Infantry Weapons

Craft-produced firearm

Craft-produced firearms in Nigeria are locally fabricated small arms made outside formal industrial production, ranging from muzzle-loading Dane guns and break-action shotguns to pistols and AK- or G3-style copies. In the Boko Haram Insurgency, Small Arms Survey documented craft-produced weapons in a Boko Haram cache captured during 2018 operations, while UNIDIR notes their wider relevance to armed actors and community-security forces in northeast Nigeria.

Boko Haram InsurgencyBoko Haram and ISWAP

Conflict side: Boko Haram and ISWAP
Built by: Local craft producers and blacksmith workshops
Built in: Nigeria

Craft-produced firearm, Locally fabricated small arm, Infantry Weapons

Image source: Dane gun.jpg

Profile

Type: Locally fabricated small arm
Conflict side: Boko Haram and ISWAP
Origin: Nigeria
Service note: Contemporary Nigerian insurgency and community-security use

portable small armsimprovised weapons

Service History

In service: Documented in Nigerian illicit-weapons seizures and local armed use during the 2010s and 2020s
Used by: Boko Haram and ISWAP, Nigerian hunters and community security actors
Wars: Boko Haram Insurgency

Production History

Designer: Local gunsmiths and blacksmiths
Designed: Varies by workshop and pattern
Built by: Local craft producers and blacksmith workshops
Built in: Nigeria
Unit cost: Reported up to four times cheaper than industrially produced counterparts
Produced: Ongoing craft production
Number built: Unknown; dispersed small-batch production
Variants: Dane gun muzzle loader, Break-action shotgun, Craft-produced pistol or revolver, AK- or G3-style craft rifle

Specifications

Production method: Hand-built in small quantities by local producers, often using blacksmithing and welding techniques
Common actions: Muzzle-loading, break-action, revolving-action, pump-action, semi-automatic, or automatic patterns reported
Common calibers: Varies; documented examples include 9 x 19 mm, 7.62 x 39 mm, and 7.62 x 51 mm patterns, plus loose powder muzzle loaders
Typical construction: Smoothbore or locally fabricated barrels, wood stocks, improvised metal parts, and workshop-specific firing mechanisms
Portability: Individual small arm carried by one person

Conflict Usage

Boko Haram Insurgency: Side: Boko Haram and ISWAPRole: Illicit close-range small-arms firepowerstrike
Nigerian and Cameroonian forces reported capturing a Boko Haram weapons cache in early 2018 that included 15 craft-produced weapons, showing insurgent possession of locally made firearms alongside industrial arms.

Craft-produced firearm Images

Craft-produced firearm, Locally fabricated small arm, Infantry Weapons - view 1 — Source: Dane gun.jpg

Craft-produced firearm, Locally fabricated small arm, Infantry Weapons - view 2 — Source: Hausa Traditional weapons.jpg

Craft-produced firearm, Locally fabricated small arm, Infantry Weapons - view 3 — Source: HUNTER. the hunter is ready for hunt. he hold the local gun.jpg

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Sources

Handmade and Deadly: Craft Production of Small Arms in NigeriaPublisher: Small Arms Survey | Note: Supports background on Nigerian craft-produced firearms, including weapon categories, affordability, demand factors, and the Boko Haram Insurgency context. | Accessed: 2026-06-21 SAS-BP-Nigeria-craft-weapons.pdfPublisher: Small Arms Survey | Note: Supports Boko Haram Insurgency direct-use context: craft-produced weapons were used by or captured from Boko Haram when Nigerian and Cameroonian forces captured 15 craft-produced weapons from a Boko Haram weapons cache in early 2018. | Accessed: 2026-06-21 Factors Driving Weapons Holding in the North East of NigeriaPublisher: UNIDIR | Note: Supports background on craft-produced weapons in northeast Nigeria and their use by community security actors during the Boko Haram Insurgency. | Accessed: 2026-06-21 Weapon Supplies Fuelling Terrorism in the Lake Chad CrisisPublisher: Conflict Armament Research | Note: Supports background on weapons documented from Boko Haram and ISWAP-linked militants around Lake Chad. | Accessed: 2026-06-21 Dane gun.jpgPublisher: Wikimedia Commons | Note: Image provenance for a CC BY-SA 4.0 photograph of a Dane gun from southern Nigeria. | Accessed: 2026-06-21 Hausa Traditional weapons.jpgPublisher: Wikimedia Commons | Note: Image provenance for a CC BY-SA 4.0 photograph that includes a labeled Dane gun in a Hausa traditional weapons display. | Accessed: 2026-06-21 HUNTER. the hunter is ready for hunt. he hold the local gun.jpgPublisher: Wikimedia Commons | Note: Image provenance for a CC BY-SA 4.0 photograph of a Nigerian hunter holding a local gun. | Accessed: 2026-06-21