It's been a popular design for shotguns for over a century, so why not handguns? With a design that looks like two guns were melted together, the new handgun from Arsenal Firearms is definitely a handful. Thanks to the gun's dual barrels though, the AF2011-A1 Double Barrel Pistol is capable of firing 16 rounds in a span of three seconds by shooting two bullets at the same time.

Arsenal Firearms produced the double-barreled handgun to commemorate the 100-year anniversary of the Colt 1911-A1, which has been the preferred sidearm of the U.S. Military since World War II. This certainly isn't the first double barrel pistol ever made, but it is the first .45 caliber, semiautomatic one built to industrial specifications.

Aside from the separate barrels, the rest of the AF2011-A1 is made of conjoined parts, so that it uses a single slide, grip, and safety

Aside from the separate barrels, the rest of the AF2011-A1 is made of conjoined parts, so that it uses a single slide, grip, and safety. It can however be customized to use a single trigger or two separate triggers, so the left and right barrel can be fired independently. Most of the internal parts - firing pins, springs, housings, etc. - are actually interchangeable with standard Colt 1911 parts. The pistol holds 16 .45 ACP rounds split between two columns, which connect to a single base plate and can be loaded like a single magazine.

The pistol holds 16 .45 ACP rounds split between two columns, which connect to a single base plate and can be loaded like a single magazine

Arsenal says the gun can be handled like any other .45 caliber handgun and is surprisingly accurate, considering its non-traditional design. At 15 yards (13.7 m) from a target, all 16 bullets will group in an area about the size of an orange; at 25 yards (22.8 m), that area grows to about the size of a watermelon. The dual barrels also pack quite a punch, with two bullets making up 460 grains of weight hitting a target one to two inches apart from each other, depending on the distance. That means one full payload from the AF2011-A1 can deliver in three seconds what would take a regular 9 mm pistol almost ten times as long to fire, including reloading.

Check out the video below to watch Dimitry Streshinskiy, co-creator of the AF2011-A1 Double Barrel Pistol, demonstrate the handgun by firing a fully loaded magazine.

Product Page: Arsenal Firearms