23 Lethal Thingamajigs People Threw Together in their Basement

Cameron_Fetter Published 03/01/2025 in ftw

The only thing more powerful than the force of human ingenuity is a bullet from a gun. And this gallery has both!

Since caveman times, people have been cooking up contraptions to blow each other’s heads clean off. Technology may change, but the determination of a tweaker in his shed never will. Some of these homemade guns were used by their creators in war, some in prison, and some to kill the trillions of ants and spiders crawling all over their skin.

Some of these guns probably have a decent chance to shoot a bullet when you pull the trigger. But I think that chance is much lower than the chance your hand will explode. So don’t try these at home, kids.

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1.
Homemade .22 “something” confiscated from meth head in Australia
2.
South American homemade gun
3.
Homemade gun confiscated in South America
4.
Double barreled pistol made by prison inmates in the prison’s metal workshop
5.
Shotgun made from iron bedposts in a prison in Germany. Two inmates used this gun to take a prison guard hostage and escape.
6.
Zipgun designed to fit inside a pen
7.
Homemade gun confiscated by police in the Caribbean
8.
9.
Homemade double-barreled shotgun from Georgia (the country, not the state)
10.
11.
Homemade .22 long rifle, including bayonet
12.
13.
14.
Homemade shotgun made from a wooden block
15.
16.
A homemade copy of a Martini-Henry rifle, made into a pistol by a gunsmith in Khyber Pass region between Pakistan and Afghanistan
17.
18.
19.
A working homemade gun confiscated from a meth head in Iowa, dubbed the “Smith and Methson”
20.
21.
Homemade gun used to assassinate former Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe
22.
Ted Kaczynski, aka the Unabomber, built this working pistol out of wood and metal

1.
Homemade .22 “something” confiscated from meth head in Australia
2.
South American homemade gun
3.
Homemade gun confiscated in South America
4.
Double barreled pistol made by prison inmates in the prison’s metal workshop
5.
Shotgun made from iron bedposts in a prison in Germany. Two inmates used this gun to take a prison guard hostage and escape.
6.
Zipgun designed to fit inside a pen
7.
Homemade gun confiscated by police in the Caribbean
8.
9.
Homemade double-barreled shotgun from Georgia (the country, not the state)
10.
11.
Homemade .22 long rifle, including bayonet
12.
13.
14.
Homemade shotgun made from a wooden block
15.
16.
A homemade copy of a Martini-Henry rifle, made into a pistol by a gunsmith in Khyber Pass region between Pakistan and Afghanistan
17.
18.
19.
A working homemade gun confiscated from a meth head in Iowa, dubbed the “Smith and Methson”
20.
21.
Homemade gun used to assassinate former Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe
22.
Ted Kaczynski, aka the Unabomber, built this working pistol out of wood and metal