The IZHMA 12G is a low damage shotgun that, unlike most other shotguns in the game, is magazine fed. This allows it to have a consistent and fast reload no matter how many shots have been fired. Another defining feature is its fully automatic fire compared to the pump-action Reinfeld 880 and Locomotive 12G. This gives it impressive damage per second when used at close range and allows one to kill entire groups of enemies in the right circumstances.
The damage is high enough that head shots can kill standard law enforcement in one shell, even the heavily armored FBI agents. Another advantage is that it tends to receive 4 or 5 shells from the ammo drops of dead enemies (without skills or perk decks to improve this), compared to the 1 that the Reinfeld 880 and Locomotive 12G get. With this advantage, plus its very high maximum ammo relative to its power, ammo tends to be much less of a concern over a long duration.
Unfortunately, it suffers greatly from both poor accuracy and sharp damage drop off, like other shotguns. This is not a severe detriment, however, as only a single pellet is needed to deal full damage and follow-up shots are not difficult.
With the addition of the Gage Spec Ops DLC, the IZHMA can be modified for a respectable Concealment of 26, making it very viable for low-detection builds utlizing Low Blow and/or Sneaky Bastard. The weapon's automatic, low-damage nature means that it benefits exceptionally well from critical hits, converting the IZHMA into a powerhouse that can hold its ground even on higher difficulties. This also makes it accessible to Sneaky Bastard Dodge builds seeking close-quarters stopping power.
Since the IZHMA shares the AK form factor, it has access to a large variety of mods that can massively improve its mediocre stability. When configured for high concealment, however, recoil will still be an issue.
When doing the Death Wish Difficulty, the IZHMA will seem to underperform most of the time. Since it may take 2 or 3 shells to get the first kill to start the Overkill skill, the player must be exposed to fire for some time. In the right circumstances, if Overkill can be activated, it returns to the expected performance of lower difficulties, one shot killing most all but the tougher specials. Players that have a lot of experience with the IZHMA can still find it useful and may prefer it in a good team to help round out the loadout.
There are several secondary weapons that work well with the IZHMA 12G. A secondary shotgun such as The Judge loaded with heavy explosive rounds can easily deal with Shields, Bulldozer faceplates, and SWAT Turret armor. A high damage, high-accuracy pistol such the Parabellum is another great complement, capable of killing long-range targets and dishing out massive amounts of damage-per-second in close quarters, especially if using Low Blow or Overkill aced.
This is a typical crit-focused configuration with wide spread (20), average stability (64), and good concealment (25).
000 Buckshot (+15 dmg)
Short Barrel (-4 acc, -4 stb, +4 con)
Silent Killer Suppressor (-4 dmg, +4 stb, -2 con)
Concealment Boost (+1 con)
Auto Fire (+1 dmg, -4 acc, +8 stb)
Hollow Handle (+4 con)
Compact Laser Module (optional)
AK Rubber Grip (+8 stb, +2 con)
Big Brother Magazine (+4 mag, -2 con)
Skeletal Stock (-4 stb, +2 con)
With Optical Illusions aced, this build can get up to 26 concealment. With a secondary that reaches a concealment stat of 30 or higher, you can easily fit it into a detection risk of 3 or 4 for the full benefits of Low Blow basic.
Tips[]
Close By Aced increases magazine capacity by 15 and is an excellent choice that allows one to fire for much longer and take better advantage of its magazine fed nature.
Shotgun CQB is mandatory for mitigating the IZHMA's long reloads.
Rapidly pressing the fire button will fire slightly faster than holding it down, which can further push its already high damage output.
Shotgun Impact and Overkill are a necessity to the IZHMA like all other shotguns and allow it to become a room clearing machine.
Shotguns loaded with 000 Buckshot in game fire the same number of projectiles as they would if they were equipped with 00 Buckshot, despite the fact that these shells hold less pellets in reality due to them being bigger than standard.
Shotguns loaded with 000 Buckshot in game fire the same number of projectiles as they would if they were equipped with 00 Buckshot, despite the fact that these shells hold less pellets in reality due to them being bigger than standard.
Equipping a shotgun with HE Rounds creates a makeshift grenade launcher, with a significantly smaller and weaker explosive effect that can be used to quickly destroy basic wooden doors, blasting them into fragments with a single hit.
