Zip Guns (Homemade firearms of the early to middle 20th Century)

[kungfuhippie]

As far as the 80% receivers go. The ATF IS shutting down and prosecuting people selling 80% frames and receivers. I was about to build a p220 from a 80% frame seller in Canada but decided to build from scratch seeing as how if the ATF decided that adding rails isn't enough work to constitute it being a non-firearm then I'd be breaking several laws. Importing, non-FFL, of list frame (California) etc. IF you do want to build a gun from scratch, play it safe and build the frame from 0% not 80%. DIYguns and a few others have letters that claim approval from the ATF, but according to an ATF indictment I red the just manufactured the letters and never got approval.

 

[Byron Quick]

Must be an urban phenomenon. Most of the kids when I was growing up had real firearms. Degree of adult supervision varied. I got my first shotgun when I was eight but the firearms and ammunition in the house were accessible before then. Had no desire to fool with them unsupervised. Raised hunting, knew from personal observation that I didn't want a playmate shot or myself.

 

[Gunfixr]

You don't need approval, unless you want to build something under NFA rules. It's right on their website, in the FAQ section, you can build your own gun from scratch, so long as it follows the laws of guns, bbl length, rifling, imports, etc.

 

[DixieTexian]

So does that mean you could make a bang stick with an 18" barrel and be 100% legal as long as you don't sell? Not that this would be a smart move, but I was just wondering about the legallity.

 

[GlowinPontiac]

Must be an urban phenomenon. Most of the kids when I was growing up had real firearms. Degree of adult supervision varied. I got my first shotgun when I was eight but the firearms and ammunition in the house were accessible before then. Had no desire to fool with them unsupervised. Raised hunting, knew from personal observation that I didn't want a playmate shot or myself.

same here. i never really had the desire to risk blowing my hand off with a pipegun.

 

[Onmilo]

You can build more than one gun and you can eventually sell them if you so choose but I would recommend doing so through a dealer and I wouldn't recommend building fifty AR15 or AKM type rifles from kits and selling them through any dealer two weeks after completing them.
Your name will become part of the BATFE watch list if you do.

 

[wdlsguy]

You need to watch out for state statutes, such as the one in Texas:

Texas Penal Code § 46.01. DEFINITIONS.
In this chapter:
...
(16) "Zip gun" means a device or combination of devices that was not originally a firearm and is adapted to expel a projectile through a smooth-bore or rifled-bore barrel by using the energy generated by an explosion or burning substance.
...
Texas Penal Code § 46.05. PROHIBITED WEAPONS.
(a) A person commits an offense if he intentionally or knowingly possesses, manufactures, transports, repairs, or sells:
...
(9) a zip gun.
...
(e) An offense under this section is a felony of the third degree unless it is committed under Subsection (a)(5) or (a)(6), in which event, it is a Class A misdemeanor.
...

 

[tegemu]

I never had one but as a boy in the Bronx in the '40's and '50's I saw quite a few that were made from car antennae as Gunsmith described.

 

[MD_Willington]

Building anything you are otherwise legal to own is perfectly legal. You must do ALL work on the receiver YOURSELF

Please explain an 80% finished receiver then...

 

[Carl N. Brown]

Zip guns were frequently made from car antennae (or aerials),
gas pipes or plumbing pipes.

Which brings to mind the Dixie Gun Works method of testing
barrels for muzzleloading rifles: they would take about a 10
inch section of barrel and thread both ends and drill a hole
in the middle. Dixie would then screw a plug in one end, insert
a length of cannon fuse in the vent hole, fill the barrel with black
powder, and then screw a plug in the other end. They would
place the barrel section in a pit, light the fuse and head for
cover. If the barrel was any good, ALL the gas from the gun
powder would vent out through the fuse hole.

If you did that with car antennae, gas pipe or plumbing pipe,
it would blow up as a pipe bomb.

I think that speaks volumes about the suitability of car
antennae, gas pipe or plumbing pipe as gun barrel material.

 

[LaEscopeta]

The barrels were car antennas

If you did that with car antennae, gas pipe or plumbing pipe,
it would blow up as a pipe bomb. I think that speaks volumes about the suitability of car antennae, gas pipe or plumbing pipe as gun barrel material

I’ve heard the car antenna story too. I’ve always assumed they were for cosmetic purposes; the maker figured all guns had to have a barrel, so he put one on his zip gun. I assumed the inside diameter of the antenna was always larger then the bullet, so there was no pressure build up except in the cartridge case itself, and thus no pipe bomb effect. The zip gun functions the same as if it had no barrel at all. Correct me if I’m wrong.

Also I’ve heard some zip guns were fired by squeezing the rim with wire cutters (on rim fired rounds of course.) Not sure how the cartridge would be held in battery this way, but apparently it fired more reliably than the rubber band driven firing pin types. Again, please inform if this is incorrect.

 

[GeezerwithGuns]

I saw (and handled) a zip gun when I was in the 6th grade. That would have been about 1959 or so. It was made out of a pot metal cap pistol (handle and "receiver") and had a small diameter pipe taped on the top. The hammer had been filed to a point and had a number of rubber bands wrapped around it, so you could thumb it back and let go. It chambered .22 cal short ammo - sort of. I didn't see it fire and didn't want to be anywhere around it when it went off. I already owned a real .22 rifle myself, so I wasn't too impressed.

This was part of a collection of "back in the day thug paraphernalia" that one of my classmates' older brother owned. The rest of the collection contained brass knuckles, a couple of switch blades, shanks and some other "self-defense" stuff. The older brother was a scary guy who eventually ended up in the slammer.

I decided, thankfully, to cut that potential friendship off quickly. No doubt one of my better decisions.

 

[Carl N. Brown]

Even if the zip gun barrel is larger than the bullet, it
prevents complete blow-by of gas from the cartridge,
and will give somewhat more velocity than launching
bullet directly from the cartridge case.

The tube served as the firing chamber; a tube that
correctly fit a .22 case would be the same diameter as a
a .22 bullet. A tube that fit a .25 ACP case would be
considerable larger than the bullet, since the .25 bullet
fit inside the .25 case.

The tube, pipe or section of antenna acted as a barrel in
an improvised firearm; the point I am making is that
these improvised barrels were not as strong as true
barrel material and were not safe, whether they were legal
or not, they were a bad idea. Now, in WWII, my father met
Filipinos who fought the Japanese occupation of the
Phillipines; many of the Filipinos were armed with shotguns
made from pipe. It can be done if one has to, but if
you don't have to, don't. The risk of catastrophic failure
with improvised gun barrels is too great.

I heard all the scuttlebutt on zip guns in the 1950s but
firing with wire cutters is new to me. The rubber band
driven firing pin types always had a block of wood holding
the nail as a hammer or striker; the block of wood served
as a breech block to retain the cartridge case in the
barrel til the admittedly low gas pressure had passed.

Zip guns are often illegal under city or state codes because
a person with a legitimate interest in guns for sport or
self-defense could buy a gun legally, while people who
made or used zip guns were usually those barred from
buying a gun legally. Zip guns were usually associated
with juvenile delinquents, especially street gangs.