Home
Artists
Search Recent Random
Posts
Search DMs Popular Hash Lookup Tags Random
Importer
Import FAQ
Register
Partychan Matrix ThePornDude
Home Artists Posts Import Register
Patreon importer is back online! Tell your friends ✅

Q&A Time (Patreon)

Published:
2021-04-13 16:50:15
Imported:
2021-04

Content

Feels like it has been a while since the last Q&A...what would you like to answer in the next one?

Comments

Anonymous

Hey Ian, let's imagine a world where .45 ACP/1911 and 9mm Para/Luger never existed. What two pistols/cartridges do you think would have been the next most viable options for nations to adopt?

Anonymous

What has been the most interesting early pocket pistol you've come across, mechanically or otherwise?

Anonymous

What 1880s/1890s pistol or rifle cartridge could be viable for modern firearms?

Anonymous

I know that open bolt guns are inherently more inaccurate because of the human component. But are they more *mechanically* innacurate or is it simply because of the bolt slamming forward and the user's reaction to this? As a side note the FG42 would be a wonderful gun to test this with.

Anonymous

I would like to know if you believe Mr. Johnson was inspired by the RSC

Anonymous

Did the British/Russians ever attempt to design a rimless version of their respective .303 and 54R cartridges?

Anonymous

What are the top 5 strange but effective locking or delaying systems in pistols or rifles? Anything that is usually effective in reducing recoil?

Anonymous

In your BUG match video on the Wildey Survivor, you mentioned that a desktop video would be coming later, any plans to release such a video?

Anonymous

Have you considered doing any videos on some of the unique (not copies of other guns) 3d printed firearms like the Liberator or the FGC-9? I think it'd be very interesting to see someone with your historical knowledge break down the designs.

Andrew Cook

Why were over or under folders more prevalent than side folding stocks?

Anonymous

Has any component of the CAWS program (either the firearms or the ammunition) seen any further development in modern-day firearms?

Anonymous

How does military firearms development occur in totalitarian societies where free thought and speech are suppressed and criticism of the state is illegal or culturally unacceptable?

Anonymous

Has anyone proposed or developed a "rimless" rimfire cartrige? The rim area of a rimless round would seem to have enough space for a rimfire primer. One of the big issues with semiautomatic .22 lr firearms is feeding with a rimmed cartridge.

Anonymous

What are your thoughts on the USA chambering the Krag-Jørgensen for a round it was not intended for, instead of using 6,5x55? Maybe I'm just being Norwegian about it, but I cannot fathom why 30-40 has anything at all to offer when those two are compared.

Anonymous

Was there any lend lease use of the M1 garand by the British or Russians? Is there any record of British soldiers being jealous of their American counterparts having a more rapidly firing rifle.

Anonymous

What are some modifications or designs that make a firearm more reliable in extreme cold, or dusty desert, or wet and steamy jungle? What are the pros/cons of these changes, and are there any developments for hardening firearms for extreme environments?

Anonymous

Ian what is #36270? It appears on like every 3rd upload on youtube. If this feels like to Small of a question then how do you feel about youtube running adds on your channel even though you choose to demonitize.

Anonymous

With the 45-60 cartridge being a better overall design than the 45-70, why did the US still continue to use 45-70?

Anonymous

Best, worst, or most interesting trench rifle or periscope rifle modification.

George Parremore

Were there any popular firearms that used ring delayed blowback?

Anonymous

Is it possible that the Carcano's reputation for "blowing up" in fudd lore is due to the misattribution of legitimate concerns about Vetterli-Carcano's being somewhat unsafe?

Anonymous

If the M1 carbine was as reliable as the M1 Garand, would it have been a better general issue rifle, moving the state of the art forward faster?

Anonymous

I've been intrigued with the concept of the scout rifle since I saw your video on the Steyr Scout. You mentioned that the Winchester 1894 was kind of a spiritual ancestor. Are there any other guns over the last 120 years that filled this same niche, either by design or by circumstance? (bonus points if they wouldn't be ridiculously hard to collect or shoot)

Anonymous

Have you considered mirroring the Forgotten Weapons channel to Odysee like the InRangeTV channel is?

Anonymous

How common was the use of volley fire after the invention of smokeless powder? So many rifles from around the turn of the 20th century are equipped with volley sights but were they ever actually used in training or in combat?

Anonymous

Have you considered doing more brewery / distillery tours? Pairing the national alcohol with the historic firearms of a country?

Andrew Cook
>>57668066

I've heard references to the 7.7 Japanese basicly being a rimless 303. I definitely would like to hear this question.

Anonymous

What are the pros and cons of different bolt locking mechanisms (tilting bolt, flapper locking, rotating bolt with 2, 3 or 7 lugs) etc?

Anonymous

Which service revolver (pre-1940) is your favorite? The Webley? Perhaps the Swiss Waffenfrabik Bern? Thanks for the content!

Kyle Pocock

I'm reading the fantastic follow up book The Green Meanie L96A1 by Steve Houghton (which you really need to review if you haven't started already!) and I've been confused by the use of A1 in British army designations. It almost seems like that means the first iteration of something instead of an alteration like in the US army. Am I missing something here? Maybe a commenter can clear this up

Anonymous

Who invented picatinny rail?

Anonymous

Besides a Sazerac, do you have any Absinthe cocktails you enjoy? Been trying to find some but haven't had much luck with anything that isn't overwhelming with the anise flavor

Anonymous

In watching your slow-mo shooting of SMGs, some seem to not be impacting the back of the receiver (Grease gun comes to mind). Are there any guns that "accidentally". benefit from constant recoil?

Anonymous

You have been exposed to a number of semi and even full auto conversions of bolt action rifles. They are all bodges, more or less, but which would you say has the most potential from an individual use perspective, or from a production perspective?

Anonymous

Russ Robinson's Constant Reaction guns. Have you come across any examples or information on these? I can only see the one picture if an article that comes up online, but it seems to me that it's the constant recoil principle, done maybe 80 years ago.

Anonymous

Turns out I'm very interested in cartridges. Any plans on future cartridge content and if not.. any good sources that I can look into?

Anonymous

The Colt Automatic rifle - what’s the deal with it? I’m not talking the carbine versions of the M16 such as the XM177 or Model 650s, but the Colt Light Machine Gun. It’s been sort of tricky to find any actual valuable information on it for me, due to it having similar names to two other Colt weapons (The CAR and CMG) and it seems like one of those ideas that are good on concept, but not so much in execution. Either way, I’d love to hear your take on it, and why it didn’t go full scale. It seems like something the Cold War-era US would’ve jumped on but ended up defunct in under 20 years. Thanks Ian, stay safe and enjoy yourself!

George Parremore

Do you think a new semi auto rifle (or service rifle for that matter) that is anything other than gas operated rotating bolt could buck the trend and be successful?

Anonymous

Hi Ian, I’m in my final year of secondary school in Scotland. As part of my history class, we have a unit on the Spanish Civil War and have a multitude of essays to complete. I have made a conscious effort to include as many different types of firearms as I could think of in each one (much to the consternation of my teacher!) Could you perhaps name a few lesser known firearms used during the Civil War? Thanks, Andrew.

A premium hog

The great nation of Elbonia is looking to spin up a sniper program. But they know better than to adopt ZF41 scopes. What rifles do you attempt to sell them?

Anonymous

Not sure if this has been asked before but what is your general opinion of modern Russian optics?

Anonymous

Here is a question that I've had for awhile. Is there a reason that most military forces preferred the notch sight like on the AK or the K98 over the aperture sight? From what I've seen, only the Americans and British were using aperture sights early on and it would seem like they would have an advantage with quicker sight acquisition and a longer sight radius.

Steve Doucet

Hi Ian! I grabbed one of the Gras carbines from Ethiopia and I am working on cleaning her up. The barrel bands have proven to be a major issue. One has the wood swollen around it and wont come off. Any secrets to getting past that? Also, mine has no Ethiopian markings. Is that unssual? Lastly, the rear sight is missing and I'd like to replace it. Is that a difficult part to find? Thanks!

