# Paltik

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> Source: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Paltik
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{{Short description|Filipino term for a homemade firearm}}
{{Use Philippine English|date=December 2022}}
{{Use mdy dates|date=December 2022}}
'''''Paltik''''' is a [Filipino](/source/Filipino_language) term for a homemade [firearm](/source/firearm).<ref>{{cite book|last1=Barreveld|first1=Dirk Jan|title=Cushing's Coup: The True Story of How Lt. Col. James Cushing and His Filipino Guerrillas Captured Japan's Plan Z|date=2015|publisher=Casemate|isbn=9781612003085|page=261|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=tKFICgAAQBAJ&pg=PT277|accessdate=November 6, 2017|language=en}}</ref> It is usually manufactured using [scrap metal](/source/scrap_metal) and [angle iron](/source/angle_iron).<ref>{{cite book|last1=III|first1=Lynn T. White|title=Philippine Politics: Possibilities and Problems in a Localist Democracy|date=2014|publisher=Routledge|isbn=9781317574224|page=41|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=4mvfBQAAQBAJ&pg=PA41|accessdate=November 6, 2017|language=en}}</ref> These homemade weapons are usually manufactured in [Danao, Cebu](/source/Danao%2C_Cebu),<ref>{{cite book|title=Resource Material Series|date=March 1997|publisher=UNAFEI|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=IFYAw8nTIC8C|accessdate=November 6, 2017|language=en}}</ref> where the production of replicas of known firearms is a [cottage industry](/source/cottage_industry).<ref>{{cite book|last1=Jones|first1=Doctor Adam|title=Men of the Global South: A Reader|date=2008|publisher=Zed Books Ltd.|isbn=9781848131774|page=268|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=EPdiDgAAQBAJ&pg=PA268|accessdate=November 6, 2017|language=en}}</ref> The manufacturers claim to be able to replicate any gun, although they prefer to mass-produce six-cylinder [.38 caliber](/source/.38)  [revolver](/source/revolver)s.<ref>{{cite book|last1=Barreveld|first1=Dirk|title=CEBU - A Tropical Paradise in the Pacific|date=2014|publisher=Lulu Press, Inc|isbn=9781312577190|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=pihdCAAAQBAJ&pg=PT190|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20211123061341/https://books.google.com/books?id=pihdCAAAQBAJ&pg=PT190|url-status=dead|archive-date=November 23, 2021|accessdate=November 6, 2017|language=en}}</ref> The Philippine government notes that these firearms are of low quality, even if some are considered as "Class A" or high quality.<ref>{{cite book|last1=Geneva|first1=Small Arms Survey|title=Small Arms Survey 2013: Everyday Dangers|date=2013|publisher=Cambridge University Press|isbn=9781107435735|page=311|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=7aXqAAAAQBAJ&pg=PA311|accessdate=November 6, 2017|language=en}}</ref> Danao has the most concentration of factories since the 1940s,<ref>{{cite book|last1=McCoy|first1=Alfred W.|title=An Anarchy of Families: State and Family in the Philippines|date=2009|publisher=Univ of Wisconsin Press|isbn=9780299229849|page=540|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=fawaNZu-yqUC&pg=PA540|accessdate=November 6, 2017|language=en}}</ref> but ''paltik'' production can also be found in [Negros](/source/Negros_Island), [Leyte](/source/Leyte), and [Mindanao](/source/Mindanao). The [Moro Islamic Liberation Front](/source/Moro_Islamic_Liberation_Front) were also known to produce ''paltik'' but were unable to upscale their production due to government pressure.<ref>{{cite book|last1=Miani|first1=Lino|title=The Sulu Arms Market: National Responses to a Regional Problem|date=2011|publisher=Institute of Southeast Asian|isbn=9789814311113|page=111|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=IWpYd_qYhc8C&pg=PA111|accessdate=November 6, 2017|language=en}}</ref>

The ''paltik'' suffered from poor accuracy and low quality firing mechanisms. Some lacked [rifled](/source/rifling) [bores](/source/barrel), reducing their accuracy.<ref>{{cite book|title=Philippine Law Dictionary|publisher=Rex Bookstore, Inc.|isbn=9789712349119|page=704|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=9kHxFAegYEsC&pg=PA704|accessdate=November 6, 2017|language=en}}</ref> Due to poor craftsmanship, the weapon was more dangerous to the shooter than the target. Some [Filipino](/source/Filipino_people) gunsmiths however, did make reliable [percussion cap](/source/percussion_cap) rifles that functioned in a manner similar to a 19th-century musket.

''Paltiks'' are still being illegally manufactured in the [Philippines](/source/Philippines) today. These were being registered during the administration of President [Corazon Aquino](/source/Corazon_Aquino), but this "legalization" was revoked and all registered ''paltiks'' had to be surrendered to the government.<ref>{{cite book|last1=Geneva|first1=Small Arms Survey|title=Small Arms Survey 2013: Everyday Dangers|date=2013|publisher=Cambridge University Press|isbn=9781107435735|page=314|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=7aXqAAAAQBAJ&pg=PA314|accessdate=November 6, 2017|language=en}}</ref> President [Gloria Macapagal Arroyo](/source/Gloria_Macapagal_Arroyo) signed Executive Order No. 171 in 2003 which prohibits ''paltiks'' from being licensed.<ref>{{cite web|title=Executive Order No. 171, s. 2003 {{!}} GOVPH|url=http://www.officialgazette.gov.ph/2003/01/22/executive-order-no-171-s-2003/|website=Official Gazette of the Republic of the Philippines|publisher=[Government of the Philippines](/source/Government_of_the_Philippines)|accessdate=November 6, 2017}}</ref>

High quality replicas of [.45 caliber](/source/.45_ACP) [semi-auto](/source/semi-automatic_pistol) [M1911 pistol](/source/M1911_pistol)s have been recorded being made in the Philippines and ending up in the [United States](/source/United_States_of_America) [black market](/source/black_market).<ref name="NatGeo">{{cite web |url = http://channel.nationalgeographic.com/underworld-inc/episodes/ghost-guns/ |title = GHOST GUNS |work = National Geographic |url-status = dead |archiveurl = https://web.archive.org/web/20161020104533/http://channel.nationalgeographic.com/underworld-inc/episodes/ghost-guns/ |archivedate = October 20, 2016 |df = mdy-all }}</ref>

==See also==
* [Gun industry in Danao](/source/Danao%2C_Cebu)
* [Improvised firearm](/source/Improvised_firearm)
* [Khyber Pass copy](/source/Khyber_Pass_copy)
* [Privately made firearm](/source/Privately_made_firearm)

==References==
{{reflist}}

{{Improvised firearms|state=collapsed}}

Category:Philippine–American War
Category:Homemade firearms
Category:Insurgency weapons
Category:Weapons of the Philippines

{{firearms-stub}}
{{Philippines-stub}}

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Adapted from the Wikipedia article [Paltik](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Paltik) by Wikipedia contributors ([contributor history](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Paltik?action=history)). Available under [Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International](https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/). Changes may have been made.