Since guns are in the news, does anyone remember the toy 'Derringer' Spud-gun scandal in mid-60s Bris. where enterprising kids were converting them to fire real .22? [boys will be boys] Can anyone locate a newspaper archive on this, I'd be interested.

I can't say I remember but for a while we had a lever action air rifle which I used to fire ball bearings out of in my brief period of experimentation. Suffice to say, they weren't as accurate as the proper slugs.

I am not against gun ownership, and it does surprise many who live outside Australia that not only is it still possible to own guns here but you can get any gun you want providing you can convince the Police Commissioner in your state that you have a good reason for owning it. Additionally, there are now twice as many guns here as there were before the Port Arthur Massacre. That said, why anyone would want to own an automatic weapon is beyond me. Unless one is wanting to conduct a massacre, there is little point to these weapons and they are wildly inaccurate, which is why they need to spray their bullets.

One key difference between 1996 and now is that it is no longer possible to purchase automatic rifles over the counter. Sales are strictly limited to specific purposes and to get a hold of one of these weapons one has to be a recognised professional shooter and a permit to keep it has to be reapplied for every year. It is the paperwork that is the most restrictive. Therefore most don't bother.

The other key difference is that all legally owned guns in Australia must be kept locked up when not in use and where possible, ammunition has to be stored seperately. For this purpose, gun safes usually have two compartments. This helps to stop those carrying out home invasions from grabbing a weapon and using it against the householder or stealing it to use in a subsequent armed holdup.

The crooks will always have access to illicit guns. That's just how it is and the proof is in what the police find every time they bust open a crime gang or a bikie club house. The three things they stuff in paper bags in every dawn raid are drugs, large amounts of cash and guns. Most of the time, the guns are just used to shoot members of rival gangs and this includes the spate of shootings in Sydney in recent times.

I knew someone who had an UZI. It may be US legal if pre 1986 vintage.

Nothing has changed gun wise in USA since the days of Wild Wild West. Its probably still legal in places to go Deer shooting with a Cannon.

Need something like that here. The State Parks & Forests are infested with the apparently indigenous Deer, Pigs, Feral Cats, Foxes & weeds.

If a bounty was put on animals like this, I'd be there but the problem is, last weekend there was an election and the Greens increased their vote which puts a stop to any semblence of common sense and sadly, they have a presence in most state parliaments too, where the gun and most environment laws are made.

I read a long time ago that it was still legal to 'pack irons' in NSW up until about 1935 or thereabouts. Then came in restrictions on hand guns.

The Hatfields and the McCoys are still here now thouogh. They are just dressed up as bikie gangs rather than two hillbillies that don't think much of each other.

As I recall, the 1960's toy fired a cap which created enclosed gas pressure to propel a slug of potato out its short barrel - which just happened to be - cynical of the manufacturer authorities thought - .22 calibre! What are teenage boys going to do with this?

I had a spud gun as a kid. It was a die-cast water pistol in the shape of a Glock 9mm, typically used by police forces around the world as a replacement for the S&W .38 revolver. The downside to it was that it would only fire one squirt of water before requiring a reload but if the user unscrewed the jet it became a single shot spud gun. To load the potato in, it was just a matter of pulling the trigger, sticking the muzzle of the gun into the potato and then letting go of the trigger as the gun was pulled back out.

My neighbours also had these things. Don't ask how there were never any eye injuries because these guns fired their round better than claimed on the packet it came in and when hit with the projectile, it did sting. Because there was no stored pressure, I am not sure of they'd count as an air pistol (and thus illegal under the current laws) but it's been a few decades since I have seen them in toy shops.

They would likely fall under the Nanny State & Woosie regulations that help insurance companies make a fortune on things that rarely happen. Or in my case tell me I can't have flood insurance because the risk to there bottom line is to great: In the position my house is it is a foot higher than the one that was on the same spot. There is no family recollection of any house on the property being flooded, in 150 years or able to be hit by anything other than a flood that needs to be of biblical proportions.

