Expedient Homemade Firearms

74 Pages·2002·31.42 MB·English

INTRODUCTION
(CHAPTER 1: Lower Receiver
(CTIAPTER 2: Upper Receiver
CTIAPTER 5: Barrel Components
CHAPTER 4: Chambering the Boere!
CHAPTER 5: Barrel Assembly
CHAPTER 6: Breech Block Construction
CHAPTER 2: The Ejector

(CHAPTER §: Mainspring and Guide
CHAPTER 4: Recon Shield Construction
CHAPTER 10: Gripend Maygaane Well
CHAPTER TI: the Sear

CHAPTER 12: The Trigger
(CHAPTER 13: The Mainspring
CHAPTER 14: Magazine Construction
(CHAPTER 15: Assembling
CHAPTER 16; lest-Firing,

the Machine Gun

(CHAPTER 17: Hting a Shing ad Final Biashing

APPENDIX A: Submachine Gun Tubing Sizes

APPENDIX th: Usofil SAU Tube Sizes fr Inyprovised Barcels

APPENDIX C: Lioubleshooting,
What is = homemade gun? The answer to
that question may sem simple, but the term
‘homemade” can mean dillerent things 0
different people, depeading on the
Circumstances, For exampie, who makes a
ontemacle gun and why? What materials acv
tused and what fype of gun can be bul? Lo best
ilusteate what I mea Tet as take a brief Took at
ihe predicament of one particular gun maker
whom we will call Fred.

‘On the sinall island eff the eoas: of France
where Fred lives, most types of guns are
barnod-—or se lightly controlled that they m:
x well be banned! This sad state of affairs
‘ome about because the police, elitist press, and
media in general were frightened of the

le especially the working classes—
having access to firesrms, The government
Jnew that if the people owned guns, then all
poner would be in the hands of the people—
Something that must be avoided at all costs!

Seizing an appropriate opportunity, the
ansigun propaganda machine swung into
action and, over a period oF years,
successfully brainwashed the majority of
Citizens into believing, that only the police
and army should have guns! Gun owners
were pessecuted by the elitist-owned mnedia
and branded as undesirable social elesnents,
misfits, and psyeaopalhs. The propaganca,
jes, and misinformation worked, and the
gun owner came te be regaated as a criminal
land a threat to society, Behind a smokesercen

ol, antiweapon laws were

pasted and guas were banned. Citizens were
laught fo fen" their neighbors su they would
have no time lo recognize or question the
increasing power of the state over the
individual. In order to facilitaze the mass
disarmament of the people, the state needed
only create the illusion that an inanimate
object, the gun, was responsible for crime
{although crime in fact énerensed once guns
were banned, because now only the
Criminals, police, and army had guns}

‘A convenient precedent had been set,
and this te foundations and doctrine of the
tolalitarian state were laid. Te was then
possible for all the requirements and
trappings of the polie state Io be snsroduced
behind the smakesereen of “crime control

From giin bans to suzveillance cameras,
the state lulled fhe citizen into a false sense
of securily. The people—in many eases
‘willingiy—gave up the means of seldeferse
End self-reliance in the misguidec hope vi a
Safer and more secure society: But the people
have aow become helpless, dependent
subjects, and the only security is that
enjoyed oy the slate

One exceplion, however, is Fred, our
intrepid gunsmith, who has retained a
healthy inverest in firearms and all the
freedom that gun ownership secures. [aving
hed enougi of the situation, Fred decides t
build his own guns—a semi-automatic
pistol, a cevolver, and maybe a rifle and
Shotgun too! Forttimately, Pred has a fully
xD

equipped machine shop, complete with a
lathe and milling machine, and i conversant
im most aspects of engineering.

He draws up plans and, aver the fellowing
vwoeks and months, Fred builds a fine array ol
fireaems, solid and functional. “Oh, how
wonklerful,” he thinks wailst admiring hvs new

ns. “If only everyone were aw clever as 1 ain
"en everyone could have guns. Oh, well, 30
much for gun cate.”

