> Tuesday June 13, 03:26 PM
> Home-made guns, explosives fuel China crime spree
> By Ben Blanchard
> BEIJING (Reuters) - The illegal manufacture and sale of weapons is fuelling
> a crime wave in poorer parts of China, police said on Tuesday.
> Knife attacks have become a particular problem in a country where crime has
> boomed along with the economy for the past two-and-a-half decades,
> threatening government control and stability.
> "Some evil forces and crooks always carry around illegal blades, using them
> for fights and resisting the law, whipping them out at the drop of a hat,"
> ...
It doesn't take much of a shop to make knives! Really very little is
needed if one is willing to take some time.
As for guns - we normally think of how much trouble it would be to
make the equivalent of a 1911 Gov't model or a Benelli semi-auto shotgun
from scratch. That would be very difficult and time consuming - but
what about simpler firearms? (E.g. the "zip guns" which were much
discussed when I was a kid.)
At any rate - below is a book review I wrote some 15 years ago. My
guess is that well over 10 million home shops would be more than
adequate for producing these.
--henry schaffer
HOMEMADE GUNS AND HOMEMADE AMMO
by Ronald B. Brown
1986 Pub. Loompanics Unlimited, PO Box 1197,
Port Townsend, WA 98386
ISBN 0-915179-39-3 LC Card Catalog # 86-080535
5 1/2" x 8 1/2" 182 pages paperbound
This book is nicely typeset with a profusion of diagrams and good
quality photographs. Chapter 3 is the big one, and gives step-by-step
detailed instructions with diagrams and photos. The tools involved
include such exotic machine tools as a handheld electric drill, taps,
dies, files and a pipe threading die. Also a wood saw and a chisel
would be needed to shape the stock. The raw materials include pipe, a
pipe cap, a nail, a hose clamp, some angle iron, and a spring. I'm
expecting to see a 7 day waiting period to be able to walk into a
hardware store. :-)
Contents
1 The Need for this Book (7 pp)
Rationale - Legal Considerations
2 A Mini-course in Ballistics (26 pp)
Rifles - Shotguns - Flintlocks - Percussions - Center Fire -
Rimfire - Break Action - Rolling Blocks - Bolt Actions -
Lever Actions - Pumps - Automatics - Head Space - Trajectory -
Caliber Explanation - Caliber Capabilities - Gauge Explanation -
Choke - Recoil - Stopping Power
"If you already understand firearms, you may wish to skip this
chapter. If, however, you are hiding in an attic in Nazi
Germany and you know nothing of firearms, this chapter might
be very useful. When you read or hear 'single shot' or
'trajectory' or 'rifling' you need to know what it means. The
purpose of this chapter is to provide a basic grasp of
firearm terms."
2 The Basic Single Shot from Pipe (50 pp)
Making the Individual Parts - Assembly - Remote Test Firing
3 Variations (27 pp)
Pipe Dimension - Straight-sided Shells with Rims - Straight-sided,
Rimless Shells - Retaining Rings - Necked Cartridges - Reducers - A
Double Barrel - A Muzzle Loader - Fuses - A Wooden Gun
5 Gunpowder (20 pp)
How it Works - Black Powder - Crushed Match Heads - Performance Rating -
Potassium Chlorate & Sugar - Sodium Chlorate & Sugar - Saltpeter &
Sugar - Other Oxidizers - Making & Buying Saltpeter - Electrolysis
6 Primers (30 pp)
How They Work - Strike Anywhere Match Tips - Sulfur & Potassium
Chlorate - Mercury Fulminate - Sources of Materials - Potassium
Chlorate from Match Heads - Potassium Chlorate from Bleach - Softening
Work Hardened Primers - Misfires - SAFETY!
7 Kitchen Sink Reloading (18 pp)
.22 Rimfire - Centerfire Cartridges - Loads - Bullets - Steps
in Reloading - Shotgun Shells - Patterning
Bibliography (4 pp)
The book is written in a conversational demystifying style, and is fun
reading. Because the material is so basic (and low tech) it is very
easy to follow each step of the way, and get an idea of how easy it is
to make simple guns. Anyone with an interest in firearms technology
would enjoy this, but it will not have much new for someone who already
is familiar with firearms, the high school shop and the high school chem
lab. The politically involved may want to consider how simple the
materials and techniques are, and whether information such as presented
in the book should be available to unlicensed readers.
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