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Zip gun

50 points| drev | 7 years ago |en.wikipedia.org

36 comments

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LyndsySimon|7 years ago

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 will fire: http://www.billsbangsticks.com/12-Gauge-Powerhead_p_17.html

In an insurgency situation, devices like this are best used to obtain something better. Only being usable for a single shot isn’t necessarily a huge disadvantage, especially if there are multiple people using them at the same time. Pressed against heavy clothing, they also make surprising little noise. The “Liberator” .45 pistol was made by the US with the intention of airdropping the, to the French Resistance in WW2. In reality, almost all of them ended up at the bottom of the Atlantic. The Sten 9mm SMG didn’t cost much more to make and was much more effective.

jpitz|7 years ago

I remember one employed by the protagonist in one of Clancey's books, Without Remorse.

LyndsySimon|7 years ago

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.

UncleEntity|7 years ago

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'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.

dogma1138|7 years ago

It’s not, length restrictions apply to rifles not firearms make it as a pistol and as long as you don’t put a stock or a vertical forgrip on it it will be perfectly legal.

You can also have an open bolt semi there are quite a few conversions that didn’t went closed bolt.

matthberg|7 years ago

Not to be confused with a zip tie gun, a device indispensable to anyone doing major cable routing work. It tightens the zip tie the perfect amount and then cuts off the excess tail.

https://www.ebay.com/bhp/zip-tie-gun

tokai|7 years ago

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.

daveFNbuck|7 years ago

I think a lot of the scare comes from assuming you can easily 3D-print something functionally identical to a handgun you'd buy at a store. There's also the legitimate concern that 3D printing will one day be much easier.

ourmandave|7 years ago

I thought the panic was because 3d printed guns are untraceable and can be made from materials that don't show up on airport scanners, etc.

(Yes, you can buy a bunch of parts off the internet and build your own untraceable gun today, or so I've read.)

reimertz|7 years ago

A bit unrelated but it made me surprisingly happy to see that my very small hometown Vänersborg was mentioned in the article. Now I feel like going to our local museum to get some more information about the mentioned gun.

mullikine|7 years ago

The weapon of choice for the GLA

GW150914|7 years ago

Some of these are really impressive, but a lot look like overly involved ways to lose a hand.

village-idiot|7 years ago

The pressures produced by even a .22lr are a bit intense. I wouldn’t fire any of these

xkcd-sucks|7 years ago

It would be nice to rename this to "Improvised Firearms" (the article's actual title), as the current title contains an ethnic slur

LyndsySimon|7 years ago

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”.

zipGun|7 years ago

[deleted]

ikeboy|7 years ago

Who would win - zip gun or zip bomb?