TFB reader Mehul emailed me some photos that his friend, a law enforcement officer, took of confiscated homemade pistols manufactured by Naxalite (communist) rebels in North East India.
Mehul said that when he was in India some years ago their backyard guns were very primitive. Automobile exhaust tubes were being used as barrels for crude muzzle loading blackpowder firearms. They appear to have improved their gun making skills since then.

Nice grips! Click to expand.

James is right, I am fascinated by homemade weaponry.
Thanks to Mehul for the photos and info.
Jane’s Intelligence Review, via Burmese (Myanmar) news website Irrawaddy, reports that the United Wa State Army (UWSA) rebels in northern Burma have begun manufacturing AK-47s and ammunition for themselves and to sell to their allies in the region.

Burma (From Wikipedia)
Like the Taliban their arms revenue supplements their drug income. Previously they had been purchasing arms from China and then reselling to other rebel groups.



Click to expand the photos
The weapons being anything they can find and tactics being kidnapping civilians and attacking oil infrastructure. I have not read of any credible military victories. The “Movement for the Emancipation of the Niger Delta’s” only claim to fame is managing to damage an oil platform 120km offshore.
… and their use, or lack of use, of iron sights amazes me.
From MilitaryPhotos.com

Palestinian police officers loyal to President Mahmoud Abbas violently dispersed a demonstration against the Annapolis peace conference, and medical workers said one protester was killed in Hebron, a West Bank city, according to The Associated Press. A Palestinian police officer pointed his weapon at protesters during clashes in Hebron.
In case you did not notice, the above ‘police’ officer is holding the rifle sidewards ‘gangster’ style. Why these soldiers/’police’ officers cannot be taught to aim their full auto AKs is beyond me. I know some people think iron sights are hard but I started shooting with them and to this day still do most of my shooting with iron sights. I think they are easier to use than scopes once you know what to do (obviously depending on the application).
Here are some of those classic Liberian rebel photos



More of the above photos here.