And that is the point of this Lite
Although Fred has built a fine selection of
“homemade” guns, they are oaly homemade
to him. Anyone se without similar failiies
and Knowledge could not build. such
forearms. 17 Fred decided te write a “how-to”
book on homemade guns, #t would be an
interesting read but would leave many
Feaders frustrated hy tauir nat being able to
uid the guns,

Unfortunately

lar too many so-called

HOMEIMADE FIREASIM

“improvised firearms" fall insu this category,
and supposedlly homemade guns snd up being
too complicated or 50 erude as lo be un
desirable. This is not my idea of what the
Jhomeiade gun choulel be, The gun that can
truly be called homemade is ime thet can be
built by just about anyone, even under adverse
social conditions and rogardless of available
facilities. One wore that may best describe this,
interpretation of the humemade gun is
“expevien!”; hence: the litle ofthis book. In the
dictionary there are numeris definitions o
the word expedient, depending on the
incuistarees ard context in which itis usec
However, when we are talking about
manufacturing a certain product, expedient
felers to something. that is of simple design,
easily constructed, aud made of readi-y
availzble materizls, Expedience, therefore,
should be the overriding consideration when
diseassing homemade linsarms,
Technical deta presented here, particelarly
ddaja on ammunition sacl on the canstruction,
luce, adjustment, and alteration af firearms,
inevitably reflects the author's individual
belie's and experiences with particular
fires, equipment, ard components under
specilic circumstances that the reader cannot
Cuplicate exaclly. The information in this boo
should therefore be used for guidance only snc
approached with great caution. Neither the
futhor, publisher, nor cistributors assume any
‘esponsibility for the use or misuse 0}
aformation, contained in this book

Tm most cintses tis against the law to do
he Flloosing

1. Manufacture a firearm without an official
license fram the government

2. Gur a fully ausematic weapon,
3. Possess. silencer Fora fireaton,

In the United States, the appropriate
Ticonses must 9¢ secured (ont (and taxes paid
to) the Bureau of Aleohol, Tobacco, and
Firearms (BATE) before manu
firearin, ‘aking possession ol any folly
automatic weapon, or building or owning a
silencer for a firearm. Many slates ane
‘municipalities also restrict firearm ownership.
and use. Severe penalties are proscribed for
‘ations of these lav.

Peaple who choase to build this @mm
submachine gun do so at their own risk
Neither the author nor the publisher car be
responsible for any use ov misuse of the
information concained in this book. This
rateral s presented for acaenue st
‘The expedient machine gun discussed
herein iy a Sian sveapon of straight blowback
design. The gun fizes [rom the open ho't and,
has a magazine capacity of 18 rounds. Fo: ou:
purposes, ns stated in the Preface, the true
expedient firearm is one that is built from the
position shat no outside incuences, such as
machine tools or professional gasmith
materials, ae available, For this weason, nearly
all major component parts of the weapon,
jeceivers, barrel, breech block, and magazine
dare constructed from readily available steel
tubing, eliminating the need for lathe.

The gun barrel, for example, is a two-pieee
tube assembly and is smooth-bore rather than
rifled. While the accuracy ef the smooth-bore
bartels restricted to relatively lose ranges, the
fase and speed of assembling the expedient
barrel more than compensate for Uns necess
campromise. The breech block, too, i a tn
piece tube assembly of a skelstonized design,
Climsinating any need for a milling raachine

‘Manuiactiring a gun magazine using the
rrormal aethod of foleing sheet steel around a
forming block is a tricky ard time consuming
operation, The expedient magazine avoids
these problems because it is made [rom a
Tengsh of tube that requires only a few small
rrwidifications, The magazine is of the single
stack design and holds up to 18 rounds. This is

ess than the capacity of the commmercialiy

produced twin stack design, but once again the
simplicity of manufacture amoce than
compensates for the slighty resuced capacity

Certain parts of a macaine gun, such as Une
sear, require the use of hardened steel. However,
because the aquisition and heat treatunent of
specialized steels can he problematic, [ have
incorporated! certain east-lo-nblain substitutes
into the gun design that are as close as possible
lo the correct steel eypes required. I have nat
included any sights on the machine gun, since
their only purpose would be cosmetic, zather
than to make the gun more accurate

The machine gun is pemari'y 2 point and
fare weapan. The main eriorties are relibility
andl simple funcsionality—especially on a
weapon that rmust be kept a simple as possible
Tn shor, tne ist oF materials includes only Bhe
bare siecessites to entre that the gun will shoot
reliably en iss simple as possinle to build

