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Filipino backstreet gunsmiths

Alpacca Fortyfive

Stainless
Joined
Nov 16, 2007
Location
Leinster, Ireland
Commenters to an Oleg Volk post left these two little gems about Filipino gunsmiths.

The first is full of pictures and I have difficulty getting them all to load, I've got to open the stubborn ones separately. captions are in Russian

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A description of the "Danao worker's league" gunsmiths in English:

http://www.dausa.org/2007/04/24/boboy-and-danao’s-thunder-things/



Volk's original post is making the point that if guns were outlawed, then, just as no one bothered making anything but distilled spirits during alcohol prohibition, home made guns under a ban are likely to be silenced and selective fire.

olegvolk: In for a penny, in for a pound

Make sure you check out the comments, there are some good Volksturm links amongst them too.
 
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Well if things keep going the way they are, we may be working like that here one day, sans power. I like the pic of the guy working the rails with a hacksaw blade.... Milling machine...
who need dat?
 
great link

Thanks for posting this great link. Although crude, have to admire the work of these PI gunsmiths; similar work was done in Darra Pakistan..I recall seeing men building copies of just about any gun with just hand tools..the "chinese milling machine" being the most common tool used (a hand file)..the work of backstreet gunsmiths is often viewed as an abomination by folks familiar with "real" gunsmiths.. as a young Army officer posted to remote Pakistan (in the distant past), I recall asking a local gunsmith if he had any parts for the large Martini rifle; I had bought an incomplete one from Hunters Haven in Alexandria VA ($20 on a poor 2nd lt salary) , but needed the cocking lever axis pin (a complicated piece unavailable in the US, at least in 1973)...this bearded guy looks at my Martini action and tells me to return tomorrow...I almost fainted when he made the exact part that I needed and it worked great..this is a guy who got his metal from scrap and used his feet for a vise... yet he actually produced a working part.....I brought home a few Darra guns, an Enfield SMLE copy complete with backwards stampings and a frankencolt 45...sure, they are crude, but at a distance they look good and they will shoot......not with full power ammo, but....my gun collection is pretty large right now, but if I had to pick a few of the most interesting guns to keep, I would keep at least one of the backstreet gunsmith guns..watching a guy file an action while holding the work with his feet made a lasting impression...best
 
I dunno- I just watched the new "reality" show on the Discovery channel, called Son of A Gun, and those guys didnt look all that much more advanced than these filipinos- in fact, I would say the filipinos are more skilled.

I would be interested to hear what real gunsmiths have to say about this show- to me, it looked like American Choppers, for guns- a bunch of tattoed young kids hacking away at stuff with cutoff discs.

Surely real gunsmithing doesnt look like this?

At one point, one of the guys, with a straight face, told the boss there was no way to test a phase converter, and you had to just buy a new one.
Which they did.

Sons of Guns: Master Key Breaching Gun : Video : Discovery Channel
 
yep, i noticed the same thing. I have better machinery in my home shop. C'mon, a mill with no DRO or coolant system (a guy was squirting WD-40 on the endmill), no 3 phase power in the shop, no way to test a phase converter, never saw them use a lathe, only grinders. Hell, he was using a grinder to cut a handguard in half. No bandsaw?

nothing about the operation screamed quality.

also, he claimed to make the first production suppressed shotgun. Wrong. Tony Rumore (Tromix) did it years ago. Tony also made the first production 8" SBS Saiga years ago. Red Jacket copied them. At least give credit where credit is due.

Caspian

I dunno- I just watched the new "reality" show on the Discovery channel, called Son of A Gun, and those guys didnt look all that much more advanced than these filipinos- in fact, I would say the filipinos are more skilled.

I would be interested to hear what real gunsmiths have to say about this show- to me, it looked like American Choppers, for guns- a bunch of tattoed young kids hacking away at stuff with cutoff discs.

Surely real gunsmithing doesnt look like this?

At one point, one of the guys, with a straight face, told the boss there was no way to test a phase converter, and you had to just buy a new one.
Which they did.

Sons of Guns: Master Key Breaching Gun : Video : Discovery Channel
 
the link to the Philippine gunsmiths is great ,thanks

As for Sons of Guns , I watched it and thought to myself, substitute guns for motorcycles. I am vender on a local forum and that was the comment on that forum as well about the show.
I do use Dremel cut off wheels and a a regular hacksaw. My father stole the motor off our cut off saw.
And cut off wheels make for specular television.

As for RIOs and coolants system well I guess my shop is a level higher than the Pakistan/Philippine gunsmiths.

I have neither fancy machines just a Chinese 12-36 lathe and a Smithy Mill/Drill/lathe. But I use acid brushes and medicine droppers with cutting oil.

Go figure...........
And a spell check on my computer.
CEW
 
The more straight forward solution instead of the "Masterkey" would be a select fire shotgun .
It has more flexibility due to different types of ammo and a lower danger range if deployed properly . Used in high density population areas (trailer parks, apartment complexes etc.) the use of shot has much less chance of over penetration than even frangible slugs . That is why I am developing this shotgun as an entry weapon . Semi or 3rd. burst .
Siaga1.jpg
 








 
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