Improvised firearm
Encyclopedia
Firearm
A firearm is a weapon that launches one, or many, projectile at high velocity through confined burning of a propellant. This subsonic burning process is technically known as deflagration, as opposed to supersonic combustion known as a detonation. In older firearms, the propellant was typically...
manufactured by someone who is not a regular maker of firearms (such as a firearms manufacturer or a gunsmith
Gunsmith
A gunsmith is a person who repairs, modifies, designs, or builds firearms. This occupation is different from an armorer. The armorer primarily maintains weapons and limited repairs involving parts replacement and possibly work involving accurization...
), and is typically constructed by adapting existing materials to the purpose. Called by many names, these improvised firearms range from crude weapons that are as much a danger to the user as the target, to high quality arms produced by cottage industries using salvaged and repurposed materials.
Improvised firearms are more commonly found where legal and commercially produced firearms are unaffordable or strictly controlled. If commercial ammunition is obtainable, then improvised arms will generally be built to fit that ammunition. If commercial ammunition is not available, then muzzle loading black powder designs can still be produced.
Most countries have controls in place that regulate production, sales, and possession of firearms and ammunition (see gun politics
Gun politics
Gun politics addresses safety issues and ideologies related to firearms through criminal and noncriminal use. Gun politics deals with rules, regulations, and restrictions on the use, ownership, and distribution of firearms.-National sovereignty:...
for regional information). This means improvised firearms are for the most part illegally produced, which makes their possession and use criminal as well. Improvised firearms are commonly used as tools by criminals and insurgents and therefore often associated with such groups.
Other uses for improvised firearms include self-defense in lawless areas, or in poor rural areas for poaching
Poaching
Poaching is the illegal taking of wild plants or animals contrary to local and international conservation and wildlife management laws. Violations of hunting laws and regulations are normally punishable by law and, collectively, such violations are known as poaching.It may be illegal and in...
game for food or profit.
Construction
Harlan Ellison
Harlan Jay Ellison is an American writer. His principal genre is speculative fiction.His published works include over 1,700 short stories, novellas, screenplays, teleplays, essays, a wide range of criticism covering literature, film, television, and print media...
describes the zip guns used by gangs in 1950s New York City
New York City
New York is the most populous city in the United States and the center of the New York Metropolitan Area, one of the most populous metropolitan areas in the world. New York exerts a significant impact upon global commerce, finance, media, art, fashion, research, technology, education, and...
as being made from tubing used in coffee
Coffee
Coffee is a brewed beverage with a dark,init brooo acidic flavor prepared from the roasted seeds of the coffee plant, colloquially called coffee beans. The beans are found in coffee cherries, which grow on trees cultivated in over 70 countries, primarily in equatorial Latin America, Southeast Asia,...
percolator
Coffee percolator
A coffee percolator is a type of pot used to brew coffee. The name stems from the word "percolate" which means to cause to pass through a permeable substance especially for extracting a soluble constituent....
s or automobile radio
Radio
Radio is the transmission of signals through free space by modulation of electromagnetic waves with frequencies below those of visible light. Electromagnetic radiation travels by means of oscillating electromagnetic fields that pass through the air and the vacuum of space...
antenna
Antenna (radio)
An antenna is an electrical device which converts electric currents into radio waves, and vice versa. It is usually used with a radio transmitter or radio receiver...
s, strapped to a block of wood to serve as a handle. A rubber band
Rubber band
A rubber band is a short length of rubber and latex formed in the shape of a loop and is commonly used to hold multiple objects together...
provides the power for the firing pin
Firing pin
A firing pin or striker is part of the firing mechanism used in a firearm or explosive device e.g. an M14 landmine or bomb fuze. Firing pins may take many forms, though the types used in landmines, bombs, grenade fuzes or other single-use devices generally have a sharpened point...
, 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
Smoothbore
A smoothbore weapon is one which has a barrel without rifling. Smoothbores range from handheld firearms to powerful tank guns and large artillery mortars.-History of firearms and rifling:...
barrel provides little accuracy and is liable to burst upon firing.