Gameplay-wise, it is rather pointless to use HE Rounds in conjunction with a silencer, since the shot is silent while the resulting explosion is not, and thus will still cause it to be heard. However, it can be used in conjunction with the The Professional aced skill in order to remedy the hefty accuracy penalty that HE rounds applies when used. It can be also used for comedic effect.
In reality, flechettes do not always increase a shotgun's effective range. They do, however, marginally improves pellet grouping due to the flechettes' aerodynamic shapes while also offering a limited degree of armor penetration, and markedly increased accuracy down range in the case of tungsten carbide flechettes. The armor piercing effect is only noteworthy on personal body armors, though, as specialized plates and reinforced steel shields are usually dense enough to stop the projectiles dead in their tracks.
The usage of Dragon's Breath shells with semi/fully-automatic shotguns in the game is highly unrealistic, as the real-life equivalent of these shells are specialized low-pressure shotshells, thus will not produce enough gas pressure to operate a full cycle. These shells are realistically used with manual-action (pump, break, lever, etc.) shotguns only.
The behavior of the Dragon's Breath shells in-game was most likely based on the misconceptions surrounding the ammo type that are commonly featured in videogames. Unlike standard buckshots, Dragon's Breath shells do not fire any "real" projectile out of a shotgun's barrel, they turn the shotgun in question into a mini-flamethrower instead. The chemical packets are ruptured and ignited when the weapon is fired, and produces a moderate fireball that exits from the barrel instead of flammable pellets like portrayed in-game.
Due to their tendency to foul the breech and barrel of the shotgun with chemical residue, Dragon's Breath shells are impractical to utilize as they can impair the weapon in question's performance after prolonged use.
This suppressor's shape and appearance, along with its related achievement, is a nod to the suppressed shotgun carried by Anton Chigurh in No Country for Old Men.
It is unclear in what manner is this suppressor, or any Barrel Extension for that matter, attached to the muzzle of most shotguns in the game as none of the available weapons of that type have external barrel threads.
The modification's name and associated achievement are references to Donald Duck.
This is the first modification to directly affect the pattern of a weapon's projectile spread, instead of simply increasing or decreasing the size of it.
A comparison of an unmodified Reinfeld 880's spread and that of one with the Leveller.
Although the main flashlight has a toggle switch, the laser sight component of the LED Combo is pressure-activated, meaning the laser will stay on as long as the pressure switch is depressed. This switch is not placed where it should be, however (on foregrips, magazine wells, etc...) and is instead ziptied to the main taclight, leaving no plausible mean for the user to toggle it without awkwardly moving their off hand off the weapon and gripping the attachment itself.
This modification was modeled after the AGP Arms Hi-Cap Magazine for the Saiga-12 and related platforms.
The magazine in game holds either 11 or 12 rounds depending on which weapon it is equipped to, whereas the real life counterpart only has a capacity of 10 without any additional rounds chambered.
Upon release, the default reticle of this sight was a chevron instead of the retail version's red dot. After the release of the Gage Mod Courier DLC, it was reverted to the regular sight's red dot.
It is functionally the same as the standard Military Red Dot Sight, but the sight's casing is tan instead of black with the line "A-10" scrawled on near the adjustment knob. The sticker on the lens cap's interior also says "I <3 Payday" instead of having a picture of an American flag.
This sight was based on the Aimpoint CompM2 optic. While it is portrayed as a high-zoom scope in-game, the CompM2 is actually a reflex sight, meaning it offers no magnification in reality.
This sight was based on the Aimpoint CompM2 optic. While it is portrayed as a high-zoom scope in-game, the CompM2 is actually a reflex sight, meaning it offers zero magnification in reality.
This modification seems to have been based on a Sightmark Sure Shot, though altered somehow as it has a perfectly vertical lens frame while the supposed base model had a slightly-trapezoidal one.
•This mod is incompatible with some secondary sights. •This mod is not available for Rodion 3B, VD-12 Shotgun, SG Versteckt 51D, Akron HC & Aran G2 Sniper rifle.
The Reconnaissance Sight is based on the NcSTAR Advanced Dual Optic, but instead of an integral flip-up reflex sight, the in-game model has a rangefinder.
•This mod is incompatible with some secondary sights. •This mod is not available for Rodion 3B, SG Versteckt 51D, Akron HC, Kahn .357 Revolver, Miyaka 10 Special & Aran G2 Sniper rifle.
