Occasionally police operations across the world churn up weapons produced solely for the criminal market. Some of these are improvised while others are semi-professionally produced in illicit workshops. Documented here are a handful of interesting examples uncovered in recent months.

According to The Star, last week police in Sheffield UK seized a firearm disguised as bicycle pump:

 

Ghana Failed Coup Plot

Several homemade pistols were seized (Along with a Berretta PX4 Compact) from supposed coup plotters in Ghana last month. The pistols look to be based on the DIY Sheet Metal Pistol plans.

 

An improvised arms seizure from Finland, including an interesting 12 gauge version of PA Luty’s expedient machine pistol:

From the article: “Rovaniemi Court of Appeal upheld convictions for a retaliatory voyage by a beautiful men in Tornio to an attempted murder shotgun. The duo had decided in February last year to give the victim a “lesson” and according to their own reports, the plans were at their wildest to humiliate the victim by sexually assaulting him with a dildo. In the end, however, the intention was to treat the victim “properly” and the firearm was reportedly taken as a reserve only.

The men found the location of the victim and derailed the car on the snow bench. At that time, one of the men reportedly shot a victim at the whim of a car at a maximum distance of seven meters at the whim of a car. However, the victim had pulled his hand over his head, which caused most of the shots to hit his upper arm instead of his head. The shot could have been lawfully fatal. In addition to the target, the shot also injured an elderly woman in the car, who was the victim’s mother.” Mtvuutiset.fi

Continuity IRA Employ Bobby Trap Gun

Earlier this month the Continuity IRA, a dissident republican splinter group in Northern Ireland claimed responsibility for an attempted attack on a police vehicle in Dunmurry near west Belfast just before Christmas last year. A horizontal device was set up on a small trestle and would fire a single .50 BMG round at a passing PSNI (Police Service of Northern Ireland) vehicle when triggered but failed to go off.

 

Zip Gun Wielding Hostage Taker at Beauty Salon Surrenders

A crude revolving zip gun was used in a hostage situation in Brazil in June.

“After nearly two hours of negotiating with the Military Police, the criminal who held hostage hairdresser in a beauty salon in Bairro dos Congos surrendered. At around 8pm the bandit released the victim who was held at gun point.

Major Kleber, commander of the Special Operations Battalion (BOPE), said the biggest difficulty in negotiating was the fact that the bandit was carrying a homemade weapon. According to the major, the precariousness of the weapon meant that it could fire at any moment.”  Selesnafes

 

Robbery weapons: A conventional and homemade .38 revolver seized in Brazil last month:

 

Deck Clearer – Six Shot Shotgun

A six-shot 12 gauge shotgun was seized by police after an exchange of gunfire with suspected drug traffickers in Maceio, the capital city of the state of Alagoas located on the east coast of Brazil.

 

Below: This handcrafted revolver along with 10kg of marijuana was seized by Federal Highway Police in the Brazilian state of Alagoas last month.

 

.380 submachine gun seized in Serra (Espirito Santo, Brazil)

In Serra, part of the Brazilian state of Espirito Santo police seized a homemade .380 submachine gun along with crack rocks and radios which were abandoned after several individuals fled upon the presence of the patrol vehicle. The model of the illicitly made submachine gun has appeared numerous times in police seizures recently.

Another example which was also seized in Serra:

Underground Glock Copy From Australia

What appears to be a high-quality black market copy of the Glock 17 which was seized by police in Queensland Australia last month.

 

Poor Man’s M16 from Java

A locally craft made M16 look-alike reportedly chambered in 5.56 was seized along with ammunition and game meat from three residents in Banyuwangi in Java Indonesia. It appears to have been a heavily customized hunting/poaching gun made to accept STANAG mags.

 

 

Modified Ramset Guns

Police in China broke up a network of illegal gun sellers across four provinces, arresting 10 people. Some of the weapons are modified powder actuated nail guns used in construction. These are often seen modified to fire various types of improvised ammunition, usually using .22 blank power charges to fire a projectile such as a ball bearing.

 

DIY .50 Cal Seized in Brazil

Following in investigation into series of bank heists in which explosives had been used, reports of gunshots led police to a farm where a homemade .50 caliber rifle was being tested.

“In the early hours of yesterday we had the robberies and, from early on, the command had the teams to support the searches. Late in the afternoon, word came that people were firing high-caliber firearms. The police went to a small farm, the scene of the allegations, and found that the men were shooting tests with a .50 rifle, which had homemade components. “In the course of the search we also found vehicles that could have been used by this gang. A 73-year-old man had a white Ecosport, which had cloned plates.” Bandab.com