Country-Made Firearm
Definition
An illicitly manufactured firearm, fabricated in unlicensed cottage workshops without quality control, typically smoothbore and chambered loosely. Generic Indian umbrella for katta, tamancha, desi pistol and pipe-gun.
- Manufacture
- Unlicensed cottage workshops, no quality control
- Bore
- Typically smoothbore
- Chambering
- Loose, inconsistent tolerances
- Indian umbrella term for
- Katta, tamancha, desi pistol, pipe-gun
Common questions
Why does the lack of quality control matter for firearm examination?+
Because these weapons are hand-fabricated without machined tolerances, chamber and bore dimensions vary from one unit to the next even within the same workshop, so class characteristics that would be predictable in a factory-made firearm of a given model cannot be assumed and each weapon must be examined on its own terms.
How does the loose chambering of a country-made firearm affect the ammunition it fires?+
A loosely fitted chamber allows more gas to escape around the cartridge on firing, which lowers effective chamber pressure and produces weaker, less consistent muzzle velocity than a factory firearm using the same ammunition, a factor examiners weigh when interpreting wound severity or penetration.
Related terms
- Arms Act 1959
- Principal Indian statute regulating manufacture, possession, transport and sale of firearms and ammunition. Possession of an unlicensed country-made firearm is punishable under...
- Katta
- Single-shot crude pistol, usually.315 or 12 bore, with a break-action or screw-plug breech and a nail-head striking pin. Dominant illicit firearm in...
- Mikrosil Casting
- Two-part silicone casting compound used to make a negative replica of a chamber, breech face or tool-mark. Standard at Indian CFSL ballistics...
- Obturation
- The gas-sealing function of the cartridge case during firing, in which the case wall expands outward under propellant pressure to seal the...
- Pipe-Gun
- Single-shot improvised firearm built from a steel water pipe as the barrel and a sliding sleeve as the firing mechanism. Used as...
- Smoothbore
- An unrifled barrel with no spiral grooves. Gives little or no stria on a fired projectile, which makes comparison microscopy of country-made...
- Tamancha
- Generic Urdu / Hindi term for a small improvised pistol. Often used interchangeably with katta in case papers and FIRs.