TOOLS REQUIRED

Electric dil or dei pre

Dail bits, 1.3 am fe 12.5.
3. Hacksaw

4. Lage tiles, round, half round, square,
and flat
Angle grinder
6. Bench grinder

Hammer

RSet square try square)
9.13/32" taper pin reamer
In, Taper cutting tool

TI. Countersink tool

12 Large vise

Obviously the better selection of tools
available, the easier the gun will be to
construct. A drill press, for example, while not
in the hand tool category, will make drilling
holes much quicker and easier; ough a good
variable-speed hand drill will suffice, Il is,
worth pointing ous here that a second-hand
drill press is nu more expeasive than @ good
quality electric hand drill. If you are

buying a deill, a daill press wil
save you a lot of time and effort,

ceonsideriny

BUYING MATERIALS

As | mentioned earlier, almost the entire
weapon is constructed from steel tubing. The
hes for this material are tube
suppliers, who will usually have every
conceivable size af tubing in stock, including,
those required fo build the expestient machine
gun. Tuhing suppliers usually have minimum
order charges, which means a tull lengih of
tube must be bought in each diameter equine
for the machine gun. The advantage of buying
more tube tan required is Ua & lot of gusts
can be bul at litle cost, For small quarsties of
tubing, enginoering and stecl fabrication shops
are good places to purchase off-cuts at litle
ost. A list of materials and tube sizes is
provided below. To avoid making fe Tist too
‘ong, | have left out certain small mts, oles
washers, and such, but these are discussed in

WADE FIREARNS

the following chapters. T would advise reading
the book trough before attempting any
consinuctina, 50 a8 to familiarize yours with
he following sizes and abbreviations, The list is
1 quick-reference guide only. The tube sizes are
given in mulimeters, just as they will appear in
most catalogs, but inches are a'so used where
‘appeopziate, Tae exact length of each tube, ar
the minimum amount necessary, is alse
supplied but as pointed aut earier, it's wise to
buy more tube than required in case of any
manufacturing errors. Whece appropriate, some
materials are marked with an asterisk, which
indieaten that two or thie of that particular
product should be bought in case of mistaxes
uring construction,

TUBING AND MATERIALS REQUIRED

1. Lower receiver: Sx 25 52.5 mm
rectangular ube (2 x1"), 14 1/2" length

Upper receiver: 38.10 x.58.10 mn Ie
gauge 1/2°-square tube, 14 1/2"
Tength minimum

3. Bareel/breech block tube: 15.583.
‘mun round tube, 18" length minimum

4. BarrelPblock sleeve: 19.05 x 1S gauge
round tube (3/4), 20” length minimum

5, Magazine: 34.98 x 1588 mm 16 gauge
rectangular tube, 10" length miriam

Gripe sx 21x 2 mm rectangular tube
10" length minim

4 steel collars (13}

8, Bmmdia socket screws the-drive,
button-head, cap sorews), 4-8 mn long (12)

9, 6 mmdia, socket screw; 11/8" long (1)

44mm dia, socket screw, 1/8" long 2)
itaopucT:ON

Muctwing washers, 11/4" dis. «8 mm 16
hole (3)
Mudtwing washers, 2° dia, x8 V.
mim holo

18
Hexagon or Allen wrench, 12 mm diat

9.
Spring pin (rll pin), 1/2° dia, x 3° long’

.

22" widex

Spring steel strip, 2 ga
12" long

Piano wite, 19 gauge ane 20 gauge hay
several oll}

Roun steel aad, ? im dia.» 6” long
7 mm steel collar (1)
Steel plate, 342" x3 mm thick

“Hook bolt bolt), ¥ mm dia*
CHAPTER 1

“The first section of the machine gun to be
constructed is the lower receiver, The lower
seceiver accepts the grip, trigger, seer, ancl
magazine, (We will diseuss how these parls are
axle in due course.

The ceceiver is cut out using a hacksaw
from a length of 50 x 25 x 2.5 nun structural
hollow seetion (SHS) steel funy, As the name

uggests, SHS tube is widely used in the
construction of prefabricated buildings and is
widely available. Altematively, 50.80 x 25.40 x
2d mom ERW tube can be used. (FRW stancls
for “electric cesistance welded and refers %0
the manufacturing process used to make it) 1
tase the technical tees for both tube sizes,
simply because this is how they will be listed,
in the catalogs of steel tubing manufacturers
land suppliers Both ol the above tube sizes are,
for all practical purposes, nothing, more thar
standard 2 5 1" rectangular tube ‘wich a wall
thickness of around 25 mm. The 50.80 x 25.40
tube is exactly 21, while the 50) 25 tue is
obviously slightly smalier on all sides. This,
slight variation between the to sizes does not
matter, and either of the two is fine for

cction of the lower receiver

Fist, the tube is eut to a length of 14 1/2
he tabs must then be washed in warm, soa
water with steel wool or a scouring pad. Once
the lower receiver tube is cleaned, its ready to
mark out with the help of the template at the