Oooooo! Ahhhh! Someone m.i.g.h.t get hurt applies. I am amazed at 70 with all of this, nanny stuff, that I actually survived childhood. Most of the ones that died my age, was from natural causes & the attrition rate after 18 was motor vehicles & war.

I can't say I recall reading about modified 'Spud' guns in the papers at the time but certainly I remember seeing these 'toys' in the '60s in country Victoria. At my high school some of the boys who had the appropriate mechanical/technical skill converted them to fire short .22 rounds. A number of other cap guns and replica toy pistols were fitted with drilled out rods or lengths of pipe to make a smooth bore barrel for this calibre ammunition that was readily available from hardware or sports shops. The end result was a single shot, very inaccurate but potentially lethal weapon.

One clever kid (definitely NOT me) went further and in his father's home workshop, made an neatly machined version of the WWII 'Owen' sub-machine gun to fire standard .22 rounds. I was present when it was test fired on a quiet beach well away from any disapproving adults. Fitted with a ten-round magazine it would fire between three to five shots in a burst before jamming. An unfortunate seagull proved that it was effective at 10 yards. Of course word got around and the weapon was confiscated and destroyed by the kid's dad. (A few years later the same kid went to university, graduated with honours in mechanical engineering and subsequently went to the USA to work at NASA in the space program.)

RA, that's a good story about the homemade Owen. Where in Vic? Sounds like eastern coastal near Lakes Entrance when you mention abandoned beach.

Canada does not allow handguns with <4.1" barrel ; they would take a dim view of my mini .22 with 1.125" barrel!

No NewVista it was a lot further west; Thirteenth Beach near Barwon Heads was the scene of the crime. I note in the recent news reports that Police have nabbed a young bloke who has been making assault rifles with a 3D printer; good to see that technology has moved on from those distant days when to make an illegal firearm you had to be able to use a machine lathe and a hacksaw.

The problem for 3D printing is that if it is not done right (and it rarely is) the printed gun will blow up in the user's face on the first shot. Experimenting with guns like this is something I definitely do not recommend, regardless of the legality, especially with the more powerful centre-fire ammunition.

When I used to resit my firearms accreditation (pink card) each year when doing security work we got reminded constantly about things like this and whilst 3D printing wasn't around in those days there were still ways in which a gun could be home made quickly but people often under-estimate the power behind what goes inside the gun.

Yes indeed Brad, as a former gunner (Artillery) and having fired various weapons from .22 inch to 5.5 inch calibre, plus 81mm and 4.2 inch mortars, anti-tank and anti-aircraft missiles, I know a lot about breech pressure and recoil. I have seen the results of misfires and premature detonations in military weapons so I would certainly have doubts about any homemade plastic gun. As I recall the 'Owen' gun used a barrel and magazine taken from an old bolt action rifle with the bolt and body of the weapon made from steel.

As it is well past the statute of limitations I will admit that in the '60s I did make a number of 'dischargers' of various sizes that would propel a spherical 'object' at a considerable velocity from a length of pipe. A firework 'bunger'/'cracker' (Tom-Thumb, Double Happy or Penny Bunger) suitably prepared was the propellant charge. If however the propellant was not correctly prepared or the projectile jammed in the pipe then the thing could easily become a bomb. I still have all my fingers so I must have got it right at the time. Even if I could get the 'propellent' again I certainly would not care to repeat the 'experiments'. I will not give any of the necessary constructional details but if readers are keen to possibly do themselves great harm then they could consult the Anarchist's Cookbook.

"The problem for 3D printing is that if it is not done right (and it rarely is) the printed gun will blow up.."

Apparently my NAA22LR 'pocket pistol' is milled from stainless steel, it's everything the 1960s spud gun - made with muck-metal - hoped to become

Here's how they look wikipedia.org/wiki/North_American_Arms#Mini-revolvers