Shotguns may not be the first thing that comes to mind when you think of IWI US, with the company's extensive lineup of conventional and bullpup modern sporting rifles, but six years ago, the company announced its first shotgun with the Tavor TS12. New for 2025, the company is adding another 12-ga. firearm to its lineup with the Mafteah.
The Mafteah occupies the nebulous category of simply a “firearm.” As the law defines a “shotgun” as a firearm designed to be fired from the shoulder, anything not designed to be fired from the shoulder and over 26” in length is not a “shotgun.” This allows manufacturers to make compact, smoothbore firearms with barrels that are shorter than 18” that do not fall under the provisions of the National Firearms Act (NFA).
The Mafteah is recoil-operated and feeds from an under-barrel magazine tube. Its 14” smoothbore, cylinder-choked barrel is chambered for 2 3/4” and 3” shells and the Mafteah has a capacity of five of the former and four of the latter. Its sighting system consists of a raised and ventilated barrel rib with a front bead.
Additionally, the receiver is machined for the use of Glock’s MOS optics plate mounting system, as well as drilled and tapped for mounting a section of Picatinny rail. Polymer furniture includes a forearm with M-Lok slots for mounting accessories and a built-in hand strap, and a rear “bird’s head”-style pistol grip with quick-detachable sling swivel spigots. Controls include a crossbolt safety mounted in the trigger guard and a reversible charging handle.
With an MSRP of $1,000, size-wise, the Mafteah is on the opposite end of the spectrum from the Tavor TS12. It has an overall length of 27.75” and weight of 5 lbs., 11 ozs. For more information, see the company’s website.
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