Home Workshop Guns for Defense and Resistance - 02 - The Handgun, Broń, PDF, Palna
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Chapter One
Pistol Design
In this volume, I propose to show two different pistol (or handgun) designs which can be
manufactured in the home workshop.
One of these designs is for a semi-automatic pistol, and the other describes a falling-
block single shot pistol. The first one is of necessity limited somewhat by the cartridge
size it must use. My second, single shot design will handle just about any cartridge that is
practical to use in a hand- held firearm, provided proper steels and heat-treatment
methods are used.
While it is entirely practical to make a revolver in the home workshop if proper
equipment is available, I have not included a revolver design in this book. Without
professional training and equipment, it is very difficult to hand-build a revolver cylinder
that will index and lock up properly.
As with the submachine gun, probably the most difficult part to make for the semi-
automatic gun is the clip or magazine. So if possible, a suitable magazine should be
obtained or manufactured first, and the frame of the gun then built around it.
The first pistol discussed here is made in .22 long rifle, .32 ACP,.380 ACP, or any
combination of these three. In fact, with a magazine for each of the three calibers and a
corresponding slide (barrel assembly), the same frame may be used for all three calibers.
The pistol can be converted to any of the three calibers in a matter of seconds simply by
turning the small take-down lever located on the left side directly in front of the trigger
guard. This action releases the self-contained slide/barrel assembly, allowing it to be
lifted from the frame and replaced with a slide/barrel assembly in the desired caliber. A
magazine of the corresponding caliber is inserted in the frame, and the pistol is ready to
use again.
Slide and barrel assemblies made from tubing no doubt will look a little crude. And
neither of these pistol designs will ever be considered streamlined. But by the use of
tubing in the manner described, I eliminate the necessity of cutting mating grooves along
the length of both the frame and slide. Such a grooving procedure is a challenge even to
the professional gunsmith with proper tools. Nor do I normally endorse the idea of a
welded sheet metal frame. My over-riding consideration here was that such a frame can
be constructed with a couple of files, a hacksaw, a few drills, and a few minute's use of
welding equipment. So if the design is lacking from the standpoint of appearance, it more
than makes up for it in ease of manufacture.
In the event that you elect to make this pistol with the interchangeable slide/barrel
assemblies, it will almost certainly be necessary for you to manufacture your own
magazines, since I do not know of any interchangeable commercial clips in all three
different calibers. If you will follow the instructions in the chapter on magazine
manufacture, you should be able to make clips for the different calibers which will all fit
into the same frame. I have not incorporated a magazine safety in this design, which
means that the pistol will fire with the magazine removed. When engaged, the safety
lever on the left rear side of the gun blocks the hammer from contacting the firing pin.
This, and a positive half-cock notch on the hammer are the only safety provisions
incorporated in the pistol's design. Its firing pin is an inertia type similar to the M1911
Colt .45, which allows the gun to be carried safely with the hammer down without the
firing pin striking the primer of a chambered round. So the weapon may be carried safely
with either the hammer down, at half cock, or at the full cock with the safety engaged.
Simple fixed sights are fastened on the top of the slide assembly. No sighting adjustment
is provided since a short-barreled pocket pistol of this type is usually meant for use only
at short range. The sights can be adjusted by filing the front sight to raise the point of
impact in relation to the sight "picture," or by filing the rear sight sideways in the lateral
direction you want to move the point of impact.
The single shot pistol design shown herein uses an entirely different approach to our
problem. Since it utilizes a falling-block design made from solid steel, it will be strong
enough to handle just about any cartridge you care to chamber it for. The barrel may be
as long as you care to make it. With good adjustable sights or a suitable telescopic sight,
this handgun should be as accurate at longer ranges as any other weapon of this general
type. Here again I have tried to keep its design as simple as possible. The hammer must
be cocked by hand. It could be made self-cocking relatively easily, but this would
demand additional parts and machining operations. Or a hammerless, self-contained
breech block could be used, but this would call for extra parts plus a safety lever of some
sort.
No attempt has been made to incorporate an ejector into this weapon. In most cases it is
desirable to retrieve the empty cartridge case after firing for the purpose of reloading. So,
in this design, a simple extractor actuated by the lowering of the breech block causes the
spent case to protrude from the chamber far enough to be grasped by the fingers and
removed. This is preferred by most shooters, rather than hunting the empty case after an
automatic ejector has thrown it completely out of the gun.
I seriously recommend that your weapon be machined for rimmed cartridges. Use of a
rimless cartridge complicates the extraction mechanism, since a spring-loaded lip is
required to cam outward over the head of the case when the action is closed,
simultaneously engaging the extractor groove of the cartridge case. On the other hand,
the extractor for the rimmed case is of solid one-piece construction, moving only the rim
of the case during ejection.
The round breech-block design shown should be used only if the gun is to be chambered
for the relatively low-pressured cartridges, such as the .22 rimfires,.38 special, etc. This
type is included here simply because it is much easier to build than the rectangular type
also shown.
If the gun is built and chambered for any of the high pressure, high intensity cartridges
such as the .22 Hornet, .357 magnum, or .44 magnum, then you must use the rectangular
breech-block design. It is much stronger than the round one.
My second pistol can also be made to accept several interchangeable barrels in different
calibers. Its caliber is changed simply by changing barrels, provided the rim diameter is
the same as that of the cartridge the pistol is originally built to accept. A larger or smaller
rim diameter will necessitate that the extractor be changed also.
I, personally, have no use for a telescopic sight on a pistol. If you want a long-range
weapon, you should build a rifle. My own pistol designs utilize only adjustable iron
sights, as shown in the drawings and pictures. Any "sport" who simply must have a scope
on his handgun will find that scope mounts made for other handguns are also adaptable to
those of my design as well. One last word of advice: read all the instructions and study all
the diagrams presented here before even considering starting your home workshop gun. If
you thoroughly understand all the procedures and schematics before beginning
construction, your pistol will be much easier to build right the first time. I also suggest
that you have a copy of Volume One of this series handy for reference, though it is not
imperative.
Chapter Two
The Home Workshop
If you have already read the first chapter of volume one of this series, the following
information will already be familiar to you. Also, I realize that a good percentage of
readers are amateur or professional gunsmiths, gun buffs, or machinists. To them much of
this will be routine.
Very few readers will have a fully equipped machine shop at their disposal, nor all of the
knowledge needed to run it professionally. Though I do have a machine shop of my own
now, just a few years ago I did not. It was then that I learned most of the "home
workshop" techniques I present as alternatives to making up your weapon with the help
of a machine shop. Here is a list of the minimum tools necessary to build your
handgun(s):
A 1/4 inch or 3/8 inch drill motor (or hand type drill)
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