Welcome to the 28th episode of the Silah Report Podcast, we recently had the pleasure of speaking with Noori, an artisan who runs a business of handcrafting decorations on firearms in Iraq. We have covered Noori’s interesting work in past articles here at Silah Report. To say that the quality of his artwork is incredibly professional and its quality is extremely beautiful would be an understatement. In our interview with him, we enquired in-depth abut Iraqi gun culture, his background, how he entered the field, his business in a war-torn country, the challenges he faced and what does think the future holds for him.
gunsmith
V22: Hydro-Dipping Small Arms in Idlib, One Craftsman’s Experience
Welcome to the 22nd episode of the Silah Report Podcast, we recently had the pleasure of speaking with a gunsmith currently living in Idlib who has a long history fighting the SAA, not as an armed militant but as a gunsmith. Before the rebel pocket in Damascus fell to the SAA, he worked on manufacturing ammunition, weaponry, and even mortars for the resistance. He also worked on hydro-dipping rebel firearms. Currently, he resides in Idlib and had a short-lived business project hydro-dipping firearms. He agreed to be interviewed and to inform us about his journey specifically in that field, given that there are hundreds of photos of Syrian rebels with painted firearms floating throughout the internet and it is quite common now to see hydro dipped AK-pattern rifles. We at Silah Report wanted to know more about the industry and the people involved in it.
Erbil’s Gunsmith: Wasta Bakhtiar-Azizz
While in Erbil, we sat down with Wasta Bakhtiar-Azizz (وە ستا بە ختیار), one of the best-known and most highly respected gunsmiths in the Kurdistan region. Within Erbil and beyond, there are a number of gunsmiths that either work on small arms in need of maintenance and repair or perform services such as re-bluing, gold plating, modifications, and a number of other odd jobs that Kurdish gun owners request. Bakhtiar has worked in this community since he was a child, continuing the family’s business of his father, who was himself a renowned gunsmith. His son joins him in running the shop, and his brother owns a separate gun shop on the eastern side of Erbil. In addition to offering commercial gunsmithing services, he also volunteers his services to the Asyeish and Peshmerga, helping in maintaining and repairing their small arms.