Improvised firearm disguised as a flashlight

An improvised firearm is a firearm manufactured by someone who is not a regular maker of firearms, such as a firearms manufacturer or a gunsmith, and are typically constructed by adapting existing materials to the purpose. Improvised firearms are often crude and illegally made, and go by many names, such as zip gun in the United States.^[1][2][3][4]

Construction

Camouflaged improvised firearms

The essential part of any improvised firearm is the barrel and chamber. For small, low pressure cartridges, like the common .22 caliber (5.56 mm) rimfire cartridges, even very thin walled tubing will suffice. Author Harlan Ellison describes the zip guns used by gangs in New York City as being made from tubing used in coffee percolators or automobile radio antennas, strapped to a block of wood to serve as a handle. A rubber band provides the power for the firing pin, which is pulled back and released to fire. The use of such weak tubing results in a firearm that can be more dangerous to the shooter than the target; the poorly fitting smoothbore barrel provides little accuracy, and is liable to burst upon firing, injuring the shooter.^[5]

Leveraging other items

More advanced improvised guns can leverage parts from other gun-like products. One example is the cap 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.^[6]

Air guns have also been modified to convert them to firearms. The Brocock Air Cartridge System, or BACS, 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 (5.56 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. This resulted in legislation that classified the BACS air guns as firearms, which effectively banned them in the United Kingdom in 2004.^[7][8] Blank firing guns can also be converted by adding a barrel.^[9]

Cryptic firearms

Some more complex improvised firearms are not only well built, but also use mimicry as camouflage, taking the appearance of other items. Improvised firearms in the form of flashlights, cellular telephones, pens, and large bolts, have all been seized by law enforcement officials. 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 bore shotgun shells.^[10][11]

Repeating and automatic designs

Four-shot gun disguised as a cellphone

While most improvised firearms are single shot, multiple shot version are also encountered. The simplest multi-shot zip guns are derringer-like, and consist of a number of single shot zip guns attached together. In late 2000, European police encountered a four shot .22 LR zip gun disguised as a cellphone, where different keys on the keypad fire different barrels. Because of this discovery, cellphones are now x-rayed by airport screeners worldwide. They are believed to be manufactured in Croatia, and were still being found in Europe as late as 2004, according to a report by Time magazine. ^[12][13]

More complex still are improvised submachine guns, often made by copying existing designs, or by adapting simple, open bolt actions and leveraging commonly available hardware store parts.^[4][14]

Repurposed firearms

In cases where some firearms are available, they can be improvised into different types. One such improvised, repurposed firearm is described by Che Guevara in his book Guerrilla Warfare. Called the "M-16", it consists of a 16 gauge sawed-off shotgun provided with a bipod to hold the barrel at a 45 degree angle. This was loaded with a blank cartridge formed by removing the shot from a standard shotshell, followed by a wooden rod with a Molotov cocktail attached to the front. This formed an improvised mortar capable of firing the incendiary device accurately out to a range of 100 meters.^[15]

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 a shotgun shell, or by inserting a smaller bore barrel into the existing barrel (see caliber conversion sleeve) to chamber a firearm cartridge, such as a .22 Long Rifle.^[16][17]

Use

A crude but effective improvised 12 gauge shotgun used during the Bosnian War

Improvised firearms are typically illegal, and are commonly associated with gangs, where they may be used to facilitate violent crime, such as homicide.^[5] In other cases, they may be used for other criminal activities not directly related to violent crime, such as illegal hunting of game.^[18]

Improvised firearms are most commonly encountered in poverty stricken regions with restrictive gun control laws. While popular in the United States in the 1950s, the "zip gun", often covertly manufactured in high school shop classes, has become less common due to the greater ease of obtaining firearms on the black market. In areas like South Africa, improvised firearms are more common. In a study of Zululand 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 the .22 rimfire cartridges, shotgun shells also operate at low pressures, making them more suited for use in weak, improvised barrels.^[9] Even in the absence of ammunition, home-made powder can be used; such firearms were the subject of a crackdown in the People's Republic of China in 2008.^[18]

Improvised firearms are not solely the province of the criminal element, however; they are also used by insurgents. During the Japanese occupation of the Philippines during World War II, the paliuntod, a type of improvised shotgun, was commonly used by guerillas and American soldiers who remained behind after Douglas MacAurthur's withdrawal. Made of two pieces of pipe that fit snugly together, the paliuntod was a simple, single shot open bolt design. The shell was placed in the breech of the barrel, which was then fitted into the larger diameter receiver. The receiver was capped at the breach end, and had a fixed firing pin placed to strike the primer of the shell. When the barrel was pulled sharply to the rear, the firing pin would strike the primer and fire the gun.^[19][20] These improvised firearms are still in use by both criminals and rebels in the Philippines.^[1][2]

Danao City, in the Cebu province of the Philippines, has been making improvised firearms so long that the makers have become legitimate, and are manufacturing firearms for sale. The Danao City makers manufacture .38 and .45 caliber revolvers, and semi automatic copies of the Ingram and KG submachine guns.^[4]

Improvised Firearms in the Modern Day

From 2007-2008,there has been a numerous surge of improvised firearms found and confiscated by the police in Jersey City, New Jersey. The weapons were commonly used in gang warfare,robberies, and homocides. Many of these makeshift weapons appear to have simmilar designs and constructed of simmilar materials which led law enforcements to believe the weapons were built illegally by a single manufacturer which were then sold to the public.

See also

• Insurgency weapon

References

Index Of Related Pages