Anonymous

During the war in Vietnam, what did domestic arms production look like in both North and South Vietnam? I know both sides were heavily reliant on foreign military aid, but there must have been some level of domestic arms production right?

Anonymous

With the current may saying against the 5.56x45 do you think that if 6.5 Grendel or 6.8 SPC had been created at the same time would either of those rounds been adopted over the 5.45x45 and if so would they be criticized for the same performance differences?

Anonymous

What if question: Given your knowledge of engineering and history, if you and only the clothes on your back were sent back to 1910, what technologies could you, along with a period gunsmith of your choosing, be able to implement to aid America in WW1? Or would technological and metallurgical limitations of the time be too different to change the state of US firearms technology?

Anonymous

What is the biggest 'dead end' in gun development? Something that seemed viable or even was for a time but ended up going nowhere long term.

Anonymous

Besides the Roland White patent, can you think of any patents that could have slowed or sped up development of aspects of firearms design?

Andrew Cook
>>57668139

There are the necked down 25 acp wildcats like the 22 Epperson cricket.

Falling Steel

You mentioned not liking the HK rotating barrel aperture sights, what others do you dislike? What iron sights are your favorite? Bonus question: why do the French make you scrunch you’re face down to see through the sights? You mentioned it on the MAT-49 video and I’ve noticed it with the FAMAS F1.

Anonymous

After your recommendation l ordered Kyrö Whiskey and also Pink Gin and my wife and I find both really good. So any recommendations for good cocktail recipe too???

Matthew Jackson

Do you know of any major power that has actually succeeded (over a multi-year timeframe) at actually replacing more than 3 different primary weapons with a one "do it all" thing? Or is that one of those ideas that always sounds great in principle, but has never ever actually worked in practice?

Anonymous

I've seen in a few of your videos that the navy has historically been more willing to adopt/trial newer or more experimental ideas, any idea why this is?

Anonymous

Is there a specific reason striker fire systems are so rare on automatic rifles and yet so common on pistols?

Anonymous

As best I can tell, the German K98k is the only Mauser pattern rifle where the upper handguard starts in front of the rear sight. All of the others have the upper wood wrap around behind the rear sight. Having handled both patterns, the sight picture is much easier and less cluttered without the wood behind the rear sight. Why didn't anyone else use a K98k-style upper handguard for their rifles?

Anonymous

It seems like the decreasing size of infantry forces has really condensed the number of major firearms manufacturers to just a handful (FN, CZ, HK etc...). It feels like this has also really reduced the incentive to produce brand new firearms. After all, getting to sell a few million M16s is going to make a lot more money than thirty thousand HK416s. Do you see this changing anytime soon?

Anonymous

How much could spalling be relied on to achieve tank kills in WW2? People are always urinating on the Sherman's legacy but could a 75mm still kill a Panther/Tiger crew through spalling?

Anonymous

Would the U.S. be better off updating and rebuilding their old SAWs, (I.E. fixing magazine feeding issues and reliability increases) than replacing the saw with some new weapon system? Also does the full length M16 still have a place in the US inventory?

Anonymous

Hi Ian, about two ago, you looked at the M4 and it's guns as a colab with Chieftain. Would you consider doing a similar colab with Drachinifel to look at ship guns (esp. the big main armament guns) sometime in the next 1-3 years?

Anonymous

I get the impression that Americans in the mid 20th century collectively took a step back in handgun technology, embracing revolvers and relegating semiautomatic pistols to a niche item. There was obviously some market for imported Walther and Browning pistols, and you could get a S&W Model 39 if you wanted to, and semiauto .22 target pistols were popular; but the mainstream police and private citizen market seems to have been overwhelmingly dominated by revolvers, and the great American pocket pistols of the early century seem to have died out. Is my impression accurate, and if so, why did this happen? It feels like it can't have been *just* the influence of western TV shows.

Anonymous

Hi Ian, which prototype firearm that you've handled was a tweek and a dollar away from being something really good.

Anonymous

I love seeing the various types of shooting matches and competitions but I've never seen any designed to use full or "faux" auto guns to their full potential. If you were designing a competition and a stage for "LMG's" what would that look like? ie: focusing on suppressive fire instead of hits on target?

Christian Hanes

As much as you like the southwest, if you had to pick a northeastern state to live, where would you go?

Guido Schriewer

revolver rifles/nagant seal. I'm a revolver fan and always liked the idea of a wheelgun carbine format, too. as the cylinder gap isn't great in general and there's always a possible hangfire that could go off (never happened to me or saw such)... wouldn't a nagant cylinder face to forcing cone in a better executed modernized form maybe without the setback special ammo adress such issues (gases and hangfire risks) with a rifle and make revolvers better in general? how comes nobody ever done such a gasseal more often (rifle or handgun)?

Anonymous

What is the milsurp rifle that interests you the most and why? For me it's the Belgian mauser 1889 and how Paul Mauser was essentially fueled by spite when making this rifle after Germany made the Gewehr 88 without consulting him.

Alex H

Because of how far out you do your filming have you ever looked at Amateur radio for comms outside of cell range?

Anonymous

We’ve all heard the Winchester 1911 SL referred to as “The Widowmaker”, since the user would, allegedly, place the butt of the gun on the ground with the muzzle facing their chin, and cycle the action occasionally causing a slamfire. I haven’t been able to find any documented occurrences of this actually happening. So, just another case of fuddlore? Or was common sense really a little less common a century ago? Keep up the great work, Ian 👍🏻

Anonymous

How do you approach handling wrong information? Either in books, other videos, common lore, etc. They said one thing, then you handle the gun and it's clearly wrong -- what do you do? Special notes for yourself, always include it in the video/website, contacting the authors (if alive and in print) about a correction, etc.

Anonymous

If you were in charge of modifying the 1903 Springfield before World War One, how would you upgrade it?

Tiger in man's clothing
>>57668449

I don't know about historically, but recently both caseless ammunition and multiple projectile have both been beat to death and still come up from time to time. I think combination weapons, the OICW being the most recent evolution, has lasted a very long time and have still gotten nowhere.

Anonymous

Why is there myriad of .32 ACP pistols but only one submachine gun?

Anonymous
>>57668808

I always thought something like this would be a lot of fun with binary triggers in AR's and drum mags, or extended box mags. Or even with .22 AR conversion kits and drums to save on ammo cost!

Anonymous

Straigth pull rifles and manually operated pistols are both said to be important part in evolution of semiauto weapons. Do you think this is right? do you think that semiautos would be developed without these? Thanks for great material!

Anonymous

Between the M95, the K11/31, and The Lee Navy, which straight pull do you think is overall the safest and most accurate?

Anonymous

Recently I was reading a copy of Small Arms of the World published in the early 80's. In particular, I was reading about the process of choosing the M855/SS109. It was interesting to read an account of a historical event written so soon after it occurred. How often do you read older histories? Do you find them helpful in researching firearms development? If so, why? Do you have any good examples of times when someone clearly foresaw a future development or wildly misjudged the future direction? The one I saw in my reading was Germany stating that there was no need for a 5.56 rifle as their new caseless ammunition would soon render 5.56 obsolete.

Anonymous

As a Soviet Bloc member in the 1970s, what refit/sabotage would you inflict on the Citizen's Republic of Elbonia?

Anonymous

How do you insure your gun collection?

Anonymous
>>57668666

For sure but nothing to count on. https://www.reddit.com/r/AskHistorians/comments/7gpbo9/how_much_of_an_issue_was_spalling_in_wwiiera_tanks/

Anonymous

I have read that the British No.1 and No.6 Commando units during WWII were placed temporarily under American Command during Operation Torch and hence were armed with M1 Garands, and like them so much that they kept them for the duration of the war in lieu of their Lee Enfields. I also heard that they refused to turn in their tommy guns for stens. Could you do more digging and shine more light on this matter?

Anonymous

Two, unrelated questions. 1) Through history, there have been some firearms designs that, at the time, did not work out well (or at all) but proved to be instrumental once some other technology came about. For instance, Rollin While and the bored-through cylinder being essentially worthless without a metallic cartridge. Are there any failed designs (or design aspects) that didn't work originally but that could be revisited today and be viable, or even useful? 2) Are there any weapons that are not yet Forgotten Weapons, but that really should be forgotten sooner than later?

