Abstract
Despite a very large variety of improvised firearms, repeatability of certain actions of the manufacturers can be observed, reflecting the purpose to which such weapons are produced (e.g. poaching), and the availability of appropriate technologies. The aim of this article is to make an attempt to systematize improvised firearms on the basis of the expert opinions elaborated at the Weapon Research and Ballistics Department of the Voivodeship Police Headquarters in Kraków (LK KWP) as well as studies carried out on weapons belonging to the collection of the Department of Forensic Medicine (ZMS) in Kraków. Research material included both primitive devices made by using simple methods and without concern for accuracy or aesthetics, as well as fine-tuned pieces with individual design solutions or copies of factory-made weapons. Improvised firearms can generally be divided into conversions and own designs. The conversion most frequently applies to alarm, gas or pneumatic weapons. It consists in removing factory safety mechanisms or, in the case of pneumatic weapons, in introducing technical modifications, which enable to blast off the cartridge and discharge the projectile by means of gas pressure arising during combustion of the propellant. Own designs may contain certain factory elements, most frequently the barrel, however, in most cases, they are manufactured from scratch. Improvised firearms, even those without the original elements, typically use ammunition with projectiles or, in some cases, the so called blank ammunition converted into live ammunition by adding projectiles.
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