Hi See how I know that you passion about gun replica but the closes you can get your hand on is in magazine and website in Singapore. I got a friend in Cebu told me that in the town of Danao, in the island of Cebu hidden from plain view, backyard workshops churn out gun replicas that range from crude revolvers to sophisticated automatic sub-machine guns. It has its patriotic beginnings during World War 2 supplying guerillas with weapons against the Japanese, Danao is now the center of the country's' underground gun making industry. Of the more than 100,000 residents of the island, 1 in 10 is directly involved in the industry. in the rural areas where employment opportunities are limited I heard that the demand for the replicas had become so high that many have abandoned farming, fishing and working in sugar fields to become gunsmiths. Earning several hundred pesos a day legally pales in comparison to the income generated by a single gun sale. A revolver maybe sold for US$100 which is already equivalent to a few weeks' wages.
These "backyard gunsmiths" use only basic tools to fashion metal, usually bought from junk yards, into deadly weapons. Construction methods might be crude but the end products are nonetheless effective. Starting with imitating revolvers, locally known as "paltiks", these self taught craftsmen have since duplicated high-powered firearms such as the M-16 and AK-47 to Uzi and Ingram sub-machine guns. Some have even modified the original designs coming up with their own unique versions increasing firing rates and bullet capacities. Modified attachments such as "silencers" are also available.
Purchased through "cash only basis", local customers are politicians, military personnel and ordinary civilians. Used for personal protection or given as "gifts" these unregistered firearms are also favored by "private armies" and criminals because they are virtually untraceable. These replicas even find their way into the hands of the Japanese Yakuza and other criminal elements from Taiwan to China. As a livelihood mostly kept a blind eye or others speculate that the practice is tolerated to share in the huge profits and money from protection and bribes. Unfortunately, with heresay or fact that these guns also end up supplying Muslim secessionists and Communist rebels which the government has been fighting for decades.
The Philippine governments' effort to stem the tide by setting up cooperatives to legally manufacture and sell firearms has little effect. Illegal manufacturers offer much lower prices since they are not governed by procedures to maintain safety and quality. Of course as everyone know that a poorly made guns can be very deadly to user and they have been known to jam or even explode when firing.