Anonymous

Second time asking: I've become interested in the Pedersen Rifle, but apart from your videos and articles on it and Hatcher's Book of the Garand, I can't find much else on the subject. Can you recommend a good book on the rifle and/or Pedersen's other works and life, and if not, could you lure an author to the offices of Headstamp Publishing with a trail of waxed .276 cartridges?

HJA

Would you be willing to extensively photograph the guns you do videos on (Ideally including a metric ruler), possibly selling the photographs in bundles on Gumroad or giving to certain Patreon Tiers? Digital Artists would be very interested in quality reference images, particularly of rare items or parts that are uncommon to see photographs of (typically things that require disassembly)

Anonymous

If the ak-47 and all it’s derivatives would never been invited, but all the other gun did still exist. What would have become the Soviet Union and all the other countries main battle rifle.

Dragunov404

What state do you think western rifle design would be if NATO adopted an intermediate cartridge instead of the 7.62x51mm in the 1950's? Do you think the near decade of clinging to the obsolescent concept of the full powered cartridge stunted western rifle development, especially as numerous other countries waited much longer to adopt the 5.56mm?

Anonymous

Occasionally during one of your videos you will recommend a reference book someone interested in that video's weapon can go to for more information. Would it be possible to formalize this and mention a decent reference book (or that there isn't one) in every video, possibly with the name of the book in the description? It would be immensely helpful for those of us who want to know more. Related: Can you recommend a good getting started book for someone interested in collecting Israeli weapons (statehood through present mostly, it looks like they used whatever they could get their hands on during the war of independence)? Thanks!

Anonymous

Do you think there's ever any danger of firearms enthusiasts/historians sometimes perhaps not paying their field of study the reverence it deserves? Obviously it would be rather a damper on your channel to constantly discuss such things in every video and I wouldn't say there is a need to. Just an issue that creeps in to my mind when consuming any military firearms content.

Toby Williamson

A bit of a long one: So, as you've covered before, the 8mm Lebel cartridge is the result of the quick development the cartridge was forced to go through. If the French used the early discovery of smokeless powder to instead use as extra time to research, what do you think the resulting cartridge would be? Also, seeing as the Lebel was the result of the same rushed development, with some extra time to wait as the cartridge was made, what do you think the eventual French rifle would have been? Do you think the French would of had a semi auto rifle in either WW1 or WW2 with a better cartridge?

Anonymous

Would the PTRD be a good candidate for a small batch reproduction in .50 BMG? Its simplicity really keeps production cost relatively low, there is a decent amount of intrest in WWII Russian arms, and it would not currently fall under the NFA.

K. D. Campbell

What is the status of the Chinese Warlord period pistol book?

Anonymous

Did Italy ever attempt to develop a 6.5x52mm version of the CSRG 1915 like Belgium & the USA did with their service cartridges?

Anonymous

Were there attempts to create detachable magazines out of plastics/composites before the Soviets?

Anonymous

Alot of the strange/unusual designs you cover are from the period where people were still trying to figure out how to effectively make a semiauto firearm function, often with inadequate technology of the time. Do you think minds like Browning and Pederson, and others, if alive today, would change the current stagnation of small arms technology? And what modern designers do you think are their equivalents?

Ryan Butler

Has here ever been a time when Colt was great at fulfilling military orders?

Anonymous

My time machine is almost working. A secondary mission will be to get 5.56mm adopted instead of .30 carbine. I will set up a BarBQ before the selection processed begins and let the guests shoot watermelons. I will take a Mini-14 and AR15(SP1) and measured drawings but not the full data package. Which one do you think they will choose and how different do you think their manufacturing process will be? As I say, this is a secondary mission. If you have never heard of President Henry Wallace then my primary mission was successful.

Bjorn de Echte

You have talked a couple of times about manufacturing in south-Africa, are there any other noteble Africa designers/ manufacturers. In the past but also now?

TOGFather

On various videos concerning bullpup designs, you've commented on them having "creepy" or otherwise disappointing triggers. Is this a fundamental issue with bullpup designs? If so, what is it about a bullpup that causes this, and if not, why do they not seem to get better triggers?

Anonymous

If the Glock pistol had never been invented, what would be its most likely replacement.

MattC10/63

Which of the Cold War battle rifle platform would have performed the best in the universal platform concept? In other terms scaled down for a pistol caliber sub gun, beefed up for squad support fire, and “accurrized” for DMR/sniper use.

Anonymous

7,62x53r vs 7,62x54r. You have a Finnish M39, correct? Yet you are using "wrong" caliber ammunition in it. Have you used russian parts in your rifle or is it "stock" Finnish rifle? And yes they are two different calibers, the ruskie mosin and the finn mosin.

Anonymous

Have you ever traveled to a place (for filming) you were legally permitted, but very uncomfortable while there? If so, where was it?

Anonymous

Did the countries involved in WW I and WW II respect neutral countries patents? Like howcome nobody made Madsen light machine guns duing WW I

Anonymous

In your last video with Max Popenker, he mentioned that many cartridges like 9x19 are really optimized for SMGs that need to have an effective range greater than that of a pistol. If this is the case, and you had the power, would you rather some other, lower velocity round had the ubiquity and commensurate low cost (normally) and vast selection that has accrued to the 9x19?

Anonymous

Why is my X serialed Gras bayonet a far higher number than the production data shown in your book for X prefix Gras? Was there something different about the serial number scheme?

Anonymous
>>57670921

Or would striker-fired pistols even be as prevalent as they are now?

Sterling Hess
>>57670160

I second any Israeli book references. Seems most books will only have short mentions of Israeli weapons, such as the Galil, FAL or Mauser. (I would be willing to get books in hebrew if you know any) Only English book I have found that is good on an Israeli specific gun, is Uzi Submachine gun by David Gaboury.

Anonymous

Can you talk about the MG34’s use after WWII. Can you discuss Norway’s attempts to rechamber it for 7.62mm. Did any other nations rechamber MG34s?

Anonymous

The US Army's M26 Modular Accessory Shotgun System seems like a very odd design as a gun to me. Have you had the chance to handle one? And do you think the idea of a dedicated breaching shotgun is a good idea?

David C

2nd time asking: How are bullet diameters chosen? Especially when it's fractions of an inch. Why .32, .36 of inch? Why 7.65 mil?

Anonymous

In one of your videos where you are shooting a PPSh-41, I noticed during the slow motion footage that when the first round is fired, the bolt stops moving before it hits the back of the receiver. But after every subsequent round, the bolt appears to strike the back of the receiver fairly hard. What is causing this to occur? Is this an inherent issue with all open bolt SMGs? I would think that every round would transmit the same amount of force to the bolt.

Anonymous

In many videos about prototype firearms, there is talk about military trials or troop trials. Is there a difference in limited military trials e.g. 3 prototypes get tested for safety with bad ammo etc, versus troop trials when 1000 units are sent to real military soldiers? How do these units do testing if they aren't in an active warzone and they aren't in an adverse environment?

Anonymous

You have a Stery GB, right? Have you used it in a match? What do you think is the upper practical limit to cartridges in a gas brake system?

Anonymous

You mentioned a few Q&A's ago about good design when it came to bayonets and how if they are multipurpose they tend to fail in their design. How about more modern bayonets like the AK74 or the M9? Any thoughts or plans on putting multipurpose bayonets to their test with InRange?

Anonymous

You often say you don’t know how many of a specific old gun were made and give a rough estimate. Is that also the case with modern guns that are out of production, ie. the Hudson H9 and the Boberg XR9?

CardboardAK47

A repeat question- Has there been development in more energy dense propellant for cartridges? Like able to make the rounds shorter but still have a rifle round performance. An example would be having a 5.56 round but the whole round is basically similar in size to a 9mm.

Anonymous

If you could pick a modern hand gun or carbine/pdw to be redesigned and chambered in 7.65 french what would it be. Also you could make an fcg9 in 7.65 for real

Anonymous

Once again I want to ask about the persistence and spread of matchlock guns in Asia. Why do you think matchlock systems developed so much and lasted so long in South, Central, and East Asia?

