GUEST ARTICLE
Book Review: Homemade Guns and Homemade Ammo, By Ronald B. Brown.
I purchased this book at the suggestion of Jim, and I wasn’t disappointed. Minion ghostsniper was nice enough to provide the PDF link, so download it now while you still can.
http://cnqzu.com/library/Anarchy%20Folder/Gunsmithing/Homemade%20Guns%20And%20Homemade%20Ammo%20-%20Brown%20-%20Loompanics.pdf
The quality of the designs outlined in this book were better than expected, and probably about as good as you’re going to get, assuming at least a minimal skill set, and having access to basic shop tools.
The plans outline the building of a 12ga shotgun as a base design. From there, it’s simply a matter of utilizing varying diameters of pipes for different calibers and gauges. An addendum to the initial plan is to add another barrel to the design, making it an over/under double. The author mentions that this is not without difficulty, but the added work is probably worth it for the quick follow up shot. This chapter also discusses barrel options for necked cartridges, or cartridges that are rimless, and also includes a chart of the pipe sizes required for specific calibers. It probably goes without saying that these designs will be smoothbores, and range will be limited when firing projectiles. One possible way around this is to build a shotgun, and use rifled slugs for increased accuracy at longer ranges. Though in this scenario, you might have to figure out a way to patch the slug to compensate for oversized bores. Also mentioned is a muzzleloading variation on the initial design, should the homebuilder find themselves in a situation where cartridges are scarce at some point in the future. Briefly mentioned is a primitive zip gun made entirely from hardwood. There are no pistol designs in this book, but the knowledge provided should be enough to allow for a pistol variation from the original design.
Later chapters deal with primer construction, as well as homemade gunpowder. I’ll summarize here, because there are about 4 different gunpowder, as well as a few different primer recipes mentioned in the book that will require some skill with chemistry, but the following option is the simplest alternative: Strike anywhere matches. The striking tips make for good primer material, and the remainder of the match head makes for a decent homemade gunpowder. Safety matches will work for gunpowder as well. As an added bit of info, I’ll mention that I have heard before that tree stump remover is mostly (if not entirely) Saltpetre or Potassium Nitrate, the key component to black powder. The book also mentions the Tap O Cap, homemade percussion cap system. This could be a handy item to have should the homebuilder have to resort to the use of muzzleloaders at some point down the road. Bottom line. Even if you don’t reload, save every last cartridge that you fire. If you should ever find yourself with more than you can use, they will make an excellent barter item, even fired, for those that are aware of their value, and are knowledgeable enough to know what to do with them.
Another very useful chapter in this book is “kitchen sink reloading” (i.e. reloading without a press). I also loved the authors makeshift bullet mould made from wooden blocks. It will be short lived, and it won’t mould a perfect bullet, and the by product will require some fine trimming, but it’s also pretty darn clever.
The overall impression here would be that this book assumes that we’re still living in a reasonably functional society, but that perhaps guns, or more importantly ammo, have been heavily restricted, or are difficult to acquire, for whatever reason. With a collapse in mind, it would be a good consideration to read through the entire book, and make a determination as to what weapons you might be considering, and having the proper materials for that particular design. It would also be wise to drill and tap some of the components in advance, while still having functioning grid power, with machinery that will provide more accurate results (i.e. a drill press vs a hand drill).
Probably the most valuable take away from this book is to purchase as many reloading components and brass as possible, while you still can. As you read through the various procedures on how to make these components, it will become painfully obvious as to why.
Thank you for taking the time to write this up.
ReplyDeleteMy take-away was the same as yours. Only now do I think I understand the importance of reloading.
Lord Bison said somewhere at sometime "Food is First, Always" this resonated with me. It's survivalism boiled down to four words. Well, reloading seems to be the most important part of firearms. 1,000 rounds of .22lr beats the pants off 10 shot gun shells if you're facing off 20 desperate people who need your food for their own family.
I've read that during WWII the dreaded German machine gun nicknamed "Hitlers buzz saw" for it's ferocious rate of fire and how it cut down allied soldiers, well the rate of fire meant that the Germans had trouble supplying ammo. Again, food (for guns) first, always. Because a gun without ammo is well.....
Sorry I'm rambling. I have trouble internalising new concepts and I've got a few on my plate at the moment
Thanks for the comment Dingo, I appreciate it!
DeleteWith regards to crowd control, below is an excerpt that I originally included in the article, but edited out for the sake of brevity (well, that, and no one wants to hear that their semi’s are on the endangered species list).
“Should you wish to have something for crowd control, I’d consider a shortened variation of the double barreled 12ga mentioned above, perhaps as a substitute for an “assault rifle;” the future of which isn’t looking too bright right about now.”
