View the Typhoon Defence range here: https://www.cheshiregunroom.com/typhoon-defence-f12

The latest semiautomatic 12-gauge, box magazine fed shotgun coming out of Turkey is the Typhoon F-12. Typhoon Defence industries exports to over 28 countries and is ISO:9001 certified and it’s clear that it is a quality manufacturing facility.

The F-12 semi-automatic looks like an AR; however, it does not strip down like one. It has two normal pins to split the top and bottom halves of the action, both of these have to be knocked out. This then separates the upper and lower, the bolt can then be seen in the top half. You can then see that it is held captive, there is no hole at the back end to drop the bolt out of. To remove the bolt assembly, both the barrel and forend have to be removed first. There are easy to follow instructions in the glossy colour instruction manual, so it’s not an issue; they also supply the two tools needed for the strip down. Just bear in mind it looks like an AR-type gun but does not strip as easily or as quickly as one for cleaning.

UK ready

For the UK market, the F-12 has a 24-inch-long, 4140 stainless steel barrel, it is screw cut internally for fitting chokes, five of which are supplied with the gun – full, improved modified cylinder. The outside of the chokes are also threaded to take a faux moderator and possibly a brake by all accounts- very clever. This thread is protected with a knurled collar, which can be removed. The action is made from lightweight magnesium/ aluminium T6 7075 alloy and the F-12’s forend comes in two lengths: Standard and Maxi. The one on review here is the longer Maxi in OD green. You can instantly see the slender forend, that’s a clue to the operating system. It does use a gas piston system but the piston runs around the barrel, within the forend. You can see the operation spring, dual piston etc. through the holes in the forend. This unique system is subject to a patent by Typhoon Industries. The operation is called a dual gas system, as the piston can be fitted to suit 50g heavy loads or what they call normal, light loads. I left it set on the light load set up and it worked fine.

The F-12 really is a beast of a gun, I had the OD Cerakote green model to review but is also comes in Black, Bronze, Dark Earth, Grey, OD Green, Puma and finally Titanium. Cerakote is a hard-wearing and long-lasting finish.

The forend has raised NATO accessory rail sections on each side and each end, also under the front. It also has six KeyMod holes underneath and seven along the top; you can see the piston and recoil spring through the forend; ingress of dirt etc. into the gas system should not be an issue if you are careful. This allows the owner to fit a forward grip, lights, lasers or even shotshell holders. The pistol grip is all ‘AR’ with a rubber coating. The adjustable butt stock has five positions and 80mm of movement but there is no spring in the buffer tube.

An interesting add on is the adjustable cheekpiece, this can raise by 27mm, giving perfect fit, no matter what height of sight you put on it. The pistol grip is of course also ambidextrous; it’s also covered in rubber for the added grip of this big gun.

The safety catch is in the normal AR position above the trigger and is ambidextrous, the lever on the right is shorter, so as not to interfere with the trigger finger for a right-handed shooter. The rearward position is for SAFE, it has a white dot at 1 o’clock, detailed on each side of the action to indicate the SAFE position. The downward position is the FIRE position and there is a red coloured dot at 11 o’clock on both sides, being downward-pointing the shooter can feel the bottom of the safety catch when it is in the FIRE position, which is useful not having to look at it. When the safety is on, it blocks the trigger from moving, the trigger weight came in at 2.1kg on my electronic measuring gauge, it felt nice and crisp.

The magazine release is in the AR position, just in front of the trigger on the right-hand side. It is a large button with no need to fit an aftermarket bigger alternative. The F-12 is the last shot hold open on an empty magazine and there is an action release button on the left. You can also fit an extended action release lever (for £24.95) which extends down into the front of the trigger guard so that you can operate it with your trigger finger. The action cocks, not with the normal AR pull back bolt handle on the rear of the action, but a bolt handles sticking out of the bolt on the right-hand side of the moving bolt. It has four red O-rings around its circumference for added grip. I have to mention here the fantastic breech safety flag they supply; it’s a yellow plastic job, which jams into the throat of the barrel but fastened onto this is a red flag, which is embroidered in white on one side with ‘REMOVE BEFORE FIRING’ and the other side has the Spartan helmet logo along with ‘TYPHOON F12’ on it.

The gun comes with two 10 shot magazines, a damn sight better than other box fed shotguns from Turkey. Ten shot magazines are an extra 45-quid and you will need at least three.

The magazines fit in well with no issues. It even comes already fitted with a flared magwell extension to speed up magazine changes. The magazines carry on with the Spartan helmet logo picked out in white on one side, along with ‘F12’. They work very well, just ensure the back of the cartridges don’t overlap as you load, as that will cause a jam- i.e. the top round goes too far back over the back on the one already in the magazine. It also comes in a hard case with two Allen keys as well.

Suitable diet

The F-12 seems to like the vast majority of ammunition. With all semi-autos, you need to fine tune it to the ammunition and it can shoot 2¾- to 3½-inch cartridges. An interesting thing is the long tapered chamber cone on the F-12; this is meant to reduce the recoil by 6%. It depends upon the weight of the cartridges you use of course. For range testing, I fitted a Vortex SPARCII red dot sight on an AR height base. The massively long MIL-STD-1913 Picatinny rail on the top of the action will accommodate any range of sight you wish to use. The sight rail itself is 250mm long, giving the shooter a lot of options. I would be tempted to fit a muzzle brake as well, as if you are going to use it for a practical shotgun, you go straight into open class, so why not take full advantage and fit a muzzle brake? Even the ‘Maxi’, longer version feels light and very, very pointable, in part thanks to the slender forend; when the big, 10-round box magazine is full, the handling slows down a little. A 20-round drum magazine is coming very soon, which sounds like fun!

Conclusion

I would have liked the option of a shorter 5-round magazine, to give you other options on differing stages, but hey ho. I was very impressed with the Typhoon F-12, it seems to have no flaws out of the box, which cannot be said of a lot of other box fed shotguns. It’s good value for money too, you have the choice of many colours and the Standard or Maxi action lengths. If you can get over the faff with cleaning and stripping the F-12, then it’s a solid choice for a box-fed, practical shotgun.

Many thanks to Richard at Practical Shooting Supplies for help with the production of this article.

Purchase here: https://www.cheshiregunroom.com/typhoon-defence-f12