Sterling Hess

I've been collecting Israeli firearms, noticed your videos of Israeli firearms are in the US or Canada, so do you (if not already) have plans to visit Israel to look at unique weapons there? (Uzi Para, Gal assault rifle, Balashnikov modified AK, maybe some of the Haganah underground produced weapons, etc)

David C

What would you say the least appropriate gun you've taken to/seen at a Back Up Gun match was?

Anonymous

Thanks for the outstanding content. Just got a 9mm Makarov complete with a holster with the lanyard that aids in drawing pistol, this got me thinking what is the worst or slowest holster you have came across?

Anonymous

Do you think a modern integrally suppressed ring trigger pistol could compete against b&t's welrod clone and project hushpuppy style pistols, or could they find success in reistrctive states and countries?

Anonymous

Second time asking: I have two unusual WWII bring-back Japanese bolt-action rifles (a Type I and a "cavalry-length" (non-carbine) Type 38). I am not interested in selling them as they were brought back by my grandfather when he was a USN officer and therefore have sentimental value, but I am interested in having them appraised and keeping them in the best condition possible for future generations. Not sure about trying to get them to shoot. What do you recommend doing first and/or who do you recommend contacting? Someone else in the family suggested using silicone spray on all of the metal parts to protect them from moisture, is this a bad idea?

BigCheese1000

Just curious ! Have you ever got your hands on an Indian Insas rifle, or know much about it ?

Anonymous

If you could travel back in time and speak to any gun designer and ask, "Why don't you just do it like this?" who would it be, and what "feature" would you try to get them to fix? (I am sure you would be more tactful).

Anonymous

Why did it take so long for m16 magazines to have anti-tilt followers when they were already frequently used on guns since ww2?

Anonymous

The German MG42 continued to be used by several countries after World War 2, including the German Bundeswehr, where it was called the MG3. I know that friends of mine who trained on it in the German Federal Border Police in the 1980's still used some weapons with a Waffenamt stamp, which had been converted into Nato caliber. Do you think that the MG42/MG3 would still be a viable weapon today, or was the German Bundeswehr justified in phasing it out in favor of the MG5? What are the advantages of the MG5 over the MG42/MG3?

Anonymous

Would you consider an H&K MK23 for a home defense gun?

Anonymous
>>57675026

I ring trigger pistol more in the form factor of the francotte repeating pistol

Bartholomew Fortwood

Are there any resources you recommend for understanding firearms design? I've been looking at getting into it as a hobby, mainly just to experiment with unorthodox ideas. Any info would help. Cheers!

Anonymous

Has anyone tried to make a true advanced primer ignition small arm?

William Magoffin

What spin off technologies have come out of firearms development; what was developed for firearms but had an impact outside of firearms?

Anonymous

I am interested in thoughts on the apparent disconnect between collectors seeking to acquire a series or lineage of pieces while auctionners saying that selling as a group never brings value.

Anonymous

Third time asking; how far back in time do you think you could travel and have an impact on the firearms industry?

Djd

How is the Archive project going? You previously mentioned that you were hiring an archivist/website manager.

Anonymous

Hi. Do you have a favorite Sci-Fi weapon or one you would like to own if it was a real one? If so what? One of my favorites is Vera, from the show Firefly. It is completely ridiculous but that is also charm of it to me.

Charles Easton

Do you have a succession plan? Will we see any mini-Ians in training someday?

John S Wren
>>57668407

Hi Andrew, if you want some real detail check this excellent article out. https://surplused.com/index.php/2020/06/15/foreign-rifles-of-the-spanish-republic-1936-1939/

Anonymous

Considering many of the firearms you look at could very well have saved and taken life, and the general belief in the supernatural many people share, have you ever come across a piece of or an entire collection that was (or at least someone claimed it was) haunted? Given the reputation of the Winchester home, one could expect this is a common experience for serious collectors.

Anonymous

A few years ago you asked an important question: given modern materials and manufacturing techniques, what would a genius firearms designer of the past do? You applied that question to the rifle. Let's apply that question to the handgun. What would John Browning do?

Anonymous

What are the actual forces/mechanics employed when a muzzle device is used to increase cyclic rate? Back pressure? I think the .30-06 Lewis guns had something like this.

Anonymous

As a fellow left-handed person yourself, do you have a history of left-handed forgotten weapons?

Thunderchild

Are there any other YouTube channels or content creators that you really want to do collaborations with?

Anonymous

Given that there have been several points throughout history where firearms development has advanced rapidly in quite short periods of time, which decade do you believe saw the most advancement in firearms technology?

Carl

Do large bore interrupted thread guns need head spacing? And does this change the degrees of rotation needed to close the breech?

Anonymous
>>57673572

Speculation: As a reloader, I’m not sure denser powder charges are that desirable. A 9mm load, for instance, typically has a range of something like 5.5-6gr of powder, with 5.5 being near the minimum useful velocity for good hollow point expansion and 6 being overpressure. Typical loads vary by maybe 0.05gr in weight as the powder is measured by volume. A powder twice as energy dense would mean your round to round variation would be effectively double and the margin on overpressure would be razor thin. Halving the case volume has another downside, which is that variations in seating depth remove essentially double the relative volume. We generally measure to the thousandth of an inch reloading. As exciting as the prospect of 7.62x51 performance out of a 7.62x39 cartridge might be in some ways, I would not want to load these cartridges, and I can’t help but wonder if commercial and military planners aren’t more or less satisfied with the volume of current cartridge cases and propellant densities.

Anonymous
>>57677454

Most buyers are already building their series. If you for example sell every model of Soviet Mosin as a set, or a Gew 98 from each arsenal as a set most people interested in that already have some of the set and aren’t interested in spending more for duplicates. Plus it’s easier to spend a few hundred/thousand dollars over a period of time than to buy the preformed collection. Plus a lot of the fun is tracking down each piece.

Anonymous

Can you recommend a cool hat to wear while I am at the range? I live in the South Eastern US, so it should be light and not sensitive to water.

Thunderchild

Are you aware of the treason and undermining taking place in the Elbonian Armored Branch?

Thunderchild

What are your thoughts on just how far reaching the effects and commentary on your museum vs private collection video has gotten, considering the Panzer Museum in Germany weighed in?

Anonymous

At what point does delayed blowback become locked? IE flapper or roller.

Anonymous

The Peruvian "Fusil Automático Doble" (FAD) is an interesting bullpup rifle that I haven't been able to find much info on at all. Do you know anything about it?

GooDoughnut

I'm always interested by companies manufacturing firearms or firearm parts that are not primarily firearms manufacturers (E.G. Inland carbine parts, Singer and Union Switch and Signal 1911s, etc.) Are there any interesting success or failure stories of perhaps lesser known companies trying this in the past?

Anonymous

Why did the Germans like the Kar98k style of sling so much that they implemented it on the occupation production of other designs? Why make the change on the Hungarian G98/40 and G24(t), etc? Is there some advantage of the through-the-stock slot and leather retainer that I don’t realize? I just find that style of rear attachment annoying and inferior to even Mosin dog collars.

Jeffrey Allan Beeler

In World War I the British made extensive use of rifles to launch grenades as they were a big part of their tactics. How did this practice develop and why did the practice disappear between the war and what was grenade launching like in World War Two in comparison?

Anonymous

First q&a! 1. I see people saying online that all matching kar98s are super smooth and vastly superior to mismatched kar98s, but given that parts interchangeability is the basis of modern firearms manufacturing, I find that hard to believe. Is there any truth to this or is it just fudd lore? Or 2. Could the borchardt be considered a bullpup, and if so does that mean that the stocked borchardt is the world’s first bullpup pcc?

Anonymous

In doing research for my website there are many times when I need to contact a company to see if they will be willing help provide info as part of my research. What years were these made, how many of these were made, when did you start doing this, etc.... What is the best way you have found over the years to contact companies to see if they are willing to give you a helping hand. I realize that not everyone is willing to help, but I feel like I'm being polite and not asking to questions that are too taxing and many times my emails go ignored. Its very frustrating as many times I hit a wall only they will know and so my research just stops.

