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The Last Gunsmiths of the Khyber Pass

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Re: The Last Gunsmiths of the Khyber Pass

#71

Post by vmh1928 »

mmm_grayons wrote: post #57
nucleardog wrote: post #48

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Are you sure you haven’t? I’m in Canada which has about 35 civilian guns per hundred people and thanks to the licensing system we know it works out to about 7.5% of the country having licenses here. A lot of the people that own guns would probably surprise you too—for instance, my 65 year old gray haired aunt that works as a nurse in a care home for old people has a cabinet at home with 6 or 8 guns in it. And obvious…

Ever had a slamfire on that SKS? I've seen a few videos showing it but am wondering if it's widespread or just an urban legend.

Many of the SKS sold were military surplus from the various source countries and were usually covered in heavy preservative grease. The grease got into ever nook and cranny (as it was supposed to,) and could prevent the firing pin from moving freely. If you didn't disassemble and clean the bolt and make sure the firing pin could move freely a slam-fire would be possible if the firing pin was stuck sticking out of the bolt face. The other way to cause a slam-fire is if the hammer catch is worn so the hammer isn't caught and held. What happens then is the hammer follows the bolt as the bolt returns to battery and if a new round was chambered the hammer, pressing on the back of the firing pin and forcing the pin to stick out from the bolt face can cause the round to fire. Either way it's bad because both problems can cause the round to fire before the bolt is completely in battery (fully forward with the lugs or locking mechanism engaged and the round fully supported by the chamber.) That can lead to the rear of the cartridge rupturing and venting burning propellant, usually into the magazine.

Re: The Last Gunsmiths of the Khyber Pass

#72

Post by ashtonkem »

smabie wrote: post #10

Is it legal to make your own gun in most places? It's always been a fantasy of mine since I was a little kid, and I finally have the capital and attention span to do it. Do people ever make non replicas? It would be unbelievably cool to design and Smith an a original weapon.

In most jurisdictions, there will be a single part that is legally the gun. That will be the main part that any licensing and registration will be attached to. In America it’s the lower receiver, but in some countries it’s the barrel. Once you’ve got the registered part, everything else can be purchased as parts. For the most part if it’s illegal to own, it’ll be illegal to buy as a part (e.g. unregistered automatic sears in America, or high capacity magazines in some states).

The one exception to this will be jurisdictions with restrictions on “assault weapons”, such as California. In these jurisdictions weapons become illegal based on their configuration; adding a pistol grip to a weapon with a removable magazine might make it illegal, for example.

As always, do your own research and ask a lawyer.

Re: The Last Gunsmiths of the Khyber Pass

#73

Post by CinchWrench »

OJFord wrote: post #61
smabie wrote: post #11

Earlier quoted context omitted.

At what age do people generally get a gun? I have friends who's father bought them a gun at 11-12, though personally I think 14-15 might be more appropriate. At what age did you get your first gun?

In the UK you can join the Army Cadet Force (ACF) at 12, or in an area without middle schools (most of the UK) 11 if your secondary school has a CCF (Combined). Probably the most controlled way young people get their hands on them here, perhaps also the most common (competition/clay/game shooting clubs being the other possibility). Cadets use a modified (no magazine, one in the chamber) .22 Lee Enfield for short rang…

I've instructed kids roughly this age. My context was the American Boy Scouts (remember when that still existed?), so I'm sure it was similar to your experience in the ACF.

There are a lot of psychological techniques you pick up on before you even get to the instruction. One of them is setting a firm expectation that "you are becoming a man, this is how men behave, men are accountable for their actions." This works well for kids in a situation where they feel that they have some honor/face to maintain.

The only difficult child I had to handle was one in the scouts who was using a pocket knife in a very unsafe way. I tore up his totin' chip [1] in front of the class and the shame from that and the dressing down his scoutmaster gave him at the evening campfire straightened him up quickly. I only bring that up because it illustrates how I used that shame drive as what I view as the most important mechanism to keep everyone safe.