This is the basic stock of the airborne AKS-74. As the old AKM design was modernized all over for the new 5.45mm cartridge, the flimsy three-piece stock was also replaced with a simpler side-folding model.
The Wide Stock is based on the B5 Systems Enhanced SOPMOD Stock.
Despite adding a large stock, it actually confers a slight boost to Concealment, which is most noticeable on a weapon that doesn't normally have one (e.g. the Locomotive 12G).
Visually speaking, the War-Torn Stock is just a Wide Stock with a few miscellaneous items bound to it by a black cable tie.
Judging by the name and its ramshackled appearance, the War-Torn Stock is likely a broken product through repeated use that was salvaged with spare parts, thus would justify its inability to keep the weapon steady during fire.
The Classic Stock is based off of the stock of the AK-74 as evident by the cut groove on the side. It is not entirely "classic", though, as even though the conception of the AK-74 is still fairly early, it is still preceded by the vastly more popular AK-47, which is a true classic.
Alternatively, "classic" here could also refer to the fact that the same stock was used by the AK in PAYDAY: The Heist.
This modification was based on the VLTOR EMOD stock for AR-15 platforms. It also comes by default with most Taran Tactical Innovation rifle models, one of which is the basis for the Contractor .308.
The Collector Kill 100cops using only weapons from the AK or CAR weapon families. Unlocks the "Keymod Rail", the "Crabs Rail" and the "Modern Barrel" for the AK weapon family.
Trivia[]
The IZHMA 12G is based on the Izhmash Saiga-12K modified with parts resembling those of the AKMS, with the most obvious evidence being the underfolding stock and the ribbed cover of the AKMS which none of the Saiga-12K models have. The magazine well and release group are also positioned directly in front of and integral with the trigger guard similar to an AK rather than separately at a short distance away like the Saiga proper.
"IZHMA" is a reference to the Izhevsk Machine Manufacturing Plant (Ижевский машиностроительный завод) or IZHMASH, the main manufacturer of the AK rifles in reality prior to it being renamed into "Kalashnikov Concern" in 2013.
Unlike the in-game IZHMA which is fully automatic, the base Saiga-12K is restricted to firing semi-automatically, although it can be modified for fully automatic fire. This is however never done in any fashion which would require practical use of the gun in any aspect, as the cyclic rate of a Saiga-12K is far too high for its caliber and recoil would render the gun uncontrollable as a result (at least not without significant additional modifications to control the recoil and reduce the rate of fire).
The in-game model lacks the enlarged extraction port necessary to eject the larger 12 gauge hulls.
Like the other automatic shotguns available, the IZHMA's firing sound consists of a loop instead of a single sound for each shot. As a result, firing one shot can cause a second firing sound to stop abruptly. During slowdown (such as while being downed), this will result in the gun's firing animation playing out of sync with its firing sound.
Without optical attachments, the IZHMA 12G is provided with a rail-mounted pistol-style iron sights system akin to the Marksman Sight on the Crosskill pistol.
The Kobus 90 and the UAR also shares the same default sights configuration.
In Hoxton Revenge, an IZHMA 12G is wielded by the Rat during his encounter within the FBI Safehouse's panic room if an alarm was triggered.
The IZHMA 12G with its drum magazine, accessed via alterations of the game's asset files.
For a long time, the Black Bulldozers used an IZHMA with a Skeletal Stock and a drum mag that was unavailable to players, but later updates replaced the drum with the regular box magazine, exchanging the skeletal stock for a black/synthetic Classic Stock. This may imply that the ammunition capacity was reduced but the stability and/or accuracy were increased. Similarly to the CAR-4's Beta C-Mag, they might not have added it because it would prove difficult to change the reloading animation.
The files for the drum mag still exist, and can be accessed via alterations of the game's asset files.
Reloads will still use the standard animation, causing the player's hand to awkwardly clip through the drum.
The old inventory icon and The Guide of Bain's guns section show the IZHMA 12G with a Skeletal Stock instead of its default Folding Stock.
Gallery[]
A preview of the IZHMA 12G.
Photo of the old inventory icon, note the Skeletal Stock.
The now deceased snitch with the IZHMA 12G behind him.
The IZHMA 12G with a scope mount on without an optic sight.
Aim with the sights with only the scope mount equipped.
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