Anonymous

How covid affect your work since one year?

Methebest

Were any guns other than Hi-Powers and Brens sent to china and what sort of markings would have been put on them when they reached china?

Anonymous

Over the years watching your channel I have gotten an interest in literature about firearms development and history. I have started building myself a modest reference library and have two questions I wanted to ask you. First, I have come across the fact that some older reference books are exceedingly rare and expensive due to high interest and low print runs. If there is one rare old reference book you could have a second printing of to bring back into circulation what would it be. Second, one of the topics I enjoy reading about is the unique stories of Israeli small arms development. Do you know if there are any good books that focus on the subject?

Deviant Ollam

You recently told a story about a gun that was pulled from an auction because it bore historic engraving which upped its value yet someone recognized that this same gun had previously sold without said engraving. With the auction and collecting world being something of a tight community full of experts who talk, how common is it for investigations to identify networks of people who sell such items fraudulently? Was the previous purchaser of that pistol found to be connected with the latter seller? Do you know if these folk suffered consequences, much as we often see in the world of fine art which has investigators, known fraud rings, blacklists, etc?

TJ

What is your favorite Finnish cold beverage?

Anonymous

With gas sealing mechanisms like the ones found in the North & Skinner Revolving Rifle and the Nagant Revolver, why didn't we see more revolving rifles? I can understand not using a revolver system when you have access to high capacity box magazines, but guns like the M1903 Springfield only held 5 rounds.

Adam Schindler

Can you shed more light on the process that converted the BAR into the FN MAG? It seems like an example of good idea/terrible implementation which was actually resurrected by its owners in ~1 generation (vs. being discarded and rediscovered many decades later by a totally different group of designers).

Anonymous

The country of Freedonia wants to become self-sufficient in smalls arms manufacturing as quickly as possible (and on a budget) and assuming they could have the engineering package for any machine gun, rifle, and pistol they wanted, what would the best choices be to equip their 10,000 soldiers? I.e., what decent arms of each type would be the easiest to manufacture for a country without much existing manufacturing capability? And of what they would need to do for the project, what would they find the most difficult?

Anonymous

Were post-war M40 Lahti pistols, such as the former Danish police pistols that make up the vast majority of remaining pistols, made from the same sub-standard steel as wartime production, and, what does the destruction of 50k pistols by Sweden do to the collectability of remaining guns (when scarcity was one of the factors driving the higher value of Finnish Lahtis)?

Anonymous

Do you think the surplus firearm market is dead? Specifically primary market (big batches of guns coming in, etc.)

Anonymous
>>57668296

Small arms solutions has a very good video on the history of picatinny rail

Andrey Gardner

The ACME time travel company has arranged for you to interview a firearms designer of your choice. However, do to a screwup on ACME's part it is no longer possible to visit your top choice, and you have been offered two other time trips in consolation. Who do you end up interviewing?

Anonymous

Lee Enfield’s and the green painted barrels! Australian made example from 1920 is painted and was a surprise to find.

Joshua Kerner

You have argued that the Thompson was really a World War 1 weapon just made too late. Could the AK-47, FN-FAL, and M-14 all be described as World War 2 weapons that were just made too late? It seems, unlike the AR-15, they have all been difficult to keep modernized with advancements in optics, accuracy potential, etc., with the few solutions seemingly kludgy.

Anonymous

You have been sent back in time to 1906 France and become close friends with several people involved in their armaments program. You can make three *suggestions* for relatively minor modifications to their small arms before War Were Declared(TM) in 1914. What three suggestions would you make? Note: it's not possible to swap out the 8mm Lebel for something with less taper and rimless or anything of a similar level.

Anonymous

What was the best ww2 handgun for a left hander and why was it a smith and wesson revolver?

Haris122

From a technical standpoint, which AK receiver type results in a more durable AK, milled or stamped? I have seen a lot of opinions, and I too suspect the milled is still better, but I also read that the greater flexing in stamped receivers actually reduces the amount of stress and “metal fatigue”, whatever that last one means. How much merit do you think there is to this flexing hypothesis? Thanks.

Anonymous

I just watched a discovery channel episode on JMB and it got me thinking how long was it before RL Wilson able to skate on after the incident with the Connecticut state library?

Anonymous

You have commented several times recently regarding how post ww2 France was a mishmash of various weapons (Old French, American surplus, German , etc.) You have also mentioned in the past that amateurs talk about tactics, and professionals talk logistics. In your opinion did this horribly convoluted supply chain contribute to the French issues in Indochina? A second question for you to hold forth on, why are pump action shotguns so iconic in media (TV, movies, etc.) ?

Anonymous

What do you think of the work being done by ArcFlash Labs?

Anonymous

Often older pistols and rifles have grossly overoptimistic range settings on their sights. I understand that some had usage for things like long distance volley fire, but why do you think the unrealistic distance settings held on for so long after tactics had changed (for instance the 1000 yd setting on a C96 Mauser)?

Anonymous

Why don't handgun cartridges use Spitzer bullets?

Anonymous

Hi Ian, repeat question here: How did the French Foreign Legion procure weapons? Were they considered part of France's standing army as front line troops, or "rear echelon", or were they something different all to themselves? P.S. The 1999 masterpiece "The Mummy" starring Brendan Fraser was apparently quite accurate in it's opening scene (apart from dual wielding 1873 revolvers)

Anonymous

Hello, I was thinking about the FAL and was wondering why countries didn’t convert existing FALs to 5.56 instead of adopting all new rifles, considering the FAL was developed to use an intermediate cartridge in the first place. Does the FAL have inherent issues, or is it more expensive to convert existing guns rather than make new ones?

PeeboThuhlu (^_^)

Dear Sir. Long time watcher, first time questioner. The Dryse/Chassepot mechanism seems to be contemporaneus with the Whitworth riffled barrel. (1) How quickly did developments spread through the industry in the time of these designs? (2) How well known were the three designs in their times? (3) Would combining the Whitworth pattern barrel to a Dryse or Chassepot action possibly result in a better item? (I would also wonder how the Schlegelmilch design of action as you presented in its Afghan iteration woould also possibly help manufacture?) (A) I appologize for possibly far more than the one question. Your respecting fan, sincerely.

Will Sanders

Ian, Did you ever hire a part time researcher you mentioned in the past? What is your take on semi-pistolgrips on lever actions? Better handling or unnecessary upsell? Please keep up the good work and especially the manufacturing aspects of the parts.

GarGhuul

Are you planning on continuing to explore the “reliability” issues in the Calico M-950? Or did I miss the finale episode?

Vityaz

Do you think matches like the first large diy gun "Maker's Match" in June will actually have an effect on reducing the negative stigma of DIY guns to the masses? Or will diy guns forever be doomed to be seen as only used by criminals? https://gfenational.com/competitions/makers-match/

Anonymous

Best and worst non-alphanumeric (e.g., "AR-15", "PPSh-41") gun model names?

Anonymous

What's the relationship between the Peabody, Martini and Werder

Anonymous

By the end of WWI, France seemed to be ahead in the development of a semi automatic rifle for their army. Obviously the decision to develop a new cartridge meant that current designs couldn’t be adopted as is. But why were they not used as a starting point for continued development with the new cartridge? What R&D was done to develop a semi automatic rifle for the French Army?

J WL

Forgotten Weapons Book - Have you considered writing a FW book? I know you're currently in the business of writing and publishing books spanning mostly common guns in a certain category (French). This would be more of a compilation of only obscure guns with the little info that is scattered around in various books and papers. You seem to have a knack for finding info on the most rarest of guns and compiling it in an interesting narrative. It would certainly help not having to search for and buy an obscure book just to find info which may be a small text about one or two guns. And I think you are the perfect guy to solve it! Even the guns that have little to no info on, a compiled book with them would be fun and be practical so you only need to check out one book when you want to scratch that "weird gun" itch. (Your website and videos are great but they're limited on the details a book can have, and also you can't beat a book ;) )

Anonymous

In the late 1800's into, well even into World War II, many countries were slow to move to metallic cartridges, then to multi-shot rifles bolt action rifles, then to full/semi auto rifles. Countries seemed to only make a big leap forward in technology when they got badly hurt in a war. But were there any wars that the losing side could have won if they had been an early adopter of the latest technology, as it became practical on the battlefield?