Improvisation with other items
More advanced improvised guns can make use of parts from other gun-like products. One example is the cap gunCap gun
A cap gun is a toy gun that creates a loud sound simulating a gunshot and a puff of smoke when the trigger is pulled. Cap guns were originally made of cast iron, but after World War II were made of zinc alloy, and most newer models are made of plastic....
. 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.
Air gun
Air gun
An air gun is a rifle , pistol , or shotgun that fires projectiles by means of compressed air or other gas, in contrast to a firearm, which burns a propellant. Most air guns use metallic projectiles as ammunition. Air guns that only use plastic projectiles are classified as airsoft...
s have also been modified to convert them to firearms. The Brocock Air Cartridge System, for example, uses a self contained "cartridge" roughly the size of a .38 Special
.38 Special
The .38 Smith & Wesson Special is a rimmed, centerfire cartridge designed by Smith & Wesson. It is most commonly used in revolvers, although some semi-automatic pistols and carbines also use this round...
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
Blank (cartridge)
A blank is a type of cartridge for a firearm that contains gunpowder but no bullet or shot. When fired, the blank makes a flash and an explosive sound . Blanks are often used for simulation , training, and for signaling...
firing guns can also be converted by adding a barrel.
Cryptic firearms
Some more complex improvised firearms are not only well built, but also use mimicry as camouflageCamouflage
Camouflage is a method of concealment that allows an otherwise visible animal, military vehicle, or other object to remain unnoticed, by blending with its environment. Examples include a leopard's spotted coat, the battledress of a modern soldier and a leaf-mimic butterfly...
, taking the appearance of other items. Improvised firearms in the form of flashlight
Flashlight
A flashlight is a hand-held electric-powered light source. Usually the light source is a small incandescent lightbulb or light-emitting diode...
s, cellular telephones, pen
Pen
A pen is a device used to apply ink to a surface, usually paper, for writing or drawing. Historically, reed pens, quill pens, and dip pens were used, with a nib of some sort to be dipped in the ink. Ruling pens allow precise adjustment of line width, and still find a few specialized uses, but...
s, 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
.22 Long Rifle
The .22 Long Rifle rimfire cartridge is a long established variety of ammunition, and in terms of units sold is still by far the most common in the world today. The cartridge is often referred to simply as .22 LR and various rifles, pistols, revolvers, and even some smoothbore shotguns have...
to larger ones chambered for .410 bore
.410 bore
.410 bore, commonly misnamed the .410 gauge, is the smallest gauge of shotgun shell commonly available. It has similar base dimensions to the .45 Colt revolver cartridge, though the .410 is significantly longer, up to , allowing many single-shot firearms and some revolvers chambered in that...
shotgun shell
Shotgun shell
A shotgun shell is a self-contained cartridge loaded with lead shot or shotgun slug designed to be fired from a shotgun....
s.
Repeating and automatic designs
Derringer
The term derringer is a genericized misspelling of the last name of Henry Deringer, a famous 19th-century maker of small pocket pistols. Many copies of the original Philadelphia Deringer pistol were made by other gun makers worldwide, and the name was often misspelled; this misspelling soon became...
-like, and consist of a number of single shot zip guns attached together. In late 2000, Europe
Europe
Europe is, by convention, one of the world's seven continents. Comprising the westernmost peninsula of Eurasia, Europe is generally 'divided' from Asia to its east by the watershed divides of the Ural and Caucasus Mountains, the Ural River, the Caspian and Black Seas, and the waterways connecting...
an 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-ray
X-ray
X-radiation is a form of electromagnetic radiation. X-rays have a wavelength in the range of 0.01 to 10 nanometers, corresponding to frequencies in the range 30 petahertz to 30 exahertz and energies in the range 120 eV to 120 keV. They are shorter in wavelength than UV rays and longer than gamma...
ed by airport screeners worldwide. They are believed to be manufactured in Croatia
Croatia
Croatia , officially the Republic of Croatia , is a unitary democratic parliamentary republic in Europe at the crossroads of the Mitteleuropa, the Balkans, and the Mediterranean. Its capital and largest city is Zagreb. The country is divided into 20 counties and the city of Zagreb. Croatia covers ...
