While visiting the Rocky Mountain Gun Show in Sandy, Utah we ran into an uncommon firearm. Designed by Crossfire, LLC and engineered by M60 belt-fed manufacturer SACO Defense, the Crossfire MK1, is a combination shotgun and rifle.
The combo firearm was manufactured from 1998-2001 with an MSRP of $1895 and first sales starting in Q2 of 1999. Today the gun sells for under $1000 with some crazy bids up to $3000 in near new condition with box and papers (they didn’t look hard enough or were impatient). Although scarce, it is a limited interest market.
The shotgun is fed from a magazine tube in the stock, the tube is removed to load, and holds 4 shells of 3″ 12 gauge. Note the removable shotgun magazine tube is also your cheek-weld.
The total length is 37.3″; the shotgun barrel is 18.75″ with chokes and the rifle is a 1:9 twist 16.25″, with no threads for a muzzle device. (Another source lists the shotgun barrel at 19.3″.) The weight of this firearm is actually a surprising 8.6 lbs (Update: listed as 9 lbs in the manual), two pounds lighter than a Thompson M1A1.
The rifle feeds from an AR15 magazine. The over-under firearm uses one trigger for both calibers, selected on the side of the receiver. Remembering this uses one single trigger for both separate operating mechanisms makes this firearm quite interesting. It is easy to assume there would be some complexity, so it is no surprise the manual warned not to disassemble the firearm when there is a problem and to instead consult a gunsmith, or Crossfire, LLC.
Although some sites (including a site calling themselves The Specialists) list the 5.56mm portion as being made in select-fire variants for LE/MIL consideration and semi-automatic for civilian sales, both the rifle and shotgun operate with the pump mechanism. This is easy to verify by reading the third sentence of the introduction in the manual, yes we’ve shared the full manual.
The combo gun also came with a VHS introduction to the firearm. We’d love to get our hands on one to digitize it and return the video.
The gun was offered in camo but are scarce. Buyer beware, there were recalls and firearms not part of the recall actually had letters stating as such.
So how does the combination fare beyond the novelty aspect of the strange hybrid? Very interested to see how a mix of shotgun and rifle qualities truly sizes up.
In short, it doesn’t, in my opinion. Such firearms were mostly meant as survival guns in an emergency. However, the extra weight negates much of its usefulness in such scenarios in my opinion.
While a few companies still manufacture and sell combos, they aren’t common, and that’s telling. The M6 Scout is an example of such a firearm actually being adopted (USAF), but the M6 comes in under 5 lbs.
Personally I’d rather have an AR15 or a shotgun and avoid carrying two types of ammunition.
CDNN was selling these for a short while, I forget for how much, but it was in the ballpark of a thousand bucks. Probably would have been more successful if the rifle portion was semi-auto instead of pump.
Does anybody know where I can buy choke tubes for the shotgun portion of this gun Crossfire MK1 combo?
pretty sure they are browning choke tubes.
I’m an owner of one and have the VHS it came with. Are ya’ll still looking to digitize the video?
Yes, we are interested.
is this site still live, lol i just picked a brand new crossfire today at the show, im a dealer and i got one in a trade brand new in the box unfired and it came with the vhs, lol.
Get that VHS digitized! We can also do it.
Did anyone ever digitize the video? I am an owner and would love to see it. Mine did not come with the VHS or the manual.
I own one and need a diagram or blueprint, or even an exploded part diagram, for this rifle/shotgun, anyone have one?
I have a crossfire that was given to me. the guy took it apart and put it together wrong i thing. does anyone work on them or have a diagram or blueprint of them.
I’ve tried to find one before as I get asked this a bit. I haven’t seen one and I’ve been outbid every time I’ve tried to bid on auctions of the VHS tape that came with the firearm. If you do spend time with trying to reassemble it might help that Numrich has some original bolts in stock. https://www.gunpartscorp.com/search#/Manufacturer/Crossfire-LLC&query=crossfire
have you digitized the VHS
I’ve never had anyone with a copy of the VHS follow through on letting me do so and have been unable to find one to purchase. It has now been years since I’ve bothered looking as it was just a passing curiosity.
I bought one and had it digitized myself. If you or anyone else still wants it, here’s the link – https://mega.nz/file/XzwHGahL#kj8KhJH-9zSQGpKTd0FYtQRzQkND49_QeOZJl3fNwOk
Any idea where to find the shotgun magazine/ cheek weld? That would make mine a little more fun!