Awesome Weapons

DaveHax shows us how to create a tiny, but still dangerous crossbow using a plastic bottle cap, a couple of popsicle sticks and a rubber band. The ammunition? Toothpicks, Q-Tips or flaming matchsticks. Daryl Dixon approves.

A brief, but highly enjoyable compilation of videos from Cold Steel, who hock their deadly melee weaponry with such enthusiasm and glee that we’d be very scared to run into these guys in a dark alley. Or on a wide street in broad daylight.

The Slow Mo Guys fired off a fully-automatic assault rifle and captured its action at 18,000 fps, showing off every detail of the firing mechanism grabbing bullets, placing them in the firing chamber, and letting the casings fly.

It was only a matter of time before blacksmith Tony Swatton would build the iconic Covenant energy sword from the Halo series. While his version isn’t made from glowing plasma, it’s still a deadly looking melee weapon forged from steel.

This high-tech safe for firearms provides fast access to weapons, but only with an authorized fingerprint and/or an RFID ring or wristband. Sounds an alarm if moved, can be secured with a Kensington cable, and doubles as a USB charger.

SkyNet sounds more and more possible as autonomous robots could take the place of humans on the battlefield. The Verge takes a look at the fascinating ethical and scientific debate behind letting robots do our dirty work.

More expensive than many actual firearms, the M134 is a ridiculous Airsoft gun. It weighs 35lb., mostly due to its steel body and swappable barrels. It carries up to 1,700 rounds, which will all be gone in about a minute of continuous fire.

Man at Arms caps the year off with a much-awaited project. Tony Swatton and his crew made a life-size replica of the Falchion, Chrom’s sword from one of the year’s best games Fire Emblem: Awakening.

A battery-operated rubber band gun that can carry up to 672 bands and fire up to 14 at once. But perhaps the best feature is not in the gun itself. It has an accessory that makes reloading much easier and faster than if you did it by hand.

The most bizarre gardening tool we’ve ever seen. Designed by Studio Total, Flowershells are 12-gauge shotgun shells that are loaded with flower seeds instead of deadly metal pellets. Perfect for rounding out your arsenal. This is my bloomstick!

YouTuber cheekflapperer used his Google Glass to record part of his practice session at a gun range. However, he said that he doesn’t actually recommend wearing the device while shooting because it was distracting.

For his latest build, swordsmith Tony Swatton replicated Kratos’ iconic Blade of Chaos weapon from the God of War games. He had to shrink it a bit to make it wieldable, but it’s no less deadly. We only wish he had made a pair. On fire.

Profiles in History is auctioning off Han Solo’s weapon of choice. Harrison Ford (and perhaps Mark Hamill also) used this non-firing DL-44 Blaster in The Empire Strikes Back and Return of the Jedi.

While many gamers are struggling to get their hands on Microsoft’s new console, RatedRR just went and blasted his Xbox One to bits by shooting it with a sniper rifle then searing it with detonating cord. Twice. Flame on at 3:50.

Armorer Tony Swatton continues to build out his arsenal of melee weaponry with Thor’s mighty Mjölnir. Swatton built this impressive hammer with a hollow chromoly steel head so he could actually lift it, though it still weighs about 20 lbs.

Slingshot master Joerg Sprave is working on a zombie flick, and he needs serious weaponry to take down the horde. While we thought his minigun slingshot was plenty, Joerg wanted something with a little more stopping power.