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 self-loading pistols, sub-machine guns, and AK- or G3-style rifle copies. Small Arms Survey documented craft-produced weapons in a Boko Haram cache captured in 2018, and UNIDIR reports their wider use by community-security actors in northeast Nigeria during the 2009 Boko Haram Insurgency.
Small Arms Survey documented 15 craft-produced weapons in a Boko Haram cache captured during Operation Deep Punch II in early 2018, while UNIDIR reports that CJTF and other volunteer security outfits in Borno obtained or used Dane guns and other artisanal firearms during the same insurgency.
Small Arms Survey reported industrially produced cartridges in some Nigerian craft assault-rifle-type firearms.
| Ammunition | Ammunition type | Firing evidence |
|---|---|---|
 | Intermediate rifle cartridge | Field researchers identified 7.62 x 39 mm as one of the prominent calibres encountered in craft-produced assault-rifle-type firearms. Sources: SAS-BP-Nigeria-craft-weapons.pdf |
 | Full-power rifle cartridge | Field researchers also identified 7.62 x 51 mm as a prominent calibre in craft-produced assault-rifle-type firearms. Sources: SAS-BP-Nigeria-craft-weapons.pdf |
Small Arms Survey traces a major Nigerian increase in local firearm, ammunition, explosive, and mine production to the Biafran war, with activity concentrated around Awka in Anambra state.
Sources: SAS-BP-Nigeria-craft-weapons.pdf
Small Arms Survey supplemented fieldwork with a review of Nigerian national and state newspapers focused on craft-weapon seizures and related security incidents.
Sources: SAS-BP-Nigeria-craft-weapons.pdf
Researchers conducted 82 interviews across Adamawa, Anambra, Benue, Plateau, and Abuja, including 23 craft producers and law-enforcement or community-security informants.
Sources: SAS-BP-Nigeria-craft-weapons.pdf
Nigerian and Cameroonian troops captured a Boko Haram cache in Borno-state operations that Small Arms Survey says included 15 craft-produced weapons.
Sources: SAS-BP-Nigeria-craft-weapons.pdf
UNIDIR reported that CJTF selection allowed members to use traditional craft-produced Dane guns in daily operations and that some CJTF members obtained locally produced craft weapons.
Sources: Factors Driving Weapons Holding in the North East of Nigeria
UNIDIR reported that Borno volunteer security outfit members obtained artisanal firearms outside direct government authorization, including Dane guns and shorter pistol-like firearms.
Sources: Arms Acquisition Among Borno's Four Volunteer Security Outfits
Small Arms Survey treats Nigerian craft firearms as a family rather than a single model: the same production base can yield muzzle-loading Dane guns, cartridge-firing shotguns, handguns, sub-machine guns, and assault-rifle-type copies.
| Craft form | Documented loading or ammunition | Reader note |
|---|---|---|
| Dane gun muzzle loader | Loose powder and an improvised projectile loaded through the muzzle | Not a cartridge weapon; commonly associated with traditional hunting and local security use. |
| Craft shotgun | Ball-shot cartridges in break-action, revolving-action, or pump-action forms | Single- and double-barrel break-action shotguns were the most prevalent craft firearms encountered in the fieldwork. |
| Craft sub-machine gun | 9 x 19 mm cartridge | All sub-machine guns encountered in the survey used this pistol cartridge. |
| Craft assault-rifle-type firearm | 7.62 x 39 mm or 7.62 x 51 mm cartridges | Small Arms Survey describes these as AK- or G3-style copies by appearance, not as proven parts-compatible factory rifles. |