, and were still being found in Europe as late as 2004, according to a report by Time magazine
Time (magazine)
Time is an American news magazine. A European edition is published from London. Time Europe covers the Middle East, Africa and, since 2003, Latin America. An Asian edition is based in Hong Kong...
.
Although considered complex, but quite simple depending on resources are improvised submachine gun
Submachine gun
A submachine gun is an automatic carbine, designed to fire pistol cartridges. It combines the automatic fire of a machine gun with the cartridge of a pistol. The submachine gun was invented during World War I , but the apex of its use was during World War II when millions of the weapon type were...
s, often made by copying existing designs, or by adapting simple, open bolt
Open bolt
A semi or full automatic firearm is said to fire from an open bolt if, when ready to fire, the bolt and working parts are held to the rear. When the trigger is pulled the bolt goes forward, feeding a round from the magazine into the chamber and firing it...
actions and leveraging commonly available hardware store parts.
The Sten submachine gun
The British StenSten
The STEN was a family of British 9 mm submachine guns used extensively by British and Commonwealth forces throughout World War II and the Korean War...
, while it was an official military firearm, was developed specifically to be produced by improvised workshops. When the British Expeditionary Force
British Expeditionary Force (World War II)
The British Expeditionary Force was the British force in Europe from 1939–1940 during the Second World War. Commanded by General Lord Gort, the BEF constituted one-tenth of the defending Allied force....
withdrew from France in the Dunkirk evacuation of 1940, large numbers of arms were abandoned, leaving the British military under-armed. Two Britons, Sheppard and Turpin (the "S" and "T" in "Sten") designed and built a prototype submachine gun in 30 days' time, to be used to re-arm the British soldiers as quickly as possible. Intended to resist an anticipated German invasion, the gun was designed to fire captured Axis
Axis Powers
The Axis powers , also known as the Axis alliance, Axis nations, Axis countries, or just the Axis, was an alignment of great powers during the mid-20th century that fought World War II against the Allies. It began in 1936 with treaties of friendship between Germany and Italy and between Germany and...
9x19mm ammunition, and was simple to construct, with a minimum of precision parts. Production was implemented as a decentralized assembly line, with production operations spread out to over 300 improvised production facilities throughout Britain. An additional advantage of the deliberately primitive construction of the Sten was a great reduction in production costs. The initial production cost of the Sten was approximately US$12 per unit, and quickly dropped to US$8 with improvements in production techniques, a fraction of the approximately US$120 required for an American Thompson
Thompson submachine gun
The Thompson is an American submachine gun, invented by John T. Thompson in 1919, that became infamous during the Prohibition era. It was a common sight in the media of the time, being used by both law enforcement officers and criminals...
or the German MP40
MP40
The MP 38 and MP 40 , often called Schmeisser, were submachine guns developed in Nazi Germany and used extensively by paratroopers, tank crews, platoon and squad leaders, and other troops during World War II.-Development:The MP 40 descended from its predecessor, the MP 38, which was in turn based...
submachine guns.
During the 1970s-80s, International Ordnance of San Antonio, Texas released the MP2 machine pistol. It was intended as a more compact, simpler derivative of the Sten gun to be used in urban guerrilla actions, to be manufactured cheaply and/or in less-than-well-equipped workshops and distributed to "friendly" undercover forces. Much like the previously mentioned FP-45 "Liberator" pistol of World War 2, it could be discarded during an escape with no substantial loss for the force's arsenal. The MP2 is a blowback-operated weapon that fires from an open bolt with an extremely high rate of fire. A similar weapon of Guatemalan origin is the SM-9
SM-9
The SM-9 is a machine pistol of Guatemalan origin and manufactured by Cellini-Dunn. It is blowback operated, firing from an open bolt and can use magazines from Ingram MAC-10 submachine guns inserted into a similar grip. The layout of the receiver is somewhat simpler than that of a Sten with its...
.
