Improvised firearms (sometimes calledzip guns,pipe guns, orslam guns) arefirearms manufactured by an entity other than a registered firearms manufacturer or agunsmith. Improvised firearms are typically constructed by adapting existing materials to the purpose. They range in quality, from crude weapons that are as much a danger to the user as the target, to high-quality arms produced bycottage industries using salvaged and repurposed materials.[1][2][3]
Improvised firearms may be used as tools by criminals and insurgents and are sometimes associated with such groups;[4][5] other uses include self-defense in lawless areas andhunting game in poor rural areas.[6]
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Zip guns are generally crude homemade firearms consisting of abarrel,breechblock and a firing mechanism. For small, low-pressurecartridges, like the common .22 caliberrimfire cartridges, even very thin-walled tubing can work as a barrel, strapped to a block of wood for a handle. Arubber band that the shooter pulls back and releases to fire can power thefiring pin. Weak tubing can result in a firearm that can be as dangerous to the shooter as the target; a poorly fittingsmoothbore barrel provides little accuracy and is liable to burst upon firing.[1] The better designs use heavier pipes and spring-loaded trigger mechanisms. Larger zip guns, such as homemadeshotguns calledtumbera (Argentina),bakakuk[7] (Malaysia), orsumpak[8] (Philippines) are also made of improvised materials likenails, steel pipes, wooden pieces, bits of string, etc.
Pen guns are zip gun-like firearms that resemble inkpens.[9][10] They generally are of small caliber (e.g., .22 LR,.25 ACP,.32 ACP, etc.)[11][12][13] and aresingle shot.[12][14] Early examples of pen guns werepinfired, but modern designs arerimfire orcenterfire.[9] Some pen guns are not designed to fire regular cartridges, but ratherblank cartridges,signal flares, ortear gas cartridges.[9][15]
In the United States, pen guns that fire bullets or shot cartridges do not require a reconfiguration to fire, (e.g., folding to the shape of a pistol) and are federally regulated as anAny Other Weapon (Title II). They require registration under theNational Firearms Act and a tax in the amount of $200 to manufacture or $5 to transfer is levied.[15][16]
Pipe guns were first seen in the Philippines during World War II.[17] The "paliuntod" is a type of improvisedshotgun commonly used byguerrillas and the joint American and Filipino soldiers who remained behind afterDouglas MacArthur's withdrawal. Made of two pieces of pipe that fit snugly together, the "paliuntod" were simple, single shot guns. These pipe guns are still in use by both criminals and rebels in the Philippines.[18][19]
In 1946, pipe guns were patented in the United States by Iliff D. "Rich" Richardson, who fought with the Filipino insurgents during the Japanese occupation.[17][20] Made by "Richardson Industries" as the "Model R5 Philippine Guerrilla Gun", these 12 gauge shotguns sold for $7 at the time.[17]
Improvised versions are made by using two pipes and an end-cap; they usually fire shotgun shells. To fire the gun, the user inserts a shotgun shell into the smaller diameter pipe, places the smaller pipe into the larger diameter pipe, and forcefully slides it back until the shell's primer makes contact with a fixed firing pin located inside the end-cap.[4][5] Other improved versions use improvised detachable magazines.[21]
Flare guns have also been converted to firearms. This may be accomplished by replacing the (often plastic) barrel of the flare gun with a metal pipe strong enough to chamber ashotgun shell, or by inserting a smaller-bore barrel into the existing barrel (such as with acaliber conversion sleeve) to chamber a firearm cartridge, such as a.22 Long Rifle.[22][23]
More advanced improvised guns can use parts from other gun-like products. One example is thecap gun. A cap gun can be disassembled, and a barrel added, turning the toy gun into a real one. A firing pin can then be added to the hammer, to concentrate the force onto the primer of the cartridge. If the cap gun has a strong enough hammer spring, the existing trigger mechanism can be used as-is; otherwise, rubber bands may be added to increase the power of the hammer.[24]
Air guns have also been modified to convert them to firearms. TheBrocock Air Cartridge System, for example, uses a self-contained "cartridge" roughly the size of a.38 Special cartridge, which contains an air reservoir, valve, and a .22 caliber (5.5 mm) pellet. Examples of BACS airguns converted to firearms, either by drilling the barrel out to fire a .38 Special cartridge or by altering the cylinder to accept .22 caliber cartridges, have been used in a number of crimes.Blank-firing guns can also be converted by adding a barrel, although the low-quality alloys used for cheaper blank-firing guns may break with the pressures and stresses of a real bullet being fired.[25]
