.45 ACP Broomhandle/Shanxi Type 17

[alvin]

Originally Posted by sheepherder

carved that out of a chunk of railroad rail

It's a little bit misunderstanding. Communist arsenal did not have steel importing channel, so they took railroad rails as raw material to make grenade and some gun parts. There was another big benefit for them doing that -- railroads were controlled by their enemies, damaging railroads could delay enemy's movement. That's a common tactic in guerrilla warfare at that time.

But warlords and nationalist arsenals did not use rails to make guns. They imported raw steel from Europe. The production volume was limited by how much steel they had.

This is not one of those 8000 made in 1920s and 1930s. If it works, it could be a little bit fun.