This was easy for me to intuit because my father introduced me to guns at a young age, .22's under his supervision around 4 or 5, a BB gun without direct supervision around the age of 8, then on to pellets and carrying my own large-caliber rifle while deer hunting around age 12. It was impressed on me that I was going to pay like hell in corporal punishment if I hit something I shouldn't have, and I've ever had a mishap with a gun (knock on wood.)

It's interesting that in these contexts where I've felt most safe there's an almost visceral understanding that removal of group standing and potentially violence are waiting on the other end of negligence on your part.

[1] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Totin%27_Chip --usually a minor infraction warrants removal of a corner of the chip. A serious infraction warrants complete destruction of the chip.

Re: The Last Gunsmiths of the Khyber Pass

#74

Post by mmm_grayons »

vmh1928 wrote: post #71
mmm_grayons wrote: post #57

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Ever had a slamfire on that SKS? I've seen a few videos showing it but am wondering if it's widespread or just an urban legend.

Many of the SKS sold were military surplus from the various source countries and were usually covered in heavy preservative grease. The grease got into ever nook and cranny (as it was supposed to,) and could prevent the firing pin from moving freely. If you didn't disassemble and clean the bolt and make sure the firing pin could move freely a slam-fire would be possible if the firing pin was stuck sticking out of the…

Interesting, I had heard about the cosmoline issues, but wasn't familiar with the issue with the hammer catch. I guess that is to be expected from combloc surplus. Thanks for the information.

Re: The Last Gunsmiths of the Khyber Pass

#75

Post by 082349872349872 »

arbhassan wrote: post #45
082349872349872 wrote: post #42

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Is there any buzkashi in your area? Polo? Other equestrian sports? (for instance, similar or different to those in https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=24304267 ) Any knife/sword dances similar to the circassian https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=24108561 ? Also, I have a question downthread looking for music recommendations...

Yes polo is also played but mostly in the chitral and gilgit areas. Knife/Sword dancing is also a part of pukhtoon culture. Regarding the music recommendation this[1] is one my favorite song. Also other songs from this band are awesome. Enjoy! [1] https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=ksJnzQKprzc [2] https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=ZywPW8t_kUA

Two architectural questions about Thama (which spoke to me because the mountains there, as do those of Swat, remind me of my own):

- what are the ruins at 2:42? I would've thought they were english gothic...

- what is the structure at 5:33? My guess would be they are similar to our structures[1] (which I have also seen as far west as spain) meant to store and dry fodder (and incidentally dry and store meat for people). They can be seen at 0:34 of https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ltXpMuH8SI4&t=34

(Is the peasant collecting material to build the walls of these at 2:50 in Hamza? Or are what look like sticks to me for something else?)

[1] Not only was it easier to move animals to feed than feed to animals in the olden days, but multiple independent stores were less susceptible to fire. In troubled times, as most bandits and taxmen stayed down in the bottoms of the valleys, their contents were also more likely to remain in the farmers' hands.

Re: The Last Gunsmiths of the Khyber Pass

#76

Post by amingilani »

arbhassan wrote: post #40
vishnugupta wrote: post #38

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I am from India, and I’d love to explore that beautiful area one day. For several reasons, the historical importance of the region is one. So I had a couple of questions. How safe is it for Indians to visit the Khyber region? I speak Hindi/Urdu with conversational fluency. Can I get by? What’s the best and shortest route to take to get there? Thanks to HN, I am conversing with someone from a region which seems so rem…

It's pretty safe. I don't know about the visa details etc but being able to speak urdu/hindi fluently should be enough. No one's will be able to tell if you are an Indian as alot of people from Punjab province who speak Urdu and look like indians visit alot. The locals will mistake you for being a Punjabi. :)

Lahori here, isn't Hindi obviously different from Urdu to the ear? Or is it similar enough to the locals that they can't tell?