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 GuevaraChe Guevara
Ernesto "Che" Guevara , commonly known as el Che or simply Che, was an Argentine Marxist revolutionary, physician, author, intellectual, guerrilla leader, diplomat and military theorist...
in his book Guerrilla Warfare
Guerrilla Warfare (book)
Guerrilla Warfare is a book by Marxist revolutionary Che Guevara that was written right after the Cuban Revolution and published in 1961. It soon became the guidebook for thousands of insurgents in various countries around the world....
. Called the "M-16", it consists of a 16 gauge sawed-off shotgun
Sawed-off shotgun
A sawed-off shotgun also called a sawn-off shotgun and a short-barreled shotgun , is a type of shotgun with a shorter gun barrel and often a shorter or absent stock....
provided with a bipod to hold the barrel at a 45 degree angle. This was loaded with a blank cartridge
Blank (cartridge)
A blank is a type of cartridge for a firearm that contains gunpowder but no bullet or shot. When fired, the blank makes a flash and an explosive sound . Blanks are often used for simulation , training, and for signaling...
formed by removing the shot from a standard shotshell, followed by a wooden rod with a Molotov cocktail
Molotov cocktail
The Molotov cocktail, also known as the petrol bomb, gasoline bomb, Molotov bomb, fire bottle, fire bomb, or simply Molotov, is a generic name used for a variety of improvised incendiary weapons...
attached to the front. This formed an improvised mortar
Mortar (weapon)
A mortar is an indirect fire weapon that fires explosive projectiles known as bombs at low velocities, short ranges, and high-arcing ballistic trajectories. It is typically muzzle-loading and has a barrel length less than 15 times its caliber....
capable of firing the incendiary device accurately out to a range of 100 meters.
Flare gun
Flare gun
A flare gun is a firearm that launches flares. It is typically used for signalling, as distress signalling, at sea or from the ground to aircraft...
s 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
Shotgun shell
A shotgun shell is a self-contained cartridge loaded with lead shot or shotgun slug designed to be fired from a shotgun....
, or by inserting a smaller bore barrel into the existing barrel (such as with a caliber conversion sleeve
Caliber conversion sleeve
A caliber conversion sleeve is a device which can be used to non-permanently alter a firearm to allow it to fire a different cartridge than the one it was originally designed to...
) to chamber a firearm cartridge, such as a .22 Long Rifle
.22 Long Rifle
The .22 Long Rifle rimfire cartridge is a long established variety of ammunition, and in terms of units sold is still by far the most common in the world today. The cartridge is often referred to simply as .22 LR and various rifles, pistols, revolvers, and even some smoothbore shotguns have...
.
Use
Improvised firearms are most commonly encountered in poverty stricken regions with restrictive gun control
Gun control
Gun control is any law, policy, practice, or proposal designed to restrict or limit the possession, production, importation, shipment, sale, and/or use of guns or other firearms by private citizens...
laws. While popular in the United States in the 1950s, the "zip gun" has become less common due to the greater ease of obtaining firearms on the black market. In India
India
India , officially the Republic of India , is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by geographical area, the second-most populous country with over 1.2 billion people, and the most populous democracy in the world...
, use of improvised country-made pistols is widespread, especially in the regions of Bihar
Bihar
Bihar is a state in eastern India. It is the 12th largest state in terms of geographical size at and 3rd largest by population. Almost 58% of Biharis are below the age of 25, which is the highest proportion in India....
and Purvanchal
Purvanchal
Purvanchal is a geographic region of north-central India, which comprises the eastern end of Uttar Pradesh state...
. The manufacture of these weapons has become a cottage industry and the components are often manufactured from scrap material, such as gun barrel
Gun barrel
A gun barrel is the tube, usually metal, through which a controlled explosion or rapid expansion of gases are released in order to propel a projectile out of the end at a high velocity....
s fashioned from truck
Truck
A truck or lorry is a motor vehicle designed to transport cargo. Trucks vary greatly in size, power, and configuration, with the smallest being mechanically similar to an automobile...
steering wheel
Steering wheel
A steering wheel is a type of steering control in vehicles and vessels ....
s. In areas like South Africa
South Africa
The Republic of South Africa is a country in southern Africa. Located at the southern tip of Africa, it is divided into nine provinces, with of coastline on the Atlantic and Indian oceans...