Anonymous
>>57698152

Ian, please do this question. You have left your fans in the lurch without an update on the state of your testing and overall thoughts on the Calico.

Anonymous

You recently came out and said that you would be reprinting your book due to seeing them selling on the secondhand market for very high prices. It is common for firearm related books to have one run made, and never be made again, only to have the resale price on the books be twice, three time, or more of the original sale price. Having bought some books at crazy prices just to get the information, I've seen this first hand. Why do you think publishers and/or authors are reluctant to do additional runs of their book if there appears to be such a demand? Are their any behind-the-scenes factors that you might be able to que in on since you have helped publish two firearms related books now?

Anonymous

What are some of the more interesting magazines (or other feeding devices) you've come across? The P90 and Calico are two obvious contenders, but what are some other "Forgotten Magazines?" Keep up the great work!

Anonymous

How long did it take to get the cosmoline out of your beard/mustache and off of your face?

Anonymous

Have you visited/filmed in countries where handling of firearms is problematic if you aren't licensed there? For example here an unlicensed adult can only handle a firearm on a range, under direct supervision of a licensed individual. Has this situation occurred to you before and what was needed to allow you to handle the weapon at a museum or collection etc?

Anonymous

I am aware of a few bottle neck pistol cartridges from history, were those worth the extra cost of manufacture compared to straight walked or tapered case ammo?

Michael Hurley

Are there any rare design principles (e.g. blow-forward operation, hesitation-lock, etc.) that you thank have the potential to be successful on the modern market, but simply haven't been given a fair shake by history?

Chris Hamlin

Francophilia aside, MAS-49 or FN-49?

Andy1963

When I look at the very early mass-produced, interchangeable part firearms (like the Walker Colt, for instance), I think about how interesting the production equipment and tooling that was used to make them must have been. Has any of this equipment survived, and if so, is it somewhere the public can see it?

Anonymous

The US Marine Corps are replacing many of their M249 belt-fed light machine guns with the M27 IAR, which is basically just a HK416 assault rifle, and the British Army are replacing most of their Minimi LMGs with the L129 7.62mm DMR. Do you think this is a sign of a wider move away from squad level machine guns, or is it just a temporary blip in small unit infantry tactics?

Red Headed Steppeson

The road not travelled is always interesting to think about. What small arms development that was developed but not adopted was the biggest mistake?

Anonymous
>>57668105

Ian has definietly shot an example of the FGC-9, so he certainly has some opinions on it

Anonymous
>>57668430

North Vietnam had a factory outside Hanoi that assembled SKS carbines from Chinese parts, Ian has a video on it from October: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=E20-m1hbuhk&t=445s They also converted Chinese PPSHs to their own pattern, Ian also did a video on one of those a year ago: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xj2XQcsSQt8 The VC had a lot of improvised firearms and converted French weapons such as the MAT-49 to 7.62 Tokarev as well, mostly in the early years of the war. Video on the improvised firearm: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MLjnR29-aiI

Sean S.

Given the limited role handguns play in warfare why did the US military replace the M9 Beretta with the SIG P320. It seems like a complete waste of money and effort when functionally and practically speaking there is little difference between them.

Anonymous
>>57670862

It's a fundamental issue of most bullpup designs due to the trigger linkage. It's even more of an issue in bullpups converted from conventional rifle designs such as the Norinco Type 86, Valmet M82 or the Russian Groza, or in bullpup kits for the US civilian market AKs, Saiga-12s or even Mini-14s. Some of the newer bullpups such as the Desert Tech MDR seems to have better triggers.

Anonymous
>>57685126

To answer your first question: There is probably some very slight basis to it, as a lot of mismatched Kar98Ks on the market are from Soviet stocks, they were refurbished and refinished by them after WW2 and left in storage for decades until coming onto the surplus market in the last thirty years.

Anonymous
>>57687172

Check this out: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=C89tKHl9Sfk He mentions some M3 Grease guns as well.

Anonymous

What was in your opinion the most bungled military small arms trial?

Matthew F
>>57697575

I also want to know more about the researcher you mentioned years ago

Matthew F

Have other countries made captive piston cartridges like the Russians have, and if not why are the Russians the only ones to have done so? What are the benefits/downsides to them

Anonymous

What is the rarest firearm you've been able to shoot?

Anonymous

Are you a rum drinker, if so what is your favourite(if its not bundy your wrong)

Anonymous

AK47/ AKM or AK74? Which do you feel is a better rifle/ caliber 7.62x39 or 5.45x39.

Anonymous

How common was 9mm luger ammunition in the US pre 1950?

Anonymous

Now that you've had experience with the WWSD 2020 in both hot, dusty environments and cold, snowy ones, where would you say it fairs most favorably?

Anonymous

Considering many nations wanted to adopt/were considering adopting the AR-15, many went over to proprietary designs due to the cost of Colt's liscencing fees. Many ended up being long stroke piston rifles, K2, 55X, AR70, FNC, and so on. 2 questions with that in mind. Which nation had the best long stroke 223/556 rifle? And if Colt's fees had been lower, would the AR be more universal? (we've recently seen Britain, and New Zealand adopt LMT AR-10s and 15s respectively now that Colt doesn't have the rights)

Anonymous

Why did you stop making 'final prices' videos after auctions you've covered? Is it because of some weird youtube policy, low interest or something else? Would you consider bringing them back?

ForgottenWeapons
>>57723254

Basically YouTube policy. I can't "promote sale of guns", and the price videos were both not all that popular and also seemed like an outsized risk of drawing too much censor attention to the channel.

Anonymous

As a kid going to gun shows in the 80s I would hear that you shouldn't buy Spanish guns because they had soft steel. Where did that rumor start?

Anonymous
>>57713297

Im gonna be honest, I don't think anyone really knows what they are doing right now. Practically every infantry marine currently carries an m27, the only thing that makes the automatic rifleman different is that they can have bipods and carry more mags. Drum magazines are authorized, but you have to buy them yourself. In my opinion, the m249 was much better. Hell, the m4 was better than issuing every marine the m27. It was much lighter and easier to use in urban situation. I believe it's gonna change once they realise the m27 just doesn't lay down the same ammount of fire

Anonymous

Hi Ian, after shooting bolt action rifles both cock-on-open and cock-on-close for some time, I’ve started wondering which are the advantages and drawbacks of each variant of the action, so, in your opinion, what are the strengths and weaknesses of both of them?

Anonymous

I would like to know why during the Civil War the less reliable Colt revolvers were more popular than the Remington NMA´s . Remingtons might be gumming up a little quicker but at least you have no risk of cap jams, their construction is less fragile, their sights surely more acurate than Colts solution of a rear sight placed on a moving part...So, why were Colts the Stars of the Civil War and the technically superior Remingtons were just a second choice? And I really mean popularity not numbers of issued guns.

Anonymous

Hi Ian, thanks for the great work you do. Did the French ever try to modify the receivers of the Lebel rifles in order to take clips -like a Berthier style receiver - all metal. One could imagine that an all metal receiver and two piece stock would be easier to replace / modify than a single stock like the Berthier.

Anonymous

How does Forgotten Weapons run behind the scenes? Is Forgotten weapons an LLC, S-Corp, Non-profit or other? When did you decide you needed to make FW "official"? Does FW hold any of your FFL's, and is that a pain? Do you pay yourself a set salary and figure out trips/projects after, or vice versa? How does paying taxes on a patreon-based income work?

Nate

Do you have any opinion or feelings about the controversies surrounding content control exercised by internet media and search companies that you'd like to share?

Anonymous
>>57717208

The mechanism may be very similar, but there are legitimate differences. The M17 is 17/21 standard capacity v 15 for the M9. The M17 is about 15% lighter. The M17 has rails, where as only the M9A1 & A3 have rails. The M17/18 comes in a standard and compact frame while retaining parts/mag interchangeability to make it more useful for smaller troops. The disassembly procedure for the M17 was designed to retain small pieces and reduce parts lost in the field.

