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Striker Shotgun was initially designed by a Zimbabwean national, Hilton R. Walker in 1981, who then emigrated to South Africa; he brought his design for the shotgun with him as well. The Striker is a short-barreled shotgun with a bulky drum. The drum is affixed to the receiver and cannot be removed. Reloading is accomplished by a port on the right side of the gun; shells would be inserted into there similar to how a conventional shotgun reloads. The reloading port was also the weapon's ejection port. It has no stock, but has a barrel advance lever on the rear which looked like a clip. The drum has a winding key on the front. There is a lever on the right side of the barrel, which is a manually-operated ejector. The weapon, while successful, had its flaws; reloading was very time-consuming, it was rather bulky, and the action had flaws. In 1989, Walker redesigned the gun and renamed it the Protecta. The most obvious changes were the addition of a stock, the removal of the winding key and the addition of an automatic cartridge ejection system. In 1994, all versions of the Striker were classified as a Destructive Device by the ATF after lobbying from the Brady Campaign, ending any unregulated future sales of the shotgun. Variants Striker This was the original shotgun design. It was a short-barrelled, drum-magazine fed shotgun. The Striker can be distinguished from its variants by its short barrel and the drum advance lever at the rear of the gun. Protecta This was the improved version of the Striker. Similar to the Striker, it was fed by the drum, but had an automatic ejector. It can be distinguished by the lack of a winding key on the drum, and a squarish-like ejection port. Streetsweeper A lower-end clone made by the Cobray Company. It looked rather similar to the Protecta, but the Streetsweeper had a winding key and a much longer fore end to conform with National Fireams Act. Sentinel Arms Striker-12 This was a version of the Striker made by Sentinel Arms, and is arguably the most famous. It is basically a mix of the Striker and Protecta, with the automatic ejection of the Protecta and the winding key of the Striker. Ladies Home Companion A reduced caliber pistol version of the Streetsweeper shotgun also made by Cobray. Chambered for two different calibers, .410 Bore or .45-70 Government, it sold very poorly due to being unwieldy to use. The Protecta shotgun has a manually rotating cylinder instead of the clock-spring clockwork. The front vertical grip can be swung to the right and back. This movement will rotate a barrel shroud and a pivoting arm, linked to it, which, in turn, will rotate a cylinder for 1/12 of turn, to place a next chamber behind the barrel. The spent cases are ejected automatically from the chamber at the moment of the next shot, by using a small amount of powder gases propelled back from the fired chamber. The last spent case (or unfired cartridges) can be removed using the spring-loaded ejector rod at the right side of the barrel. The reloading of the empty chambers is commenced via the loading gate, similar to one found on Striker shotguns. Some models were factory fitted with very unusual sights. (Ref. Firearms developed and manufactured in Southern Africa from 1949 – 2000. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Uoy14h6K5TY , https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xiMQ981lph0 , https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Armsel_Striker , https://modernfirearms.net/en/shotguns/south-africa-shotguns/striker-protecta-eng/ , https://www.militaryfactory.com/smallarms/detail.asp?smallarms_id=105 )

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