, improvised firearms are more common. In a study of Zululand District Municipality
Zululand District Municipality
Zululand is one of the 11 district municipalities of KwaZulu-Natal province. The seat of Zululand is Ulundi. The majority of its 804,456 people speak IsiZulu . The district code is DC26...
, South Africa
South Africa
The Republic of South Africa is a country in southern Africa. Located at the southern tip of Africa, it is divided into nine provinces, with of coastline on the Atlantic and Indian oceans...
, it was found that most improvised firearms were crude, 12 gauge
Gauge (bore diameter)
The gauge of a firearm is a unit of measurement used to express the diameter of the barrel. Gauge is determined from the weight of a solid sphere of lead that will fit the bore of the firearm, and is expressed as the multiplicative inverse of the sphere's weight as a fraction of a pound . Thus...
shotguns, with a simple pull and release firing mechanism; like the .22 rimfire cartridges, shotgun shell
Shotgun shell
A shotgun shell is a self-contained cartridge loaded with lead shot or shotgun slug designed to be fired from a shotgun....
s also operate at low pressures, making them more suited for use in weak, improvised barrels. 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
People's Republic of China
China , officially the People's Republic of China , is the most populous country in the world, with over 1.3 billion citizens. Located in East Asia, the country covers approximately 9.6 million square kilometres...
in 2008.
Improvised firearms are not solely the province of the criminal element, however; they are also used by insurgents. During the Japan
Japan
Japan is an island nation in East Asia. Located in the Pacific Ocean, it lies to the east of the Sea of Japan, China, North Korea, South Korea and Russia, stretching from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north to the East China Sea and Taiwan in the south...
ese occupation of the Philippines during World War II
World War II
World War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...
, the paliuntod, a type of improvised shotgun
Shotgun
A shotgun is a firearm that is usually designed to be fired from the shoulder, which uses the energy of a fixed shell to fire a number of small spherical pellets called shot, or a solid projectile called a slug...
, was commonly used by guerrillas and the joint American and Filipino soldiers who remained behind after Douglas MacArthur
Douglas MacArthur
General of the Army Douglas MacArthur was an American general and field marshal of the Philippine Army. He was a Chief of Staff of the United States Army during the 1930s and played a prominent role in the Pacific theater during World War II. He received the Medal of Honor for his service in the...
's withdrawal. Made of two pieces of pipe that fit snugly together, the paliuntod was a simple, single shot open bolt
Open bolt
A semi or full automatic firearm is said to fire from an open bolt if, when ready to fire, the bolt and working parts are held to the rear. When the trigger is pulled the bolt goes forward, feeding a round from the magazine into the chamber and firing it...
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. These improvised firearms are still in use by both criminals and rebels in the Philippines.
Danao City
Danao City
Danao City is a 3rd class city in the province of Cebu, Philippines. According to the 2007 census, it has a population of 109,534 people.In 2005, Metro Cebu's definition was expanded to include Danao City, a leader in the gun industry, in the north and the municipalities of San Fernando and Carcar...
, 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 revolver
Revolver
A revolver is a repeating firearm that has a cylinder containing multiple chambers and at least one barrel for firing. The first revolver ever made was built by Elisha Collier in 1818. The percussion cap revolver was invented by Samuel Colt in 1836. This weapon became known as the Colt Paterson...
s, and semi automatic
Semi-automatic firearm
A semi-automatic, or self-loading firearm is a weapon which performs all steps necessary to prepare the weapon to fire again after firing—assuming cartridges remain in the weapon's feed device or magazine...
copies of the Ingram MAC-10
MAC-10
The MAC-10 is a highly compact, blowback operated machine pistol developed by Gordon B. Ingram in 1964.-Design:The M-10 was built predominantly from steel stampings...
