Chinese gun

Pour gunpowder down barrel, pour in steel bbs, light fuse, point at target and wait.

Weapon used in bank robbery in Vietnam

Originally a long gun locally produced for hunters, It has been modified or ‘sawn off’ into a pistol which was used in a bank robbery. A large extension spring powers the hammer which is part of a typical simple exterior lock set up. A toy cap would typically be used to prime the nipple combined, the propellant usually being black powder taken from fireworks.

Percussion lock hunting gun (Nigeria)

A Nigerian hunter displays a cross over from traditional materials to a more makeshift utilitarian take on things through the use of welding & scrap iron.

Craft production of firearms in Nigeria

Small Arms Survey have released a new paper documenting the widespread illegal production of improvised / craft-made firearms across Nigeria. The study found that these weapons account for around 32 per cent of firearms-related crime in Adamawa state to a staggering 69 per cent in Plateau state. Along with exploding crime rates, the demand for firearms to equip community defense groups increased drastically following the Boko Haram insurgency with many having to resort to equipping themselves with locally produced weapons such as ‘dane guns’ (Locally hand-made muzzleloading percussion-lock long-guns) and break barrel shotgun copies long used by traditional hunting and tribal groups. More recently illicit gunsmiths have progressed to producing more sophisticated weapons including submachine guns and self-loading pistols utilizing simple sheet metal fabrication methods. Like swords and bows & arrows, firearms are simple devices dating back 800 years which can be produced by anyone and aren’t going to ever go away.

New Small Arms Survey Briefing Paper: Craft weapons used in significant proportions of firearm-related crime in four Nigerian states

Ivan’s 10 minute hand-cannon

‘Match’ lock pistol pair

A fabulous set of superbly handcrafted matchlock dueling pistols by the late Ivan Mikhailov.

Improvised percussion lock musket (Russia)

An improvised percussion lock firearm which uses toy caps placed over the touch hole to ignite a matchhead or blackpowder charge.