DDI is an interesting company. They are at the forefront of on-shoring production of the AK platform, bringing manufacturing of the weapons system to the US including the forgings for the bolt carrier group, trunion, and other critical components. On the flip side, DDI also looks across the seas for new designs to import, this time landing in China with another 12-gauge. Their first 12-gauge, the DDI-12 was from China as well. 

The first units of the yet-to-be-named bullpup design have hit our shores and we see that the shotgun is a QBZ inspired design, looking identical to the Canadian LA K12 “Puma”, maintaining all the same features including:

• Factory 5 round magazines
• Last round bolt hold-open
• Ambidextrous magazine release
• Reciprocating charging handle
• QBZ-style grips and weapons operation.
• Adjustable gas (“Low” and “High”)

The shotgun is a right-hand ejection only platform and the built-in carry handle iron sights of the QBZ with a picatinny rail across the top. The main body of the shotgun is polymer and features some awkward ergonomics for the safety, bolt drop, and magazine release.

Tim from Military Arms Channel has his hands on one of the first to hit our shores. He finds it an interesting weapon, but the good news is that it seems to work with both cheap “bulk” loads and higher-power hunting loads. However, it has its quirks, particularly with the magazines, which do not insert and remove easily.