#DIY

A couple of months ago I wrote an article telling about how a Russian guy converted his Vepr 308 hunting rifle into a tactical one using mostly homemade parts and modifications. Recently, the same man (Andrey) came up with another DIY project. He made a non-reciprocating forward charging handle for a Saiga-9 semi-auto 9mm carbine.

Even in relatively isolated developing nations criminals find ways to arm themselves. Below are a number of crude improvised firearms made from regular household stapler guns recently seized by police in Papua New Guinea which are fast becoming a trend.

About a month ago there was a shootout involving a criminal and Ukrainian police officers in Odessa, Ukraine. After the raid on the building where the suspect was shooting from and the subsequent search, police also found an illegal gun shop and  seized several firearms made there. These kinds of incidents frequently happen all over the world. It wouldn’t be too interesting from the firearms standpoint if not the nature of the guns that were seized.

There has been some buzz over KNS’ adjustable AK gas piston. Having an adjustable gas block allows you to dial in the amount of gas to drive the gun. Of course the AK gas system is a flawless system when ran as designed. It is only when you try to do things outside its wheelhouse does adjusting the gas make sense. Suppressors have become immensely popular and wide spread. There are dedicated AK suppressors like the Dead Air Wolverine. But the problem with suppressors is often a build up of gas and even gas piston driven guns can experience gas blow back. Here is an alternative approach to an adjustable gas system for an AK.

After a temporary pause in producing video content, Royal Nonesuch is back. This YouTube channel is known for the variety of homemade gun projects. Not only he is back but also plans to start even more entertaining projects. He also applied for an FFL and SOT which will allow him to expand the range of weapons and mechanisms he can experiment with. Among his first new project is a gun utilizing an advanced primer ignition (API) mechanism with an extended chamber. Let’s see how the host of the channel describes his project.

AK receiver, SKS stock, HK 91 locking piece and firing pin, Zastava M76 bolt carrier and recoil spring, PPSh barrel shroud/muzzle brake, Suomi SMG drum magazines and bolt head … wouldn’t this rifle be Dr. Frankenstein’s creature if he was a gunsmith? The host of the YouTube channel called “ V8 Merc” made this firearm which for some of us represents an example of an ingenious gunsmithing talent and for others – a total heresy. Let’s watch the video where the YouTuber tells the story behind this rifle, its design features and shoots the gun.

A popular YouTube channel called “ The King of Random” has released a homemade project video where they make a compact flamethrower out of a fire extinguisher. Isn’t that the definition of irony?

A YouTube channel called “ This Stuff I Do” has a 3-part video series showing how the host of the channel makes a DIY .22LR barrel out of rebar with a rimfire barrel liner installed into it. Barrel liners are thin-walled rifled cylinders which are designed to give a second life to worn out barrels (mostly rimfire ones) by installing the liner into the original bore.

Polish MILMAG gun magazine has published several images of homemade firearm modifications from the Ukrainian conflict. Reportedly, the photos are taken in one of the self-proclaimed republics.

One of the popular Russian YouTube gun channels has published a video telling about a Russian guy who converted his Vepr Super 308 rifle from its original hunting configuration to a tactical one. What is interesting about this video is that this guy made most of the parts himself or adapted AR-15 parts to fit the Vepr rifle. Let’s see what they did to make this rifle which they call a “pseudo-AR”.

Mike over at Mike’s Custom Weaponry has sent in photos of his latest project in the final stages of completion which happens to be a semi-auto version of the Machine Pistol from P.A Luty’s book Expedient Homemade Firearms Vol 2. The original design is of course fully automatic but with a few changes, namely an AR trigger group and a floating firing pin, a legal semi-automatic version can be made.

Nicely documented below are some photos of the building process behind making a .22 copy of a Webley break-top revolver. This firearm was made entirely from scratch using some basic machine tools.

One mans humble dream of becoming a master craftsman at Taurus was cut short after Police in Rio Grande do Norte, Brazil seized this entirely homemade .380 semi-automatic pistol (excluding the magazine) which was made in his backyard, presumably from melted down Coca-Cola cans.

Mark Serbu of Serbu Firearms has released a video showing that making a rifled barrel in home shop conditions and with corresponding tools is possible. Using a drill press to drill the bore, a hand drill to ream the bore and a bench vise to push the rifling button through the bore might not be the most efficient methods to make a rifled barrel. However, the purpose of the video is to demonstrate that it is possible. Let’s watch that video:

Creating improvised firearms is one thing, but a recent propaganda video released by the Yemeni rebel and terrorist group Ansar Allah (better known as the Houthis) threw the spotlight on some weapons that take this to the next level. 20mm, 23mm, and even 30mm caliber improvised cannons are being produced by the Houthis in makeshift workshops, representing some of the largest and most powerful improvised small arms ever produced. Footage of the cannons firing, as well as their manufacture was included in the video. Despite their large caliber, the cannons appear to be quite crude indeed, with many parts shown being ground with dremel tools, and with scope bases and muzzle brakes simply being welded together. The barrels for the cannons appear to come from military autocannons. The barrels of 20mm Hasem cannon bear the distinctive “hump” towards the muzzle of M61 Vulcan cannon barrels, for instance – which may be an indication that the barrels are being supplied to the Houthis by the Iranians, who have stockpiles of Vulcan barrels for their F-4 and F-14 fighter aircraft.