Re: The Last Gunsmiths of the Khyber Pass

#77

Post by amingilani »

phobosanomaly wrote: post #33
arbhassan wrote: post #31

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I've never been to Afghanistan. Yes! There's a big local software dev industry in Pakistan but i work remotely for foreign companies.

Are there any interesting software projects coming out of Pakistan that you are excited about, but maybe outsiders may not be so familiar with?

Hey, if you're looking to find some and don't mind going through incubators and coworking communities, I could refer you to those in my network.

Re: The Last Gunsmiths of the Khyber Pass

#78

Post by arbhassan »

amingilani wrote: post #76
arbhassan wrote: post #40

Earlier quoted context omitted.

It's pretty safe. I don't know about the visa details etc but being able to speak urdu/hindi fluently should be enough. No one's will be able to tell if you are an Indian as alot of people from Punjab province who speak Urdu and look like indians visit alot. The locals will mistake you for being a Punjabi. :)

Lahori here, isn't Hindi obviously different from Urdu to the ear? Or is it similar enough to the locals that they can't tell?

I'm pretty sure they can't tell. Some younger ones who may have watched alot of Bollywood movies should be able to but almost no one knows if hindi is only exclusively spoke in India.

Re: The Last Gunsmiths of the Khyber Pass

#79

Post by arbhassan »

amingilani wrote: post #77
phobosanomaly wrote: post #33

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Are there any interesting software projects coming out of Pakistan that you are excited about, but maybe outsiders may not be so familiar with?

Hey, if you're looking to find some and don't mind going through incubators and coworking communities, I could refer you to those in my network.

Hey Amin! It's nice to find you here. We exchanged a few emails about a year ago. I was looking for some advice. Thanks man! :)

Re: The Last Gunsmiths of the Khyber Pass

#80

Post by nucleardog »

mmm_grayons wrote: post #57
nucleardog wrote: post #48

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Are you sure you haven’t? I’m in Canada which has about 35 civilian guns per hundred people and thanks to the licensing system we know it works out to about 7.5% of the country having licenses here. A lot of the people that own guns would probably surprise you too—for instance, my 65 year old gray haired aunt that works as a nurse in a care home for old people has a cabinet at home with 6 or 8 guns in it. And obvious…

Ever had a slamfire on that SKS? I've seen a few videos showing it but am wondering if it's widespread or just an urban legend.

It's definitely not widespread, but it's also not just an urban legend. It's pretty well understood how to intentionally recreate the conditions for a slamfire.

The slamfires happen when the firing pin sticks forward in the bolt due to some sort of contamination which isn't anything unique to the SKS. It's probably more commonly associated with the SKS just because so many people pick them up covered in cosmoline (preservative wax) and just fail to clean them properly. You could probably also do it by slathering oil all over the firing pin and then repeatedly operating the gun in dusty and dirty conditions without cleaning, but really at that point it's kind of on you. (E.g., no slam fires here despite filling the thing with mud: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SPL1gEqBk0s)

Take care of your tools and they'll take care of you. I've put many thousands of rounds through mine without issue, and I know a lot of people that own them because they're extremely cheap here and I've never run into anyone in meatspace that has experienced a slamfire. And even on the internet many people _warn_ about them, but relatively few claim to have ever experienced one considering how common the rifle is. That said, I still make sure mine is pointed downrange every time I chamber the first round from the magazine because it doesn't hurt to be extra cautious.

In all the rounds I've put through mine I've had exactly one failure. An old, corrosive surplus round manufactured in Czechoslovakia in the 1970s. It seems to have expanded a little more vigorously than the usual round or something and got stuck in the chamber. Still fired correctly and the extractor did its job and... ripped a chunk out of the lacquered casing trying to pull it out. Had to pound it out through the muzzle with a brass rod.

They're pretty much what you'd expect out of a soviet russian firearm. Overbuilt, rugged, reliable in hands of an untrained peasant, and somehow no two came off the line the same.

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