The Armsel Striker also known as the Sentinel Arms Co Striker-12, Protecta and Protecta Bulldog is a 12-gauge shotgun with a revolving cylinder that was designed for riot control and combat.
History
The Armsel Striker was designed by an ex-Rhodesian national, Hilton R. Walker, in 1981. Walker subsequently emigrated to South Africa, bringing with him the design for the Striker shotgun. His shotgun became a success, and was exported to various parts of the world. Even though it was successful, the shotgun still had its flaws. The rotary cylinder-type magazine was bulky, had a long reload time, and the basic action was not without certain flaws. Walker redesigned his weapon in 1989, removing the cylinder rotation mechanism, and adding an auto cartridge ejection system. The new shotgun was named the Protecta. A copy of the Striker was made by the US gunmaker Cobray and marketed as the SWD Street Sweeper from 1989 through 1993.
Design and features
The weapon's action is similar to that of a revolver, using a rotating cylinder. Since the Striker uses a conventional double action only trigger and a very large and heavy cylinder, Walker added a pre-wound clock-work spring to revolve the magazine which proved to make loading the weapon slow, in exchange for a shorter and lighter trigger pull. The design was changed into having a cocking lever on the right side of the barrel. The first designs were criticized as having a slow and cumbersome firing mechanism. The shells had to be individually loaded and then the drum wound by a clockwork mechanism. Shell ejection was by an ejector rod along the right hand side of the barrel. The last version has the clockwork winding mechanism removed, the ejector rod has been replaced by an automatic ejection system and in the rod's place is a cocking lever that winds the drum automatically. The Striker design has a twelve-round magazine capacity and short overall length. Compact variants have 7 rounds.
Armsel Striker—this is Hilton Walker's first design.
Armsel Protecta—An improved version of the Armsel Striker. Readying the weapon for firing was simplified and the weapon's reliability was improved.
Armsel Protecta Bulldog—An extremely shortened, stockless version of the Armsel Protecta. It is intended for building entry and vehicular duties.
Sentinel Arms Striker-12—A fully licensed and improved copy of the Armsel Striker for the American market made by Sentinel Arms Co. It was available with an 18-inch barrel and a 7-inch stockless version.
Cobray/SWD Streetsweeper—A lower-end clone of the Armsel Striker, having a limited parts commonality to the original weapons system.
Cobray/SWD Ladies Home Companion—A reduced caliber version of the Streetsweeper. The triggergroup is attached to a.410 bore or.45/70 Government drum and barrel.
