Black Market Pistol Factory in India

Gun Watch ^ | 10 February, 2016 | Dean Weingarten

[marktwain]

I have been interested in clandestine manufacture of firearms on the Indian subcontinent since my close friend and associate, Norman Whisler, brought them to my attention in the early 1980's.  Finding articles is much easier now, with the Internets.  Illicit, black market pistols are commonly available in India for about $10-$15.  These pistols show a level of sophistication a bit higher than most, but hand craftsmen have been making semi-autos for as long as they existed.  Many Belgian and Spanish semi-autos were hand crafted.  Semi-autos are routinely handcrafted in small Philippine shops.  From newindianexpress.com:

TALCHER: An illegal small arms unit was unearthed here and police seized firearms, including 31 Mauser pistols, 500 live cartridges, gelatin, gun powder, equipment needed for making gun, documents and a list of names and bank accounts. The unit was operating for the last four months.

At least five persons have been arrested in this connection. One of the arrested is a juvenile.

Acting on a tip off, a raid was conducted last night on the unit, operating from a rented house at Champasi here, and arms comprising revolvers and pistols were seized. Police then cracked down on the house of the owner of the illegal unit Tukuna Swain (40) at Paikasahi. Tukuna, however, managed to escape.

Many unsophisticated and ignorant disarmists think that guns will gradually be confiscated and disappear in their gun control dystopias.  When they see the reality of small clandestine shops such as this, they tend to despair. The gun control laws in India are severe.  Guns, ammunition, tools, parts, components, are all under severe control.  The result has been a thriving black market in clandestine guns, mostly handmade.  Powder is scavenged from ammunition purchased or stolen on the black market.  Shotgun and rifle cartridges are converted to pistol ammunition.  Notice the relatively crude tools compared to an ordinary American hobbyist shop.  Consider what this shop could do with a Harbor Freight drill press, $500 mini-lathe/milling machine, and access to a 3D printer or a CNC machine. 

Consider the many billions of rounds of ammunition stored in attics, basements, and garages.  Consider that 100 years is a resonable shelf life for modern ammunition.

Many years ago, my Father, trained as a machinist and who oversaw a shop full of women making munitions in WWII, told me that revolvers would be very simple things to make with minimal machine tools.  Simple sub-machine guns are even easier.

These are things every American voter should know about.  Education is a good thing.

Definition of  disarmist

©2016 by Dean Weingarten: Permission to share is granted when this notice and link are included.
Link to Gun Watch

[marktwain]

This is a good way to educate people as to the physical limits on gun control.

[grobdriver]

“The more you tighten your grip, the more star systems will slip through your fingers.”

[gaijin]

Great post!

[riverrunner]

It there is a will there is a way.

[mad_as_he$$]

Once in the 80’s I saw a rifle that looked exactly like a Rem 700. It came from the tribal area in Pakistan and actually was stamped “Rennington”.

[Jed Eckert]

...Simple sub-machine guns are even easier.

Indeed they are. Back in the '70s I had the opportunity to examine a demilled Sten parts kit at a gun show. All the parts could be made with simple tools and patience. The most difficult part would be to rifle the barrel if you did not want a smoothebore.

However, even that can be accomplished using electrochemical etching techniques.

[556x45]

The true goal of the anti-gun movement was never to create a gun free society. Their goal was to disarm the general populace while maintaining govt arms under the auspices of national defense and law enforcement along with a select few who govt officials view favorably.

[jumpingcholla34]

Precisely. The gun grabbers just want to be sure the “right” people have enough guns to keep the rest of us disarmed peasants in line.

[jstaff]

If you ever get a chance, take a look at an M-3, “Grease Gum”, .45 cal full auto, 2 moving parts and a couple of springs. Nifty.

[bjorn14]

There are gun bazaars in Pakistan that can duplicate any firearm you want and they usually work better than the original.

[556x45]

I think it goes well beyond keeping us in line to include genocide.

[Oatka]

Slam Fire Shotgun

I understand these can be made for about $20. On YouTube, do a search on "Slam fire shotguns" and be amazed at the ingenuity of people. Back in NYC during the '50s, teen gangs thought they were cool making .22 zip guns out of car aerials.

We've come a long way, baby.

[FreedomPoster]

Modern CNC mills and such, and 3D printing of metallic objects, mean that The Weapon Shops of Isher is darn near being a reality.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Weapon_Shops_of_Isher

[PapaBear3625]

The true goal of the anti-gun movement was never to create a gun free society. Their goal was to disarm the general populace while maintaining govt arms under the auspices of national defense and law enforcement along with a select few who govt officials view favorably.

The elites, securely sitting in their guarded communities, do not fear criminals. Most criminals know better than to go after an "elite", as they understand the level of police response that will result.

The elites fear rebellion by the general populace.

[marktwain]

An interesting side note to The Weapon Shops of Isher is that the author, Alan E. Van Vogt, was a Canadian who wrote the book about 1950. It was copyrighted in 1951.

I suspect that the book was based on the practice and failure of Canadian long gun registration during WWII. The long gun registration was eliminated in 1945.

http://www.cdnshootingsports.org/briefhistoryofguncontrolincana.html

[marktwain]

With a little more research, it turns out there were major gun control initiatives in Canada from the end of the war to 1951 as well:

https://www.saf.org/journal/13/Off-TargetGunControlinCanada.htm

Further firearm legislation was introduced during the “red scare” that followed the war. In 1951 the government introduced the registration of automatic firearms.