A homemade copy of the MAC-11 seized on Monday by police in Sorocaba, Sao Paulo. On this example an original factory-made barrel has possibly been used.
“Police raided a house in the Toowoomba suburb of Harristown on Thursday and found a shipping container with a large range of equipment inside. Officers said they discovered manufactured weapon components, tools such as a drill press, grinders and welders, drawings, templates and a computer with manufacturing instructions. Police said a quantity of methylamphetamine and smoking utensils were also found. ABC”
An improvised 9mm firearm fashioned using parts taken from a captive bolt gun.
A widely copied model very similar to those produced in an underground workshop raided in 2016, though appearing to be of better quality than most other examples from this increasingly widespread ‘family’. Typically seen are parts such as the barrel, bolt and trigger being made from easily work-able brass allowing manufacture with minimal tools and skill. This example, chambered in .380 ACP was seized following the pursuit of a suspected drug dealer in Minas Gerais earlier this month.
Since drafting this Ontario police have arrested and charged multiple individuals involved in the manufacture and distribution of handguns assembled in an identical manor, likely being the source of the examples below.
A firearm seized from a male suspect on 28th August in the city of Mississauga, Ontario CA appears at first glance to be conventional though is in fact illicitly manufactured from a combination of non-firearm parts. The body of the weapon including the frame (receiver) and trigger mechanism is that of a common gas powered replica Colt 1911 6mm airsoft / .177 BB pistol which is manufactured in Taiwan. The ‘F’ within a pentagon mark present on the frame indicates a muzzle energy not exceeding 7.5 J (5.5 ft⋅lbf) usually added in accordance with German law. This appears to have been combined with a conventional .22lr slide which is branded with a Blue Line Solutions logo and made in Germany, likely by GSG (German Sports Guns). All parts required in this case are available as conversions kits from the likes of GSG and others which usually include the slide, barrel and magazine, ready to drop onto an unmodified full-bore 1911 pistol frame assembly to allow the use of smaller .22lr cartridges. In this case very little modification is required to the airsoft frame to allow the .22lr conversion parts to function, the results having been documented by in videos and forum posts the past.
A number of identical conversions have been recently seized by Toronto Police:
The example below was seized in June:
Other examples seized this year:
Below: The result of a successful test firing of an identical conversion demonstrated in a video posted to Youtube:
Earlier this year police in Medina Minas Gerais received a call that a man was firing firearms on a public highway. Upon arriving at the scene police encountered a 52 year old man with a shotgun and after searching his house discovered four more homemade firearms. This quad barrel favela sweeper definitely takes pride of place.
