Home made or Partisan weapons

[fugawi]

After reading Fat Tony's thread on the little known WW2 Chinese submachinegun...

I decided to start a thread where we can post pics of other little known home made and underground production partisan, volksstrum and rebel/guerrilla weapons. There's has to be a few out there.

To start off, here's two Polish Home Army (Armia Krajowa) produced weapons from WW2.

The more well known Polish copy of the Sten SMG, the Błyskawica (Lightning):

and the less well known Bechowiec SMG

Any time period. Good guys or bad. Let see more pics...

 

[fugawi]

The Błyskawica in action during the Warsaw Uprising, 1944:

 

[AdrianM]

Cool stuff...I'm betting there won't be too many more pics. I enjoy your posts Fugawi. Thanks for showing the lesser known stuff.

 

[tiriaq]

There is a good article about the Blyskawica at www.forgottenweapons.com.
Tom Nelson's submachinegun books detail a variety of underground guns.
Laidler's Sten Machine Carbine has chapters on Stennish guns made by different resistance organizations.
What is remarkable about the Polish/Danish/Norwegian guns is that they were manufactured, not just cobbled together on a workbench.
Homemade/underground guns have been made in many places - Pakistan, Indonesia, The Phillipines come to mind.
A chap named Juan Erquiaga made smgs for Castro in the US.

 

[Grizzly Adams]

Did the obligatory Che Gueverra tour in Cuba. Museum on site has what appears to be a shop built .45 SMG. No bloody way to take a picture though, given the "sanctity" of the site. When you look at it practically, if you need a gun in the worst way, the most practical option.


Grizz

 

[.30/06 FTW]

This isn't from WWII but I found it pretty interesting:

Borz SMG made in Chechnya in the 1990s

 

[tiriaq]

Did a bit of a search for Erquiaga, turns out the first MAC prototypes were made in his shop.

 

[AdamP]

I found this "Viet Cong homemade Thompson SMG" with a quick google search, although there isn't much info about it:

And this sheet metal "1911" which appears to be brazed together with brass!

There are more pics of the 1911 here, second gun from the top:
http://www.m1911.org/mod_vari.htm

Amazing what people will do when they're desperate for firepower, eh?

Adam

 

[K0na_stinky]

That 1911 is amazing. I guess if you have time you can make anything.

Thanks for posting that.

I wouldn't be first in the line up to shoot it, though.

 

[tiriaq]

Read a report about one of those steel plate .45s which had been fired. Blowback. Slide had a bit of a bend in it from the impact when it slammed open.

 

[smellie]

There is an interesting thread over on Milsurps regarding an ENFIELD revolver made in SAIGON by the Viet-Minh.

I have seen some of the Danish Stens. Some were very good, others not so great.

According to the (deceased) former Head of Parachute Operations for Silkeborg District, they worked just fine.

People want a gun, they are GOING to get one.

That applies to Patriots and a few Revolutionaries. Criminals steal or buy theirs; they are too lazy to make them.

 

[fugawi]

And this sheet metal "1911" which appears to be brazed together with brass!

There are more pics of the 1911 here, second gun from the top:
http://www.m1911.org/mod_vari.htm

Amazing what people will do when they're desperate for firepower, eh?

Adam

Imagine this as little Johnny's shop project in Metals. A+ marks for ingenuity, ...now go see the school psychologist!

 

[fugawi]

There is an interesting thread over on Milsurps regarding an ENFIELD revolver made in SAIGON by the Viet-Minh.

I have seen some of the Danish Stens. Some were very good, others not so great.

According to the (deceased) former Head of Parachute Operations for Silkeborg District, they worked just fine.

People want a gun, they are GOING to get one.

That applies to Patriots and a few Revolutionaries. Criminals steal or buy theirs; they are too lazy to make them.

Pictures Smellie... we need pictures.

 

[Dakk]

My gramps (a Danish police officer) had a cool picture of some Danish underground members holding home made stens, as they were getting ready for an operation and climbing into a truck. He had to 'go underground' in 1944 after the Gestapo rounded up the Danish police force and sent many of them to Buchenwald. Unfortunately I haven't been able to find the picture after his passing. But this thread has inspired me to have another search. If I do locate it, I'll post it here. When the German forces marched out of Copenhagen the Danish police rounded up tonnes of weapons, including many homemade firearms.

 

[5440fight]

Here's some more. Hopefully these images stay up, they aren't mine.
A Chechnyan "AK"

Some Chechnyan smgs...

Some more constructions of desperation. Note the top grenade launcher.
http://4.bp.########.com/-TdDxlDg6h3k/Ta28cLKUQEI/AAAAAAAAAC8/nZ_vax_toR8/s640/homemadesubmachinegunslauncher.jpg