The war in Syria and Iraq has seen the development of a whole range of scratchbuilt and improvised weapons that are as ingenious as they are destructive. Recently, a kind of serially-produced rocket launcher has come to light as part of Da’ish (ISIS) propaganda, [Read More…]
The small arms markets of Darra Adam Khel have made themselves known throughout the world for the immaculate ability of talented Pashtuns to handcraft a large number of small arms and produce almost identical copies of numerous Western designs for over a century. In this episode, we look at a few [Read More…]
AK Custom took a paintball grip and built a 9mm carbine pistol around it using supplies from a local hardware store. On a Pistol Caliber Carbine group, that I am a member of, there was some discussion about the legality of this build. From the video it looks like [Read More…]
Here is a classic traditional style break barrel 12 gauge shotgun built entirely from scratch using scrap steel plate and tubing which can be found at any decent hardware store. Using the the drawings here as a basis, the builder managed to produce something which [Read More…]
One cannot suppress a certain sense of nostalgia at the thought of being forced to hand over one’s Air Jordan’s by a gallant gentleman of the favela wielding one of these contraptions, many of the examples below being whittled from wood and held together [Read More…]
The host of YouTube channel called ECCO Machine has designed a bolt action magazine fed rifle chambered in .22LR, which weighs only 18.9 oz (unloaded). There are a couple of such lightweight survival .22LR rifles on the market, namely the Pack-Rifle and a Cricket rifle [Read More…]
Pictured are two dirt simple improvised ‘zip guns’ seized by police which were the subject of an officer safety notice. The weapons have been constructed by screwing together standard pipe fittings which can be obtained for a total of around $5 at any local [Read More…]
Iraq may not have the best manufacturing resources among countries that produce small arms, but that hasn’t kept one Iraqi designer from trying his best to bring locally made firearms for the fight against Daesh, now coming to a climax in the ongoing battle of [Read More…]
What is the simplest gun you can possibly make? When you hear this question, the kind of gun that comes to mind is probably a simple zip gun, like the one below, which has a forward-moving mass, a trigger, a barrel, and not much else: Given modern ammunition, [Read More…]
Fresh off of the heels of Part 1 of the ‘Build Your Own Silencer’ series last week, my Dad sent me this clip from the movie The American starring George Clooney. I haven’t seen the movie, but I did get a kick out of this montage – someone must [Read More…]
This ordinary looking axe wouldn’t look out of place carried in any rural setting. Sliding down the metal collar below the head however reveals a .22 caliber break barrel single shot mechanism cleverly concealed inside the bored out wooden handle. The story behind [Read More…]
The guys over at Fire Mountain Outdoors have put together a Steam Punk themed AR15! The idea was for a gift to the wife of one of the owners, she is apparently a big time welder and thus would appreciate the steam punk themed rifle. It certainly is an interesting [Read More…]
The technology of 3D printing has begun to proliferate in the firearms world, and designs that were once essentially novelty project guns have evolved and been further refined into actual working, shooting firearms of reasonable effectiveness. 3D printed guns have come [Read More…]
Chuck of GunLab, exacerbated with the complexity of German “last ditch” guns, challenged our friend Troubleshooter Berlin to see if he could build the simplest “VolksPistole” possible. According to Troubleshooter in an email sent to TFB: When I [Read More…]
Recently I stumbled upon this gem of creativity, a fellow somewhere in the US who designed and put together a bullpup configuration of an AR15 by re-configuring the trigger group into a stock, putting a pistol grip and trigger guard along the rail system, raising the [Read More…]
Sent in to TFB is another concept design for an ‘afternoon’ DIY submachine gun of particular crudeness and expediency. The majority of components are laminated together from readily available square section steel tubing, owing to its namesake. Apparently the [Read More…]
There are odd guns out there, and then there is this. A listing on Gunbroker that just ended consisted of six SKS rifles with 75 round drums arranged in some sort of odd Gatling mechanism. The listing was started at $3,500 and I don’t think anyone bid on it at all [Read More…]
Following on our earlier article about improvised and homebuilt weapons, Brazilian gun writer Ronaldo Olive emails us this article he wrote for Harris Publications in the 1980s about some of the simple underground improvised submachine guns seized by Brazilian police [Read More…]
Sent in is a concept mock up for a basic ‘easily made’ compact machine pistol. The design outwardly is a near copy of the Armenian K6-92 and early Chechen made ‘Borz’ derivatives. All components inside the receiver are laminated from square [Read More…]
Whatever one thinks of the proliferation of firearms, it’s a fact that the technology needed to make reliable, effective weapons is well in hand. Even at the lowest levels of industrial capability firearms are practical, manufacturable items, and this includes [Read More…]
So, one day you’re working on your ranch in Utah, and you think “you know, when the zombie elk apocalypse comes, I had better be prepared. I’ve got a rifle, and some ammo, but what happens when I run out?” Well, obviously you make your own [Read More…]
The Chopping Block has been experimenting with home made body armor. Here is his first attempt. Test of field expedient “body armor.” Three PEI grade V porcelain floor tiles with a coat of Herculiner on the front and between tiles and a thick coat (about a [Read More…]
Pictured is an interesting improvised 9mm firearm being sold within criminal circles in Brazil. The entire trigger group / lower is from a standard paintball marker, allowing for a more useful semi-automatic (open-bolt) operation. A clever feature is the use of standard [Read More…]
A 60 year old man in Japan was recently arrested for building homemade guns of his own design. According to him it was his hobby for the last 40 years. He used scrap anvils as a source of hardened steel and crafted his own ammunition using toy caps and casted lead [Read More…]
Here’s a humorously tasteful take on a crude Vietcong-esque single-shot pistol design. All it’s missing is an intricate engraving depicting the last of the buffalo.
Defense Distributed’s project to produce and sell machines that can create firearms receivers for individual hobbyists is now being realized. “Ghost Gunner” miniature CNC machines are, after several delays, finally shipping. From WeaponsMan: Cody [Read More…]
A recent gun amnesty in Mexico offering quick cash and groceries saw a number of interesting homemade and modified firearms turned in. Perhaps the jewel of the haul was a very nicely made .22lr revolving rifle: In contrast, a trash bag full of zip guns was handed in, an [Read More…]
It doesn’t help that a large number of submachine guns churned out in the garages of Mexican drug cartel ‘engineering departments’ point the finger at the USA as their country of origin. You’d think that these people would know that there are [Read More…]
Pictured is a homemade submachine seized by police during a raid which also uncovered a suspected meth lab. The weapon itself is very obviously based on a design described in the infamous Expedient Homemade Firearms series of manuals published by British author P.A [Read More…]
A recent ‘gun turn in’ sponsored by Newport Police Department spurred on local gun collectors to make a small profit by turning in unwanted junk firearms and also grabbing up a few bargains themselves. Merely 22 minutes into the four hour event the [Read More…]
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