Anonymous

What are the most interesting delayed blowback mechanisms you have seen . And why do some 9mm PCC's have a delaying system when direct blowback is cheaper and works just fine. Thanks Ian Love your channel .

EyeBall

Finland looks like an interesting place to visit some day. During your winter trip, what were the temperature ranges? Did you see the Aurora Borealis?

Anonymous

Got a question for ya! We've seen with guns like the Chiappa Rhino and Hudson H9 that lowering the bore to be more in-line with the shooter's hand substantially reduces muzzle flip in handguns, thus making them easier to shoot accurate followup shots. Do you have any insight as to why more companies aren't taking this idea and running with it? I think it would be a very compelling selling point for new carry guns. Thanks!

Anonymous

In the last Q&A with BotR he mentioned a four point test for what qualifies as expanding ammo in the EU but didn't elaborate further. What is that test?

Anonymous
>>57692248

Well, yes. AK was after all developed just after WW2. That said, I fail to see how it is in any way not modern today. Its accuracy is just fine for a service rifle, and the most modern AK-12 rifles have integral picatinny rails for optics etc. If you look at the AKs with the side optics mounts I guess you can call that kludgy, but is an AR with an optics mount attached to the "carry handle" really any less kludgy? The solution for the top cover wasn't really rocket science, picatinny just took a long time to become a world wide standard. The US military adopted the picatinny in 1995, and it was accepted as NATO-standard only in 2009. AK-12 was introduced in 2016, and adopted by Russian military in 2018, with picatinny as a a standard in the top cover. So it didn't actually take that long for them to solve it. When it comes to manufacturing, there you can start the argument if the AK is really modern. Aluminum and polymer are in, stamped steel is out.

Anonymous

Were recoil-based autoloaders easier to design in the early 20th century, or was low quality propellant the reason that gas systems were developed later?

Anonymous

If the M1 Carbine had for some strange reason ended up with a delayed blowback action, how heavy would it have been if the best materials and designs of the early 40s had been used? More or less as heavy as the Christobal Carbine?

Anonymous

What is your opinion on the F7/F8 .308/7.62 x 51Nato conversions of Spanish 1916 and1943 Mausers? Does the cartridge change degrade or improve the rifle's utility? If you were to get one would you prefer the M93 or M98 conversion?

Anonymous

What are some historically bad ideas in firearms design that just keep coming back?

PHAZE

Yet again, you find yourself in Elbonia, but now, the Elbonian's themselves have come up with a unique procurement system. They will purchase weapons only from alternate realities. You can only equip the military with guns that almost existed, but were never put into production in our timeline. What is your best (or worst) set of small arms for the Elbonian army? (Choose a time period that interests you, or use the original post WWII setting)

Anonymous

Uzi vs. Sterling: which is the best 2nd gen smg?

Anonymous

What do you see as the best Mp5 replacement on the market today? If you had to design a successor to the Mp5, which features would you include?

Anonymous

What is your favorite book? (Fiction and non-fiction)

David Alexander

Why are there (as far as I can tell) significantly fewer rifles with separate wooden butt and fore stocks (like the Lebel) than single long wooden stocks. It seems to me that it would be easier to source wood for smaller separate stocks, and might not have as bad issues with twisting and cracking. Seems like repair/replacement would be easier too.

Anonymous

Why so few short personal defense weapons along the lines of Fabrique Nationale's PS90?

Anonymous

Why is FN's PS 90,5.7 X 28 mm, armour-piercing ammo banned for sale to civilians? What specifically makes the bullet better at piercing soft body armour (e.g. Kevlar)?

Anonymous

Would the P90 and MP7 be more compelling in a modern context if they were chambered in 9x19 compared to their proprietary small bore rounds?

Landric Hakon

Second time asking: What was the procedure for inventors/gun designers/manufacturers prototyping and making new machineguns between 1934 (NFA) and 1968 (Establishment of the FFL)? How did one legally make a machine gun prototype or develop a gun before one had to have a manufacturers FFL but after machineguns were controlled by the NFA?

Red Herring McGuffin

Since about the 70s/80s it seems that new military firearms developments have been evolutionary rather than revolutionary, with ARs and AKs, GPMGs and HMGs not being overhauled since at least then if not earlier. Do you see a similar slow down in development happening with optics?

Anonymous

Choose one: Semi automatic rifle limited to fixed magazine (charger or enbloc clip fed) or manual repeater (Bolt, Lever, Pump) fed by detachable magazine. Assume both are new manufacture purpose build rifles, not retreaded surplus.

Anonymous

why didn't the 38 super get more attention a few years back when the savage debate over 9mm vs 45 was raging? It is almost a 9mm magnum. I feel if the proper gun had been developed it could have capitalised on the hype. A missed opportunity?

Anonymous

Hi Ian my father was an avid Civil War firearm collector and I spent much of my childhood helping him search out that perfect carbine at shows and shops all over the country. The result is a large collection (20+) of carefully researched, fully matching SN/cartouche of collectors-grade carbines: Joselyn, Sharps, Burnside etc in addition to some rifled muskets. My dad is unfortunately in poor health and I believe his entire collection will fall to me (sole heir) in the near future. While I want to keep a few firearms that have sentimental meaning, I am thinking about donating the others to a firearms museum. As a person with experience in firearms museum collections do you have any recommendations for a facility that could give these weapons their due respect in display and help educate others, and, if so, how would one go about setting up this transfer? Thank you for your dedication to all things weird in firearms technology!

Anonymous

Would you ever consider moving back to Colorado? If so, why? (We would be happy to have you back) If not, why? (Boo 😉)

Anonymous

Also, I am sure you are not still reading "The General" after all this time. When are you planning to update the book you are reading on your website so we can follow your studies? 😬

Anonymous

Do you have a favorite revolver? Is it the Manhurin MR73?

Anonymous

I've asked these several times. When and why did the cutout of the sides of the 1911 slides change the radius of the cuts?

Anonymous

Why were one position feed submachine gun mags a problem when that same system is used with no problem in modern pistols?

Anonymous

The Russians made a movie about Kalashnikov and the development of the AK. I am interested in your opinion of maybe pitching the idea of having a movie made about the development of the AR/M-16. While I know the Soviets made a big deal about Kalashnikov being a hero, do you think there are enough "gun guys" that would be interested in such a movie that someone would want to make it?

Anonymous

Everybody says that pistols play very little role in combat. Given that in WW one 21,385,164 rounds of .45 acp were expended in actual combat it seems to me that more than 21 million rounds is a significant usage. Even though 181,391,341 30 caliber rounds were also fired, pistols still accounted for more than 10% of the actual combat shots taken. Has this ratio changed in modern warfare? (American Armies and Battlefields in Europe, 1938 which is a study chaired by Pershing.)

Anonymous

Hi, I’m watching yours and C&rsenals channels for some years now and in your episode about the Maxim-Silverman I thought about something Othias said about Maxim, that his story was that a „Jewish guy“ said to him that a machine gun would be a good idea. Could it be that it was all Silvermans idea? Silverman is a Jewish name isn’t it? Maxim wasn’t a nice guy and if it was a corporation effort, he wouldn’t talk about it right?

Anonymous

will we find surplussed french pistols on the market in the future?

Anonymous

Dear Ian, has there been any gun with a striker operation rearwards (in oposite direction) and hitting a mechanism to activate the primer? Purposing reduced weapon lenght someone could have made this real. A modern example of the priciple could be the Browning Cynergy Shotgun (Strike&Hammer combination) but it was not intended to reduce length. Thanks for all the neat technical details shared in your channel!

Anonymous

Why did the US military spend 4 decades developing the M60 when the rest of the world was busy adopting the FN Mag only to eventually give in and adopt it themselves? Are there significant benefits to the m60? Did the earlier iterations of the Mag fall short some how? Or was it all just institutional momentum?

AltGrendel

What is is about French armament that you find so interesting?

