Pancor Jackhammer

Image of the Pancor Jackhammer

The Pancor Corporation Jackhammer is a 12 gauge, gas-operated automatic weapon. It is one of very few fully automatic shotguns, and although patented in 1987, it never entered full scale production. Only a few working prototypes of the Jackhammer were ever built; some sources state that only two fully automatic prototypes exist. In the late 1990s, the current owner of the design, Mark III, attempted to sell the patents, prototypes, and production rights for $350,000. Nonetheless, its distinctive appearance and futuristic stylish design has made it popular in action television programs, films, and video games.

General statistics[]

Type: gas-operated, select-fire
Gauge: 12
Length: 787 mm
Barrel length: 525 mm.
Weight unloaded: 4.57 kg
Capacity: 10 rounds in removable revolver-type drum magazine
Rate of fire: 240 rounds per minute (four rounds per second)

Technical definitions[]

The weapon, excluding the barrel, is constructed largely of a rynite plastic in order to reduce weight. It features a bullpup layout to preserve a 525 mm barrel length in an overall 787 mm package. The shotgun is fed by a 10-round capacity center-rotating drum using conventional 12 Gauge cartridges. The shotgun weighs 4.57 kg and has a maximum rate of fire of 240 rpm. The drum's method of rotation is very similar to the Webley-Fosbery semi-automatic revolver.

The floating barrel is driven forward by gas pressure from the fired round. It is returned by a spring and moves the drum operating rod, breaking the tight seal between the barrel and the drum and allowing the drum to revolve to offer the next round. On the return stroke the barrel and drum are re-sealed allowing the round to be fired without loss of gas. Spent cartridges are not ejected, remaining in the magazine.

As an interesting additional feature, it is possible to take the drum magazine off the firearm, attach a detonator, and use it as an anti-personnel mine that fires all of the cartridges at once when tripped.

Legality in the US[]

The Pancor Jackhammer is fully automatic and thus classified as a machine gun in the United States under the National Firearms Act (NFA) of 1934. As such, they are regulated by the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives. Since all available copies of the Jackhammer were manufactured after the May 1986 deadline imposed by the Firearm Owners Protection Act, any civilian attempting to acquire a Jackhammer would need to be an exporter, manufacturer, or dealer of NFA weapons, or a law enforcement officer. However, since there are reportedly only two Jackhammers in existence, the issue is moot.