A good strategy is to have Sleight of Hand Pro equipped as Perk 1, because it not only dramatically decreases reload time, but also increases the rate of fire when aiming down the sights, because of the Pro effect.

Extended Mags is the most logical choice for the SPAS-12. Doubling the shell capacity of the SPAS-12 to 16 shells makes it remarkably effective for long term close quater battles. The Grip does lessen the view kick, but the SPAS-12 is already centered by the end of firing cooldown anyway due to its pump action nature, so it's hardly worth using even when firing from the hip. The silencer reduces its range considerably, but it will still have more range than the Rangers. However, the silencer greatly reduces its one shot kill capabilities, being one of the strongest abilities of the SPAS-12. Going against popular opinion, the SPAS-12 with FMJ is glitched in that no extra bullet penetration is added. Also, using alternative optics is uncommon considering ADS increases the spread, thus not contributing to the SPAS-12's power, meaning that many players will replace them for a Grip and/or Extended Mags.

Weapon Attachments

 * Red Dot Sight
 * Suppressor
 * Grip
 * FMJ
 * Holographic Sight
 * Extended Magazines

Singleplayer
The SPAS-12 appears in Modern Warfare: Mobilized as one of the two shotguns in game, the other being the AA-12. The SPAS-12 is only found in "Wrecking Crew", "Closing In", Oil Rig Confrontation", and "Last Chance", used only by the Insurgency. The SPAS-12 is the same in appearance and damage as the SPAS-12 in Modern Warfare 2, but it has a few differences. Firstly, it fires in the semi-automatic mode as opposed to the pump-action mode. This allows a quick second shot if the first shot misses or doesn't kill. Secondly, the pellets have an unlimited range. This allows the player to fire all eight shells (if necessary) to kill an enemy at long range if there is no time to switch to a long range weapon.

Multiplayer
In multiplayer, the SPAS-12 is unlocked by default for the Insurgency faction. It is a decent shotgun to use, though it has a long reload time and a capacity of only 8 shells. Unlike in single player, it usually takes two shells to kill, unless at point blank range. However, it usually doesn't take more than three shells at long ranges, unless firing across the map. The NDS version of the SPAS-12 is often considered one of the best shotguns in the Call of Duty series, having the second highest capacity of all semi-auto shotguns (the first being the Striker), high damage, and unlimited pellet range.

Call of Duty: Black Ops
The SPAS-12 will appear in the upcoming game Call of Duty: Black Ops, although it's name is now just the SPAS. It has the stock in folded position. It appears to be semi-automatic due to the fact that the characters seen in the Black Ops reveal trailer did not pump the shotgun before taking the next shot. The SPAS-12 will be able to use Dragon's Breath (incendiary) shotgun shells.

In the Black Ops uncut reveal trailer, Woods is seen giving the player what is possibly a SPAS-12.

Trivia

 * When the SPAS-12 is fired, the ejection port opens and closes as normal, however no shell is ejected; and then, when the player pumps it, the shell will eject but the port will not open.
 * When a grip is attached, rather than taking the hand off the grip to pump the gun, the player cocks the gun back with the same speed of pumping it normally.
 * There are multiple fingerprints visible on the skin for the SPAS-12. There appears to be one on the stock, a few on the receiver and one on the pump mechanism.
 * FMJ does not add the "fireworks" animation when pellets hit a surface.
 * Equipping a silencer to the SPAS-12 in multiplayer gives it the name "SPAS-12 Silencer", rather than "SPAS-12 Silenced".
 * While Modern Warfare 2 was in development, the SPAS-12 used the M1014's pick-up icon.
 * In singleplayer, the SPAS-12's firing sound is the same as the M1014.
 * In-game, the weapon seems to be poorly lubricated, as the weapon makes a strange squeaking sound.
 * In Spec-Ops, enemies will sometimes drop a SPAS-12 with arctic camo.
 * There is a glitch that allows the user to fire the SPAS-12 without pumping it, as if it were an M1014. This glitch requires the use of Sleight of Hand. It is performed by holding down the fire button (not taking it off until you run out of cartridges), pressing the reload button, and immediately tapping the switch weapons button twice, before the reload is complete. It is inadvisable to use this tactic in public matches, though, because many players will think you have modded the game.

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