and Intratec TEC-DC9
Intratec TEC-DC9
The Intratec TEC-DC9 is a blowback-operated, semi-automatic firearm, chambered in 9×19mm Parabellum, and classified by the U.S. Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives as a handgun. Designed by Intratec, an American offshoot of Interdynamic AB, it is made of inexpensive molded polymers...
submachine gun
Submachine gun
A submachine gun is an automatic carbine, designed to fire pistol cartridges. It combines the automatic fire of a machine gun with the cartridge of a pistol. The submachine gun was invented during World War I , but the apex of its use was during World War II when millions of the weapon type were...
s. In 2004, an "underground weapons factory" was seized in Melbourne, Australia
Melbourne
Melbourne is the capital and most populous city in the state of Victoria, and the second most populous city in Australia. The Melbourne City Centre is the hub of the greater metropolitan area and the Census statistical division—of which "Melbourne" is the common name. As of June 2009, the greater...
, yielding among other things a number of silenced
Suppressor
A suppressor, sound suppressor, sound moderator, or silencer, is a device attached to or part of the barrel of a firearm which reduces the amount of noise and flash generated by firing the weapon....
copies of the Owen submachine gun, suspected to have been built for sale to local gangs
Gangs in Australia
The history of gangs in Australia goes back at least 100 years. Criminal gangs have flourished in the Rocks district of Sydney in its early history in the 19th century, The Rocks Push was a notorious larrikin gang, which dominated the The Rocks area of Sydney, Australia from the 1870s to the end of...
involved in the illegal drug trade
Illegal drug trade
The illegal drug trade is a global black market, dedicated to cultivation, manufacture, distribution and sale of those substances which are subject to drug prohibition laws. Most jurisdictions prohibit trade, except under license, of many types of drugs by drug prohibition laws.A UN report said the...
.
Many improvised firearms have also been used in other countries such as India
India
India , officially the Republic of India , is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by geographical area, the second-most populous country with over 1.2 billion people, and the most populous democracy in the world...
and Russia
Russia
Russia or , officially known as both Russia and the Russian Federation , is a country in northern Eurasia. It is a federal semi-presidential republic, comprising 83 federal subjects...
where they have been used in domestic homicides and terrorism
Terrorism
Terrorism is the systematic use of terror, especially as a means of coercion. In the international community, however, terrorism has no universally agreed, legally binding, criminal law definition...
.
See also
- Homemade shotgunsHomemade shotgunsA homemade shotgun or Tumbera or bakakuk is a firearm made with practically no money and with unsophisticated articles like nails, steel pipes, wooden pieces, bits of string, etc...
- Improvised explosive deviceImprovised explosive deviceAn improvised explosive device , also known as a roadside bomb, is a homemade bomb constructed and deployed in ways other than in conventional military action...
- Improvised incendiary deviceIncendiary deviceIncendiary weapons, incendiary devices or incendiary bombs are bombs designed to start fires or destroy sensitive equipment using materials such as napalm, thermite, chlorine trifluoride, or white phosphorus....
- Insurgency weaponInsurgency weaponAn insurgency weapon is a weapon, most often a firearm, intended for use by insurgents to engage in guerrilla warfare against an occupier, or for use by rebels against an established government...
Further reading
- Trub, J. David (1993) Zips, Pipes, And Pens: Arsenal Of Improvised Weapons Paladin PressPaladin PressPaladin Press is a book publishing firm founded in 1970 by Peder Lund and Robert K. Brown.The company publishes non-fiction books and videos covering a wide range of specialty topics, including personal and financial freedom, survivalism and preparedness, firearms and shooting, various martial...
. ISBN 0873647025 - Anonymous (1983) Improvised Weapons of the American Underground Desert Publications. ISBN 0879471107
- Brown, Ronald (1999) Homemade Guns & Homemade Ammo Breakout Productions. ISBN 1893626113
- McLean, Don (1992) Do-It-Yourself Gunpowder Cookbook Paladin Press. ISBN 0873646754
- Hollenback, George (1996) Workbench Silencers: The Art Of Improvised Designs Paladin Press. ISBN 0873648951
- Métral, Gérard (1985) Do-It-Yourself Submachine Gun Paladin Press. ISBN 0873648404