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Earlier quoted context omitted.
There are “traditional” designs that have been handed down through the generations in both poorer areas of the US and in cities like NYC where legal guns have been hard to obtain for a long time. Someday I plan to collect some of them and publish a book :)
I'd be interested in seeing that. Maybe make a table top book full of beautiful photographs?
It would be nice to rename this to "Improvised Firearms" (the article's actual title), as the current title contains an ethnic slur
The term “zip gun” predates the slur. “Zip” means “fast”. As in, “I need a gun now, and can’t wait until I can buy one”.
Earlier quoted context omitted.
The term “zip gun” predates the slur. “Zip” means “fast”. As in, “I need a gun now, and can’t wait until I can buy one”.
I just had to look this up. I'm amazed I have never come across this meaning of the word before and it was even used in Platoon supposedly?! Previously I had only understood zip in the context of a zipper, the compression, fast, and the zip gun..
For instance, “Nip” is generally considered to be a slur, but it seems to have come to English from the word “Nippon” or “Nihon”. “Nipponese” in English would be “Nihonjin” as best I can tell in Japanese. “Nipponese” was used as far back at the early 19th Century (1), but “Nip”, as a slur, seems to have arisen after WW2.
Given the changing nature of language, I guess it’s not surprising to see random unrelated words come to be viewed as slurs. In this case, there’s even misleading “evidence”, given that Nambu pistols in the later years of WW2 were absolutely terrible firearms, due to time and resource constraints as Imperial Japan lost access to imported resources.
1: https://books.google.com/books?id=WiEYAAAAYAAJ&pg=PA584&dq=N...
As a side note - it’s more difficult in the US to make a legal zip gun than an illegal one. Smoothbores must have a 16” barrel or longer (18” for shotguns), and an overall length of 26”. If you’re making a semi-auto, it must be a closed bolt design, and the sear must be designed to not reset until the trigger travels forward. It’s much easier to make an open-bolt SMG than a semi-auto pistol.
Also out here in the Wild, Wild West (aka Arizona) one can make pretty much any firearm they wish as long as it isn't full-auto or has (IIRC) a barrel over a 1/2" thanks to the last governor.
Anyhoo, the point is it varies on the gun laws depending on where you live.
The whole 3d printed gun scare boggled my mind. Making a single fire weapon with some pipe is so easy nearly anyone could do it. Getting the ammunition would be the hardest part were I live. Using a 3d printer take a lot more skill and effort.
As a side note - it’s more difficult in the US to make a legal zip gun than an illegal one. Smoothbores must have a 16” barrel or longer (18” for shotguns), and an overall length of 26”. If you’re making a semi-auto, it must be a closed bolt design, and the sear must be designed to not reset until the trigger travels forward. It’s much easier to make an open-bolt SMG than a semi-auto pistol.
Can't remember the name of it but apparently there's a short-barrel shotgun on the market that's legal simply because they asked the ATF if their interpretation of the law meant it wasn't technically a short-barrel shotgun but merely a firearm and they were like "yep". Think the thing has a 14" barrel. Also out here in the Wild, Wild West (aka Arizona) one can make pretty much any firearm they wish as long as it isn'…
> Also out here in the Wild, Wild West (aka Arizona) one can make pretty much any firearm they wish as long as it isn't full-auto or has (IIRC) a barrel over a 1/2" thanks to the last governor.
Federal laws still apply, and the NFA in particular is what makes DIY firearms complicated. I'm in Arkansas, and it's about the same here as Arizona.
Probably the most effective of these if you have 12ga ammo available is a “bang stick”. It’s basically a 12ga shell in a tube, with a spring that will force it into a firing pin when it’s pressed against something and trips a small lever holding back the spring. They’re used in shark hunting and for self-defense by divers against sharks. Here’s a commercial one, which has a safety pin that must be removed before it w…