Kaleem Akhtar, 29, supplied an "assassin's armoury" of handguns, silencers and bullets to gangsters across the UK, with the weapons changing hands for £1,500, Manchester Crown Court was told.

After a police raid netted 13 guns with silencers, 379 bullets and a bullet-proof vest, within 24 hours Akhtar and the gang allegedly arranged for another consignment to sell on.

The guns, brought from Essex, were found in Manchester, Liverpool, Sheffield, Leeds, Bradford and Scotland.

All were Russian-made Baikal self-loading gas handguns, blank-firing weapons that can be sold legally for about £100 in some European countries. But all had been stripped down and re-barrelled, converting them to fire 9mm bullets, as accurate and powerful as factory-made weapons, jurors heard.

Such was the spread of the weapons – described as "status symbols" among gangsters – that the number of shootings in Manchester, which had been going down until 2006, jumped by 29 per cent in the next two years, the court heard.

Baikals became a favourite weapon among the violent street gangs plaguing Manchester, the court heard.

Police seized 29 of them supplied by Akhtar and others during operations in Manchester alone, along with 856 9mm bullets, the court heard.

Another 27 from the same source turned up across the country, but this was "only a proportion" of the guns distributed by the gang, the jury was told.

"The supply of handguns is worrying enough but the provision of a sound moderator, or silencer, for each gun is far more sinister," Nicholas Clarke QC, prosecuting, told the jury. "With these guns stealth comes as standard. These weapons are an assassin's armoury.

"This conspiracy involved the introduction of large numbers of lethal weapons and ammunition into the criminal underworld.

"Overall, this operation uncovered the largest network of illegally held weapons ever seen in this country and included the second largest single seizure of firearms in Greater Manchester.

"Had the distribution of these additional firearms been successful the impact on gun crime in Greater Manchester would have been enormous."

The guns were taken in batches from Essex by Lithuanian brothers Agnus and Edgaras Malcevas to be sold to Mudasser Ali and then allegedly repackaged and sold on by Akhtar and others. Ali, both Malcevas brothers, Asaid Salim and Michael Peake have already pleaded guilty to either conspiracy to possess firearms or other separate firearms offences.

Akhtar, of Chorlton, Manchester, has pleaded not guilty to conspiracy to possess firearms and ammunition with intent to enable another to endanger life. It is alleged his job was to distribute the guns to other gangsters, along with silencers and ammunition for a price.

But police had the gang under surveillance since February 2007. It is alleged that that month Akhtar supplied two of the guns, silencers and ammunition to Peake, who travelled from Liverpool to buy the weapons.

The court heard that two months later police recovered 342 bullets from an address used by Akhtar and on May 4 last year he was involved in arranging a consignment of 13 of the guns and 379 bullets, recovered from a car boot, again taken from Essex to Manchester.

Armed officers finally swooped on the Lithuanian brothers, finding 13 Baikals, 12 silencers and 121 9mm bullets in a sports bag in their BMW as they again drove to Manchester.

Such handguns were now a "status symbol" for gang members – with the Gooch, Doddington and Longsight Crew, all notorious Manchester street gangs – involved in shootings using the weapons, the court heard.

The trial continues.