end of this text, The template is not drawn to
scale, so it mast be photocopied and erlarged
according to the instuctions on 5. 74, and then
cet out as accurately as possible. This is best
achieved by laying the template sheet om a flat
Surface and sliding a sharp X-acto knife or
similar tuol along the black outline of the
Template. ruler eaa be used to guide the knife
more accurately. The thiee crossed holes are left
inact, as they will be needled later to mark
positions of the trigger, sear, and magazine
atch. Next, a said glue stick is sed to apply a
thin layer oF glue to the underside pF the
template, which is then stuck to the receiver
abe (Photo 1). It is important that the top
straight edge of the template is level with the
lop edge oF the tubing, The glue is not ta
petianently attach the template but to tack it
Securely enough to carry out the next
procedure, srhich is to transte: the template's
Cutline onto the tube. This is done wsing a
Scribe or olher sharply pointed tool. The shape
fof the template is marked ato the tubing, with
particular attention wy the straight lines around
the magazine well housing and the contours of
the tigger guard. The positions of the three
crossed oles | mentioned earlier ean now be
fnuatked, ‘The point of 2 punch is placed. in the
‘enter of the crosses and hit with a hamuner i
turder to transfer the positions of the holes
‘hrvugh the template and ento the tube.
asa 8

PHOTO 1: Recuiver template aluad ta 2 x 1

With Gis accomplished, the template en
be peeled off and discarded. Any glue i

cleared off the receiver tube, which s ready to
‘ecu out and filed to shape,

Initially the receiver is ough ewt from the
tube using a hacksaw before itis finaly filed to
the correct dimensions indicated fy the score
lines in Figure A. You will see From the drawing,
thal the receiver ean be cut from the tube iy
‘making five straight saw cuts. Keep in ind that
hhecause the receiver is being cut from a
reclangular tube, de saw should be hull as near
toa right angle to the tube wall as possible to
ensure that hott sides of the reew'ver are as close

le same size as possible, Once the teoeiver is
out i can be filed fo shape using a large hall
round file to cut the contours af the bvo eurves,
First one side ofthe recur i filed to shape ay
following the scored lines, then the roveiver is
lutned around and the opposite side filed, using,
the shaped site as 3 guide. Holding the lve at
{o the receiver while filing will ensue thal at
ides are nearly ‘dentical when finished.

‘Once the outside contours have been filed
to shape, the figger guard can be eut aut. Ibis
So! possible to saw eut the Isigger yuan since
{ts 3 tuily enclosed, integeal patt of the
receives, Instead, a sevies of interconnecting,
holes, 3 mm or 4 m™m in diameter, is dilled
along the inside edge of the score lines that
mark out the contours of the guard (Figure B),
The holes should nearly touch each other and
are dalled through both sides of the rece.
drill press is usee! then accuracy of the holes
is assured, bur if an electric hand drill i usc
itis important that dhe drill Bit be ws near to 2
right angle to the work piece as possible, This

FOUnE A
Five SAW CUT PosmiONS
sto ensue that hath sides of the guard are in
fhe same position when finished
When all the holes are drilled, the
unwanted section of steel in the leigger guctd
s removed using a blunended punch, A short
length of tel rod is ide for this purpose. The
punch i placed at re edge o the sections the
femovved and hit sharply with a Pamener Uni
fhe umwanted section breaks éree and can he
ced. The receiver is then tured over and
me proceciure carsied out on the alaer
fe contours othe gu
files ta siape by following the score ines in
the usual way. A half sural file sell encugh
to pass through both sidas of she guard it used &
for this procecuss. The insce cizeamforence of g

the

the guard should now be santled to remove
any sharp edges, The three holes, the punch
marks for which were made earlier, are now

dilled. The trigger and magazine catch holes
ae made using a4 mis-diaracter drill, The sear
Ihole is made using a6 mun dail, But Bhs hoe is
first delled to 2 oF 3 mm diameter before the
final 6 mum hole is dled (Photo 2)

Next we must hum on attention te the sp
side of the exsiver aac the provuss of cuttings
the recesses for the magazine well and sear.
Figure C illustrates the positions of the two
recesses and their correct sizes. The ser recess
is drilled out first with a 9 or 10 mm ail it .
before itis Finally cut to shape wsing a square
or flat file of suitable size. The sear Tecens
Should be as near to the center of the receiver
relation to the receiver valls2¢ possible, The
imegazine well recess should be cut accurately
inv accordance with the given measurements
because the magazine weil, wich will be fit |

~~ —a- /

PHOTO 2: Righe-si88 vow ceoetor ater nae TING OUT
een ted te shape. TRGCEA Guano