25 Nov 2007

Crime in Russia

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Russian police, lying in ambush, spring out of hiding to capture two criminals at the door of an apartment. One of them was carrying a very interesting pistol. It looks like a homemade silenced, single-shot assassination weapon.

1:46 video from Russian television.

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11/26 UPDATE: See Dominique Poirier’s informative comment.

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Dominique R. Poirier

David,
at first glance this gun seems to be a German Hebel M1894 Flare Gun (WWI) cal. 26mm which must have been modified. But while taking a closer look at this thing I concluded that only the barrel is likely to have been borrowed from a (damaged?) Hebel gun.

As you can see, when comparing this video with pictures of authentic Hebel, the overall manufacturing quality is too poor to suggest a reconditioned gun. But, it is unmistakable that the person who crafted it did his best to reproduce its design. That’s why I think that he did his works from this basis and that he possibly borrowed the barrel which seems to have been better made than all other parts.

If ever this surprising piece of craftsmanship can silently shoot bullets, then we may deduce from its overall size that the craftsman had a pretty good knowledge about how a silencer works.

At the end of the barrel you can see a cylindrical extension of a sort which is not present on a Hebel gun. It is likely that this extension is either a silencer or the extremity of a second barrel of different caliber introduced in the former whose interior diameter is slightly bigger than 1 inch. But why such a handy man would have made this barrel that long on a pistol that is quite cumbersome already?

That’s why I believe that this curious cylinder is not merely a second barrel introduced in the first, but the end of an empty tube which acts as a silencer. A gun’s silencer works exactly as a car’s muffler, for the record; in which case, and according to all the aforesaid technical specifications, I believe that a much smaller and shorter second barrel has been introduced inside the Hebel’s barrel. A barrel whose caliber might range from .25 to .32 since the use of a rim fire cartridge such as .22 would imply a trickier-to-make eccentric assembly of both barrel and silencer parts inside it. For, the original Hebel is a singleshot centerfire pistol which can be reloaded like any common side-by-side shotgun (here lies the presence of a lever you can easily see on an authentic Hebel gun.)

So, if ever this gun has been made for the purpose of assassination then it should have been used by a skilled hit-man who knows he will not be allowed a quick second shot. And while attempting to appraise its performances I assume that it’s silencer must grant good performance, but that the accuracy is poor and obliges its user to shoot at his victims from ranges inferior to, say, 10 to 15 feet. In fact, I believe that its user intended to use it at point blank only.

Here is a good picture of an authentic Hebel pistol.
http://gear4hunting.com/Auction/ViewItem.asp?Item=83235941#PIC

And, in order to provide both a hint about how big should be a silencer to grant a quiet shot and how an authentic hit-man pistol looks like, here is picture of a British Welrod bolt action silenced pistol cal. .32 ACP (WWII)
http://www.millsgrenades.co.uk/images/Welrod/HPIM0965.jpg

P.S.: to my reader who may wonder how in the hell I know all this, I am a former gunsmith and arms collector, not a professional killer!



Dominique Poirier

At first glance this gun seems to be a German Hebel M1894 Flare Gun WWI cal. 26mm which must have been modified. But while taking a closer look at this thing I concluded that only the barrel has been taken from a damaged Hebel gun.

As you can see, when comparing this video with pictures of authentic Hebel, the overall manufacturing quality is too poor to suggest a reconditioned gun. But, it is unmistakable that the person who crafted this gun did his best to reproduce the design of the Hebel gun. That’s why I think that he did its works from this basis and that he possibly borrowed the barrel which seems to have been better made than all other parts.

If ever this surprising piece of craftsmanship can silently shoot bullets, then we may deduce from its overall size that the craftsman had a pretty good knowledge about how a silencer works.

At the end of the barrel you can see a cylindrical extension of a sort which is not present on a Hebel gun. It is likely that this extension is either a silencer or the extremity of a second barrel of different caliber introduced in the former whose interior diameter is slightly bigger than 1 inch. But why such a handy man would have made this barrel that long on a pistol that is quite cumbersome already?

That’s why I believe that this second cylinder is not merely a second barrel introduced in the first, but the end of an empty tube which acts as a silencer. A gun’s silencer works exactly as a car’s muffler, for the record; in which case, and according to all the aforesaid technical specifications, I believe that a much smaller and shorter second barrel has been introduced inside the Hebel’s barrel. A barrel whose caliber might range from .25 to .32 since the use of a rim fire cartridge such as .22 would imply a trickier-to-make eccentric assembly of both barrel and silencer parts inside. For, the original Hebel is a one shot centerfire pistol which can be reloaded like any common side-by-side shotgun (here lies the presence of a lever you can easily see on an authentic Hebel gun.)

So, if ever this gun has been made for the purpose of assassination then it must be used by a skilled hit-man who knows he will not be allowed a quick second shot. And while attempting to appraise its performances I assume that it’s silencer must grant good performance, but that the accuracy is poor and obliges its user to shoot at his victims from ranges inferior to, say, 10 to 15 feet. In fact, I believe that its user intended to use it at point blank only.

Here is a good picture of an authentic Hebel pistol.
http://gear4hunting.com/Auction/ViewItem.asp?Item=83235941#PIC

And, in order to provide both a hint about how big should be a silencer to grant a quiet shot and how an authentic hit-man pistol looks like here is picture of a British Welrod bolt action silenced pistol cal. .32 ACP (WWII)
http://www.millsgrenades.co.uk/images/Welrod/HPIM0965.jpg

P.S.: to my reader who may wonder how in the hell I know all this, I am a former gunsmith and arms collector, not a professional killer!



Taneli Kuusela

http://www.millsgrenades.co.uk/images/Welrod/HPIM0965.jpg
You might allready know this but here’s some technical information:

Welrod .32 Silent Pistol

Country of origin: UK
Lenght of the gun: 12″
Weight: 32.0 oz (0.9 kg)
Caliber: .32″ (8.1 mm)
Rifling: 4 grooves (right hand)
Capacity: One shot gun
Muzzle velocity: ~700 ft/sec (213 m/sec)

It was designed basicly only for special forces. Disadvantage of this gun was that its self-sealing, oil-impregnanted leather washers tend to burn out after only few shots



Blaw-Knox

Looks like an old Russian Flare gun, military issue, prior to the M1944 design, this was what they used. Very similar to a Hebel in a lot of respects.



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