Korean Pusan Iron Works 1911 Copy
Forgotten Weapons
•
8m 46s
Edit: I mistakenly referenced North Korea in the video, when I should have said South Korea, as Pusan in well within the South of the country. Sorry!
During (and probably for a short time after) the Korean War, a Korean facility called the Pusan Iron Works did fabrication and repair of 1911-style pistols. This particular example is serial number 247, a gun almost completely fabricated by Pusan. Interestingly, these pistols often include a small number of US-made parts (barrels seem to be the most common). It appears that the factory was able to secure a small number of parts from captured damaged US 1911 pistols, and made use of them when possible. This pistol has a firing pin and recoil spring guide that are American-made. In addition, I am aware of at least one pistol with an American complete frame but Pusan slide - likely a gun that was captured in unserviceable condition and repaired with Korean parts.
Pusan Iron Works is an example of the blurry zone between truly crude handmade guns and proper factories. Unlike some Chinese or Vietnamese gun copies, the Pusan pistols are fully functional mechanical copies of the 1911 - no dummy elements like non-functional safeties. However,r the production quality of the Pusan parts is low; made to the right basic shapes, but apparently without the benefit of jigs and fixtures to make parts identical and interchangeable. The Pusan guns also exhibit uniform markings, and several hundred were definitely made - unlike the one-off production of individual craft shops. They are a really interesting example of domestic Korean wartime production arms.
Up Next in Forgotten Weapons
-
Confederate Navy Baby LeMat Grapeshot...
One of the rarest models of LeMat grapeshot revolver is this, the “Baby” LeMat. This is a substantially smaller gun than the normal LeMat, although it retains a 9-shot cylinder and a central barrel. In the Baby, however, the cylinder is in .32 caliber (rather than the standard .42) and the centra...
-
Book Review: "Star Firearms" and "Ast...
Star Firearms: http://amzn.to/2c29MyS
Astra Firearms: http://amzn.to/2c29OXwLeonardo Antaris has written massive and excellent volumes on two of the major companies in the Spanish firearms industry, Star and Astra. Both of these companies made a wide range of military and commercial handguns, a...
-
Scoped C96 "Broomhandle" Sporting Car...
This scoped C96 carbine is serial number 12 of the original run of just 30 large-ring C96 carbines. It has the long barrel and detachable stock (in place of the standard pistol grip) of the C96 carbine. The most obvious feature, however, is the telescopic sight mounted on the piece. This was not ...