Single Player[]
The AA-12 is an uncommon gun to see in singleplayer. It appears in the campaign levels "S.S.D.D", "The Only Easy Day... Was Yesterday", "The Gulag", "Contingency", "Loose Ends", and "Just Like Old Times". It also appears in the Special Ops missions O Cristo Redentor, Acceptable Losses, Estate Takedown, Snatch & Grab and Wetwork. It is also seen being used by Shadow Company soldiers. Its fire rate is far faster in singleplayer than multiplayer and can waste ammunition, which makes it a powerful, yet unreliable gun to use.
Multiplayer[]
The AA-12 is unlocked at Level 18.
The AA-12 is unique as it is fully automatic and utilizes a box magazine. It has an 8-shell magazine capacity, which is doubled when the Extended Magazines attachment is used, which balances the weapon's power and speed. The AA-12 empties its magazine far more quickly than it reloads, though this is slightly offset when Sleight of Hand or Extended Magazines are utilized.
The AA-12's main downfall is that it only has one extra magazine unless using Scavenger Pro. It has moderate recoil, but this is usually negligible due to its limited range, and shotguns are often hip-fired for wider spray. It also often requires 2+ hits even in close range to kill, but this is also negligible because of the weapon's automatic fire capability.
Equipping a silencer is not recommended, as this will limit its already short range effectiveness. Using Extended Magazines will increase the capacity to 16 shells, allowing prolonged fire but limits it to only one magazine, unless using Scavenger. Using Extended Mags in conjunction with Scavenger and its Pro version (as otherwise, with Extended Mags, users spawn with no extra magazines) can make it a highly useful weapon, and has made some players use it as a "primary" weapon. It is also notable that with the Grip attachment, the AA-12's switch time is noticeably quicker than without.