Lost Weapons #5 The Gat Gun

The weapon of choice for the aulder High Wall boys. Gat guns were .177 "pop oot" airguns that fired corks, darts and pellets.

Arkos and I were havin' a wee debate aboot the origins of oor Gats earlier tonight. I reckoned we got the money for them fae the sale of a couple o' auld books we found when we were rakin' aboot in the abandoned Banks & Co printing Factory on Causewayside. As I recall they were auld leather bound books wi copperplate engravings o' Scottish landscapes in them. We selt them fir a fiver tae a bookseller guy in Brunstfield. Boy nivvir asked any questions, just gied us a fiver and that wis that. He wis happy and so were we. Who knows whit we had found, but a fiver wis a fair bit o' dosh back in the mid 70's. A fiver was also the price o' two brand new Gat guns

Arkos reckoned they came fae the proceeds o' the sale of a couple o' reel tae reel tape machines we fished oot o' a skip on Ratcliffe Terrace. Ah mind o' that too, and in fact still hae a couple o' the tape reels tae this day. Ah still reckon it wis the books though.

Anyway we bought oor Gats fae a wee shop in the Arcade off o' Cockburn Street. Man they were guid things tae own. We used tae wander aboot wi them jammed doon the waistband o' oor troosers, like Jimmy Cagney or John Wayne. We used tae shoot tin cans, boatils (non returnable ones of course) road signs, abandoned factory windaes and, naturally, each other.

Now a Gat gun pellet will sting and probably could "have yer eye oot" but we wore snorkel Parkas so were well padded. We used tae hae some laughs shootin' each other aroond the High Wall and in the auld abandoned Southside factories, hidin' and layin' in ambush, waitin fer a clean shot. A sort o' urban paintball withoot the coloured dyes.

Now ah wouldnae fir one minute condone firearms and there have been a few terrible and tragic incidents involving airguns over the last few years. Airgun legislation in Scotland is getting tighter and that is probably a guid thing in my book. But we did hae some fun wi thon Gat guns back in the day.

I saw an auld original Gat fir sale at the Ghillies Funday in Ballinluig a couple o' years ago and wis tempted tae buy it fir auld times sake just tae stick oan the shelf. It was only a few quid but ah ended up no botherin'. The world has moved on I guess.

Lost Weapons #4 A Jobby on a Stick

I've heard the term "dirty weapons" and "dirty bombs" used in respect of dissident Chechen terrorist groups. The original dirty weapons were conceived around the High Wall.

More of a defensive deterrant style weapon. Simple and effective.

1) Get a stick from the back green

2) Find a fresh barkers egg which were common around the South Side streets in the 70's

3) Combine items 1 & 2

4) Pursue your assailant/victim with the business end.

A jobby on a stick was popular with younger bairns for warding off aulder laddies who were intend in stealing their sweets.

Sometimes bits of jobby could be flicked off, but the trajectory was unpredictable and this tactic carried a risk of friendly fire incidents.

Lost Weapons #3 The Sekiden Gun

The Sekiden Automatic (SAP.50) Running Fire X.

This was the AK47 of the 1970's primary school bairn.

Many a territorial dispute was settled with these bad boys.

Dora Buckle was the Lockheed Martin of the Southside selling arms and ammunition to anyone with the coppers to spare.

But what we really wanted was this.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZPlMCaMGTnM

Lost Weapons #2 The Haston Cannnon

" It was a fine idea at the time, now it's a brilliant mistake"
Elvis Costello, 1986

Picture an ash carpark, a dark November 70's Edinburgh night, local youths huddled round for the great unveiling of a new weapon of unyeilding power.

It's inventor, a gangly youth with thick hair, removes from his pocket a small model of a naval cannon with pencil sharpening capabilities. Packed tightly inside the cannon are the contents of a packet of Standard 3-2-1-zeros ( the banger of choice) and a small fake pearl which was once part of a mother's earring.

Excitement hangs in the cold air like the smoke from so many tenament chimneys. "This will be barry" is the general concensus.

After a long series of checks the shottie keepers give the all clear. The fuse is lit and the weapon aimed.

What happened next is still inexplicable. There was the anticipated flash and bang, but the pearl's trajectory was not as it should have been. When the smoke abated the blackened face of the inventor was streaked with tears and 2 lines of green snot. On the left side of his nose was a bulge about the size of a plastic pearl. It was lodged up his nostril and not for coming out without adult assistance.

This my friends is the true story of the "Haston Cannnon"

Lost Weapons #1 Home made nunchuks

Bruce Lee, David Carradine and Carl Douglas, in the 70's everybody was "Kung Fu fighting"

Therefor the Home made Nunchuk was born

A chain stolen from a lavvie cystern.

Your Ma's broom/rake/hoe handle sawn into lenghts

A couple of nails and Boab's yer uncle."You will have someones eye out with that".

Advantages - Cheap and available.

Drawbacks - Flimsy chain liable to snap, Handles flew of regularly as the nails were traditionally hammered in with a half niddrie, Splinters in the newly created blisters on your hands. Hitting yourself in the eye, back of head, knee and baws. Getting a thick ear when your ma went to rake the back green a week later.

Ah but they looked the part

"Those cats were fast as lightning"