I know the lead designer didn't have any MIL / LE Experience. I'm unsure as to who else contributed to this weapon system's development.
I'm not a fan of mounting weapon systems to the M4 FOW. It adds weight, induces fatigue, and typically results in those duty positions reverting back to Rifleman mindset and employment until the light bulb comes on or they are ordered to employ the other weapon system.
A big issue with ballistic breaching (and shotguns in general) is how / where to store ammunition.
Issues I foresee with the Six12 in that category:
1) Reload time while on target.
A) This is an issue as the cylinder only holds 6 shells. Door knob locks typically take 1-2 rounds, with door hinge attacks being 3
rounds. When you start adding failure drills and re-attacking locks, your ballistic breacher is going to spend a fair amount of time
back in the stack or outside the door reloading - most likely while you need him to breach another door.
I really want to know reload times on target for cylinder reloading. Is the breacher going to eject all shells and replace them? Is
he going to count rounds expended and place his hand over them, ejecting only the spent shells? Or is he going to hand eject and
reload? What is the Suggested Best Practice here?
2) Storing spare cylinders preloaded and performing a tactical reload.
A) By doing this reloads will be faster, but at the expense of not being able to perform ammunition consolidation. The ballistic
breacher likely won't be able to top off partial magazines as they will most likely be thrown in a dump pouch or cargo pocket.
This is a problem because the cylinders are large and multiple would need to be carried, with not a lot of real estate available on
PC's. What's the recommended Basic Load for the Six12?
Other issues include the stock not being as user friendly as I would like, the grip looks awkward, and the sight height over bore being higher than I would like. On the whole, it also seems quite long for what it does.
When we were doing initial drawings for dedicated ballistic breaching platforms for fun, we sketched up something similar but with an 8-shot cylinder. In the end we decided it simply wasn't the preferred method for reloading and presented issues for combat load and placement on kit.
Being that this is going to be a secondary weapon system, it means a primary weapon system would also need to be carried. This means weight and length are valid concerns.