Some more complex improvised firearms are not only well-built, but also usemimicry ascamouflage, taking the appearance of other items. Improvised firearms in the form offlashlights,cellular telephones,canes and largebolts have all been seized by law enforcement officials.[citation needed] Most of these are .22 caliber rimfires, but flashlight guns have been found ranging from small models firing.22 Long Rifle to larger ones chambered for.410 boreshotgun shells.[26][27]
While most improvised firearms are single-shot, multiple-shot versions are also encountered. The simplest multi-shot zip guns arederringer-like, and consist of a number of single-shot zip guns attached together. Thepepper-box design is also used in homemade guns because it is relatively easy to make out of a bundle of pipes or a steel cylinder. In late 2000, British police encountered a four-shot .22 LR zip gun disguised as amobile phone, where different keys on the keypad fire different barrels. Because of this discovery, mobile phones are nowX-rayed by airport screeners worldwide. Authorities believe they were manufactured inCroatia, and they still turned up in Europe as late as 2004, according to a report byTime magazine.[28][29]
Homemadesubmachine guns are often made by copying existing designs, or by adapting simple,open-bolt actions and leveraging commonly available hardware store parts.[2][30]
TheBłyskawica (Polish forlightning) was asubmachine gun produced by theArmia Krajowa, or Home Army, a Polishresistance movement fighting theGermans inoccupied Poland. Together with a Polish version of theSten submachine gun, with which it shares some design elements, it was the only weapon mass-produced covertly in occupied Europe during World War II.
TheBechowiec (also known as theBechowiec-1) was a Polish World War IIsubmachine gun developed and produced by the undergroundBataliony Chłopskie (BCh,Peasants' Battalions) resistance organisation. It was designed in 1943 byHenryk Strąpoć and was produced in underground facilities in the area ofOstrowiec Świętokrzyski. Its name was coined after the Bataliony Chłopskie organization members who were informally calledbechowiec (plural:bechowcy).
TheBorz (Борз,Chechen for "wolf")submachine gun is one of a number of improvised firearms produced inChechnya. It was produced in small numbers from 1992 to 1999. It was used primarily by Chechen separatists. It is named after the Borz (wolf) because of its position as Chechnya'snational animal.
TheCarlo (also referred to asCarl Gustav) is asubmachine gun manufactured by small workshops in theWest Bank. The design has been inspired by the SwedishCarl Gustav m/45 and its EgyptianPort Said variant; however, the similarity is often only passing. Produced in several locations and often with second-hand gun parts, the specifications are not uniform. Typically the weapon isautomatic. Often chambered for 9mm Parabellum pistol cartridges, variants for .22 LR, .32 ACP, 9mm Makarov, and 5.56 NATO are also produced. The weapon itself is cheap to manufacture but is inaccurate and prone to jamming and misfires.[31][32][33][34][35][36]
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TheFP-45 Liberator and theDeer gun were crude zip gun-likesingle-shotpistols orderringers manufactured by the United States government for use by resistance forces in occupied territories, during World War II and theVietnam War, respectively.
The FP-45 was designed to be cheaply and quicklymass-produced. It had just 23 largely stamped and turnedsteel parts that were cheap and easy to manufacture. It fired the.45 ACP pistolcartridge from anunrifled barrel and five rounds of .45 ACP ammunition could be stored in the pistol grip. Due to this limitation, it was intended for short range use, 1–4 yards (0.91–3.66 m). Its maximum effective range was only about 25 ft (7.6 m). At longer range, the bullet would begin to tumble and stray off course. The original delivered cost for the FP-45 was US$2.10/unit, lending it the nickname "Woolworth pistol".[37]
The Deer gun fired the9mm Parabellum pistol cartridge. It was made of castaluminium, with thereceiver formed into a cylinder at the top of the weapon. Thestriker protruded from the rear of the receiver and was cocked in order to fire, and a plastic clip was placed there to prevent an accidental discharge, as the Deer gun had no mechanicalsafety. The grip had raised checkering, was hollow, and had space for three 9mm Parabellum rounds and a rod for clearing the barrel of spent cases. The Deer gun lacked any marking identifying manufacturer or user, in order to prevent tracing of the weapons, and all were delivered in unmarkedpolystyrene boxes with three 9mm Parabellum rounds and a series of pictures depicting the operation of the gun. A groove ran down a ramp on top for sighting. The barrel unscrewed for loading and removing the empty casing. A cocking knob was pulled until cocked. The aluminium trigger had no trigger guard.
