Franchi

Luigi Franchi S.p.A. is an Italian

Italy

Italy , officially the Italian Republic languages]] under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages. In each of these, Italy's official name is as follows:;;;;;;;;), is a unitary parliamentary republic in South-Central Europe. To the north it borders France, Switzerland, Austria and...

 manufacturer of firearm

Firearm

A firearm is a weapon that launches one, or many, projectile at high velocity through confined burning of a propellant. This subsonic burning process is technically known as deflagration, as opposed to supersonic combustion known as a detonation. In older firearms, the propellant was typically...

s, most notably various shotgun

Shotgun

A shotgun is a firearm that is usually designed to be fired from the shoulder, which uses the energy of a fixed shell to fire a number of small spherical pellets called shot, or a solid projectile called a slug...

s.

Notable Franchi products include the military SPAS-12

Franchi SPAS-12

The SPAS-12 is a combat shotgun that was manufactured by the Italian firearms company Franchi S.p.A. from 1979 to 2000. The SPAS-12 is a dual-mode shotgun, meaning it can be calibrated to cycle either semi-automatically or through pump-action. The SPAS-12 has sold well to military and police users...

 and SPAS-15

Franchi SPAS-15

The SPAS-15 is a dual-mode 12 gauge combat shotgun manufactured by the Italian company Luigi Franchi S.p.A..-Design:The weapon is based on the SPAS-12, and has similar pump-action/semi-automatic firing modes. In semi-automatic mode a gas piston drives a bolt carrier and rotating bolt. In...

 and the sporting-type long-recoil action AL-48

Franchi AL-48

The 48 AL is a semi-automatic shotgun manufactured by Luigi Franchi S.p.A..The gun is available in a variety of calibers, including 12 gauge, 20 gauge and 28 gauge...

. Franchi are renowned for their semi-automatic shotguns and are a division of Benelli

Benelli (firearms)

Benelli Armi SpA is an Italian firearm manufacturer founded in 1967, located in Urbino, Italy, best known for high quality shotguns used by military, law enforcement and civilians all over the world. Particularly famous is the Benelli M3 12 gauge, used extensively by American SWAT teams...

. Franchi also makes over and under shotguns.

Franchi remained a family business since its founding until 1987, when it was acquired by the industrial conglomerate Socimi

Socimi

Società Costruzioni Industriali Milano, better known as Socimi, was an Italian manufacturing company based in Milan. It was a manufacturer of trams, metro trains; traction motors for these and for trolleybuses; and bodies for motorbuses and trolleybuses...

, based in Milan

Milan

Milan is the second-largest city in Italy and the capital city of the region of Lombardy and of the province of Milan. The city proper has a population of about 1.3 million, while its urban area, roughly coinciding with its administrative province and the bordering Province of Monza and Brianza ,...

; with the bankruptcy of Socimi in 1993, Franchi was acquired by the Beretta

Beretta

Fabbrica d'Armi Pietro Beretta is an Italian firearms manufacturer. Their firearms are used worldwide for a variety of civilian, law enforcement, and military purposes. It is also known for manufacturing shooting clothes and accessories. Beretta is the oldest active firearms manufacturer in the...

 Holdings which is the current owner.

Rifles

• Franchi LF-58
  Franchi LF-58
  The Franchi LF-58 is a carbine of Italian origin chambered in .30 Carbine. The weapon is gas operated and comes with a side folding wire stock similar to that of the LF-57 submachine gun....
  
   - .30 Carbine assault rifle.
• Franchi LF-59
  Franchi LF-59
  The Franchi LF-59 is a battle rifle heavily based on the FN FAL. The weapon shared the same reliability as the FAL but the Italian forces selected the BM-59....
  
   - 7.62x51mm NATO battle rifle, close copy of the FN FAL.
• Franchi mod. 641
  Franchi mod. 641
  The Franchi mod. 641 is an assault rifle of Italian origin manufactured by Franchi. The weapon is somewhat a derivative of the CETME/H&K G3 but using a gas operation.-See also:*CETME Model L*Heckler & Koch HK33*Heckler & Koch G41...
  
   - 5.56x45mm NATO assault rifle
• Franchi 'Centennial' - .22LR rifle
• Franchi Para - .22LR Rifle - 8000 made, 3000 of which imported to the USA by FIE

Shotguns

• SPAS-12
  Franchi SPAS-12
  The SPAS-12 is a combat shotgun that was manufactured by the Italian firearms company Franchi S.p.A. from 1979 to 2000. The SPAS-12 is a dual-mode shotgun, meaning it can be calibrated to cycle either semi-automatically or through pump-action. The SPAS-12 has sold well to military and police users...
  
  
• SPAS-15
  Franchi SPAS-15
  The SPAS-15 is a dual-mode 12 gauge combat shotgun manufactured by the Italian company Luigi Franchi S.p.A..-Design:The weapon is based on the SPAS-12, and has similar pump-action/semi-automatic firing modes. In semi-automatic mode a gas piston drives a bolt carrier and rotating bolt. In...
  
  
• AL-48
  Franchi AL-48
  The 48 AL is a semi-automatic shotgun manufactured by Luigi Franchi S.p.A..The gun is available in a variety of calibers, including 12 gauge, 20 gauge and 28 gauge...
  
  
• PA3
• PA8