You could always take it a step further, and go for a 4 bore (or larger) muzzleloading punt gun (one shot, multiple kills, or at the very least, massive numbers of severely damaged and peppered bad guys).
Shotgun? Muzzleloader? Ooooohhhhh!!!!! The recoil!!! Oy, the weight!!! I can hear it now. Darn good advice for an ammo shortage, but not ninja warrior enough. Can't be Tommy Tactical unless it is a drum mag shotgun.
DeleteYeah, I think the collapse, firearms wise, is going to be awfully boring and disappointing for many. One thing’s for certain. It’s not going to be anything like that abortion that passed for that latest mad max movie!
DeleteBeyond thunder dome kinda sucked, at least compared to the first two. But really, it was probably the most realistic of the original trilogy, as far as what the collapse might actually look like a short time into it.
The things I do for my minions-I have Beyond Thunderdome set aside next to my player. I WILL force myself to watch it soon. The new one? Not a chance-no reason at all to view it as it contains nothing of substance.
DeleteThe Spectracide Stump Remover website http://www.spectracide.com/Products/Disease-And-Fungus-Control/Plant-Disease-Fungus-Control/Spectracide-Stump-Remover.aspx does indeed say (SDS pdf) Potassium nitrate 100%, so it might be a good idea to get a few bottles just in case you have some stumps to deal with.
ReplyDeleteAmazon has em for $5.97 for a 1 lb bottle https://www.amazon.com/Spectracide-Stump-Remover-Granules-HG-66420/dp/B004GVYXKC?&tag=amazon-19-20 , and Home Depot has it for the same price https://www.homedepot.com/p/Spectracide-1-lb-Stump-Remover-HG-66420-4/202097353
Yep, lots of stumps to remove. Appreciate the leg work.
DeleteThanks for the confirmation on the tree stump remover GS. There’s a gunpowder recipe on P. 119 of this book that utilizes sugar and potassium nitrate, but the author states that it has to be cooked down, and slightly processed, in order to perform properly. I sent the PDF of this book to my friend in England. They have to have a license in order to even purchase or possess blackpowder, and even a friggin flintlock musket requires registration. He reports that things are starting to get out of hand in Londonistan, which is why I sent him the book.
DeleteIt sounds like it’s a real sad state of affairs over there Jim. My friend reports the following:
Delete“Londonistan is now the acid attack capital of the world. Combine that with the huge amount of knife crime and mop head gangs robbing in broad daylight, it is really a city to be avoided. Also, at any moment, it is subject to some raghead mowing down people in a truck, or blowing them up. It really is a place to tread lightly.”
As I was reading through that book Jim, it sounds as if just combining the basic ingredients of blackpowder isn’t good enough, you have to go through a process. The book touches on it in more detail on pages 112 and 113. To be honest, I was unaware of this, and simply thought that the 75:15:10 Saltpetre, Charcoal, and Sulfur, mixed together, was all that there was to making blackpowder. The Saltpetre (Potassium nitrate) is the hardest ingredient to purchase, which is why I mentioned the tree stump remover.
Don't forget the hillbilly recipe for powder. The chicken crap process ( remember I offer the free military manual for improve weapons-link at my web site ) and rust. Just an alternative.
DeleteI’ve looked at the procedures for procuring the potassium nitrate before, and it looked as if it were a total bitch to me. Not saying that it can’t be done, it just didn’t seem very easy. As mentioned in the book, in some areas, it’s naturally plentiful, and easier to come by. But realistically, the only gunpowder recipe that was easy for the common man to produce at home, was that match head recipe.
DeleteOf course, a lot of what we will learn to do isn't going to be easy, so it is a good thing there will be a lot of time to learn.
DeleteI can't seem to get anything to download from that site.
ReplyDeleteCan't figure out why? Dose it take forever to do a download from there?
I finally got it.
ReplyDeleteMan, was that sloooow!
A watched pot never boils. I got discouraged at first and stopped downloading. The second time I just went to others sites and left it alone. I don't even need a copy, unless I don't feel like visiting the BPOD library.
DeleteI had a heck of a time downloading it too, but I was able to eventually. So I have the physical copy, as well as two digital copies; one on my tablet, and one on my desktop.
DeleteBut if you have the option, I’d recommend downloading it on a private browser that doesn’t allow you to be tracked, such as TOR. Firefox might be okay too, but I’d use DuckDuckGo, not google, who would be happy to report to the big B that you’re downloading manuals on homemade weapons (the fuckers!).
Google, deciding that doing evil is okay as long as it is part of their profit margin. Of course, you'd probably have to wonder if Paladin did the same ( "support our police and military and military security industrial bankers complex" ).
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