In 2012, the U.S.-based groupDefense Distributed disclosed plans to design a working plasticgun that could be downloaded and reproduced by anybody with a3D printer.[38][39] TheLiberator is aphysible,3D-printable single shothandgun, the first such printablefirearm design made widely available online.[40][41][42] Theopen source firm Defense Distributed designed the gun and released the plans on the Internet on May 6, 2013. The plans were downloaded over 100,000 times in the two days before theUnited States Department of State demanded that Defense Distributed retract the plans, deeming them a violation of theArms Export Control Act.[43][44][45] In 2015, Defense Distributed founder Cody Wilson sued the United States government on free speech grounds and in 2018 the Department of Justice settled, acknowledging Wilson's right to publish instructions for the production of 3D-printed firearms.[46][47]
Defense Distributed has also designed a 3D printableAR-15 type rifle lower receiver (capable of lasting more than 650 rounds) and a variety of magazines, including for the AK-47.[48] In 2013 a California company,Solid Concepts, demonstrated a3D printed version of anM1911 pistol made of metal, using an industrial 3D printer.[49]
In the United States, creating an improvised firearm for personal use does not requirelicensure, registration, abackground check, or thestamping of a serial number, but the firearm created must be detectable by a metal detector per federal law.[50][51] California, however, passed a law in 2016 that requires anyone planning to build a homemade gun to obtain a serial number from the state (de facto registration) and pass a background check.[52] However, such firearms are often illegal in other jurisdictions and are commonly associated with gangs, where they may be used to facilitate violent crime, such as homicide.[1] In other cases, they may be used for other criminal activities not necessarily related to violent crime, such as illegal hunting of game.[6] Improvised firearms are most commonly encountered in regions with restrictivegun control laws.[citation needed] While popular in the United States in the 1950s, the "zip gun" has become less common.
AKhyber Pass copy is a firearm manufactured by cottage gunsmiths in theKhyber Pass region between Pakistan andAfghanistan. The area has long had a reputation for producing unlicensed, homemade copies of firearms using whatever materials are available – more often than not, railway rails, scrap motor vehicles, and otherscrap metal. The quality of such firearms varies widely, ranging from as good as a factory-produced example to dangerously poor. Much of the gunsmithing is centered around the town ofDarra Adam Khel.
In India, use of improvised country-madepistols is widespread, especially in the regions ofBihar andPurvanchal. The manufacture of these weapons has become acottage industry, and the components are often manufactured from scrap material; examples includegun barrels fashioned fromtruck steering columns.
The rebels of theMau Mau Rebellion (1952–1960) used many different improvised weapons.[53][54][55][56]
In areas likeSouth Africa, improvised firearms are more common. In a study ofZululand District Municipality,South Africa, it was found that most improvised firearms were crude,12-gauge shotguns, with a simple pull-and-release firing mechanism; like.22 rimfire cartridges,shotgun shells operate at low pressures, making them more suited for use in weak, improvised barrels.[25]
Even in the absence of commercially available ammunition, homemadeblack powder weapons can be used; such firearms were the subject of a crackdown in thePeople's Republic of China in 2008.[6] In many areas of Africa, such asZimbabwe, poachers use improvisedmuskets and shotguns loaded with black powder stolen from mines.[57]
The city ofDanao inCebu, Philippines, has been making improvised firearms so long that the makers have become legitimate, and are manufacturing firearms for sale. The Danao makers manufacture .38 and .45 caliberrevolvers, andsemi-automatic copies of theIngram MAC-10 andIntratec TEC-DC9.[2]
In 2004, an "underground weapons factory" was seized inMelbourne, Australia, yielding among other things a number ofsilenced copies of theOwen submachine gun, suspected to have been built for sale to localgangs involved in theillegal drug trade.[58]
Improvised firearms have also been used in the Soviet Union by the Tolstopyatov brothers[59][60] and Russia,[61][62] where they have been used in domestic homicides andterrorism.
Improvised firearms were used by the perpetrator of theHalle synagogue shooting; the homemade shotgun and "Luty" submachine gun repeatedly malfunctioned. The attacker, anantisemiticneo-Nazi terrorist, said whilelivestreaming the attack, "I have certainly managed to prove how absurd improvised weapons are."[63]
In Italy, Naples, Caivano, multiple illegal weapons by the notoriousCamorra were found during a raid, among them was a homemade 22-caliber gun, 400 homemade shells (likely for another gun such as alupara, another type of gun that is often homemade), a homemadesuppressor, and a pen gun.[64]
In Japan, an improvised shotgun was used in theassassination of Shinzo Abe, former prime minister of Japan, on 8 July 2022.[65]
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