Anonymous

What's the ATF's (or, I suppose, the US lawmakers') problem with short barreled rifles? Assuming, my information is correct, you can get a pistol without getting a special permit first, and the same goes for rifles and shotguns, but not for SBR's. I get the reasoning behind concealed carry permits (cause you can be sneaky with pistols) and destructive device handling licenses (cause those things go BOOM) But to me at least, an SBR is kind of that weird in-between thing that's less concealable than a handgun and doesn't go boom as much as a full-length rifle, so if anything it's less dangerous than either of the other two. What gives?

Nate
>>57804029

In early versions of the National Firearms Act of 1934, pistols and revolvers were to be regulated the same as machine guns. That's also the law that introduced regulations on short-barreled rifles. (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/National_Firearms_Act) So it looks very much like the regulation on short-barreled rifles was part of a conception of gun regulation that only got partially implemented.

Anonymous

If Mikhail Kalashnikov had been born in the US and proposed his design to the US Military in the late 1940's through the 1950's would they have been receptive? Would it have faced as much opposition as the AR-15?

Anonymous

Your recent Swedish BAR video prompted these questions: Your prior video about the Polish BAR discussed the problems that the Poles had in getting the technical data package from FN. Did the Swedish government encounter the same problems? Why or why not? The Germans are known to have captured Polish BARs during the invasion of Poland in 1939, and made use of them throughout the war (Designation MG 28(p)) Do you know anything about the German use of the BAR? What fronts did it see service and by what units? Any evaluation by the Germans on the gun as far as usefulness etc?

Anonymous
>>57783165

WWI was unique in a lot of ways. One of those ways was a need for short-range personal firepower that could be operated more quickly (and in more confined spaces) than a typical bolt-action rifle of the time. The handgun filled that role until other designs came to the forefront.

Anonymous
>>57799951

The E6 is 6 pounds lighter than a MAG. The OG pig was 3 pounds lighter. Whether that makes it all worth it? IDK.

Anonymous

Tl;dr: Why did the Belgian military adopt the FN FALO (heavy-barreled FAL) when they already had an excellent LMG in the FN DA-1? Long version: When the standard FAL was first adopted by the Belgian Army, they had significant numbers of FN-Ds available and were still making them. They were later converted to the DA-1 standard in 7.62x51 to have a common cartridge and magazines with the FAL. Why then did the Belgians bother with the FN FALO, aka the heavy-barrel FAL? They had an excellent LMG already in use, and I can't think of any reason why the FALO would be considered a fitting replacement for it, except maybe to save some weight. No-one really liked the heavy-barreled FAL, as it was neither a good LMG nor was it acceptable as a general-issue automatic rifle. The Brits and the Kiwis knew better than the Canucks and the Ozzies and never attempted to replace their converted Bren guns with heavy-barreled FALs. What was the reasoning behind the Belgian decision?

Anonymous

Why is it that almost every recent military-issue locked breech rifle design has a rotating bolt? Locking systems such as the tilting bolt, roller locking and various forms of delayed blowback used to be viable alternatives to an AR or AK-style rotating bolt. Does the latter arrangement have inherent advantages over mechanically simpler systems like the ones mentioned above (in a modern context of course)?

Anonymous

After an overly-close encounter with a saber-tooth tiger during your most recent trip to the Pleistocene, your time-and-space-machine has suffered damage to its time circuits, and can only take you to any place in North America at any point between 1800 and 1925, before it gives out for good. When - and where - do you go? And how do you live out the rest of your life? (Time-period-appropriate movement and transportation allowed, of course, once you get wherever - and whenever - you choose.)

Nick Beckwith

Hi Ian, the extremely high rate of fire of small blowback smg’s like the Ingram M10 and Micro Uzi limits their utility in the eyes of many. Has there ever been attempts to use mechanical or even electronic rate of fire reducers to make such guns more practical? If there have been attempts did any work?

Nick Beckwith
>>57771790

Great question. I am a big fan of the .357 SIG cartridge, but the market felt otherwise.

Anonymous

Hypothetical thought experiment: If a rim fire exception had been written into the Hughes Amendment, allowing for the continued registration of rimfire machine guns, do you think that manufacturers would try to develop “modern” rimfire ammunition comparable to center fire calibers, or would we just be stuck with a bunch of 22LR range toys?

Anonymous

Repeat asking: I have heard lore that Thompson had at least a crate of prototype Trench Brooms sitting on the dock on November 11th, 1918 ready to be sent to France when the armistice was declared, and then guns never sailed. Do you know of any validity to this story, or is it someone's wishful thinking BS?

George Parremore

Was a single shot break action rifle ever adopted by any country?

Sen Kanashimi

Of the simplified submachine guns developed during world war II (Sten, M3, PPSh, ect.) which one were the most effective in terms of cost, expedience in manufacture and overall effectiveness in combat.

Eki T

What's the most obscure / mechanically interesting firearm that would be fun to see in a video game?

Han

I just watched a video of you on inrangetv from 2018 talking about how bolt actions were distinctly inferior to semi-autos. One of the things that was discussed toward the end of the video though was how the U.S. was looking at replacing its weapons (M4's and M16's) with larger caliber (308 was mentioned in the video, but 6.8 is what the program is actually using) rifles. Carl said that the added recoil would be taking a step backward in terms of effective fire, but from my understanding the main reason the program exists is because of the proliferation of cheap body armor which can stop SS109, M855, etc. This isn't exactly "forgotten weapons" material, but if your target is armored, and that makes your small caliber (.22) rifles obsolete, then while your launching a heavier projectile with the mid-caliber 6.8 and consequently getting greater recoil, isn't it a sacrifice you have to make in order to remain effective. Also tmodern improvements like hydraulic buffers (e.g. the kynshot which I have used in my 6.5 grendel) can help bridge the gap between the two in terms of recoil.

Uncle John Bulleit

Ian, you and Karl once talked about doing a segment (over on In Range) about a hypothetical lever action armed US Inf. unit. Any plans on continuing that?

Anonymous
>>57668818

He's addressed the Nagant seal before if I remember correctly and the short answer is the cylinder gap takes a negligible percentage of velocity. Less than 5% if I remember right.

Anonymous

Crescent butt plates. They seemed to be very common and popular in the early repeating rifle era, and you see them in muzzle loading Schutzen rifles earlier, but then they pretty much faded away entirely by the early 20th century. Why did they exist, and why did they vanish? Did they serve some specific purpose?

Anonymous

3rd time asking. How far back in time would you have to go for the Ruger 10/22 to be a good option as a standard issue infantry rifle (assuming logistics/manufacturing are a non issue)?

Brandon T

NEWS FLASH! CIVIL WAR HAS BROKEN OUT IN ELBONIA! Rising tensions between the Butter-Side Down Libercans and Butter-Side Up Republicats has fractured the state, with bizarre gun laws leaving the BSD Separatist Militia to arm themselves with cottage industry produced *failed prototype firearms from the interwar period or earlier*. What do they come up with to face the Republicat Guard?

Anonymous

Many guns have storage compartments for cleaning equipment on them, like buttstock storage in M-16s, or many old military rifles, as well as muzzle loader patch boxes. What weapon has the most included storage, or most useful stored accessories?

Robert Socal

Could you please make a video (or a series of videos) about Colt's Manufacturing Company as a firearms manufacturer? May be it is a common knowledge in the US, but I'd like to know what's happened to them that they seem to not have any major breakthroughs after 1911. Did they lose their step? What is their current status in firearms innovation? Or is it too far away from the theme of you channel?

Anonymous

Another idea for a question. I have heard .30-30 is similar ballistically similar to 7.62x39. Why wouldn't the folks looking at designing the M1 carbine concept look into using 30-30?

Djd
>>57910949

I'm pretty sure Ian did a, really good, episode on Colt a couple of years ago.

Djd

Less a question for you, Ian, than viewers. So far we have "Gun Jesus", but which other alt personas are out there? You look like Dave Grohl of Foo Fighters, so "Gun Rocker"?

Anonymous

Hello! And greetings from Michigans Upper Peninsula. I recently listened to your video on vickers ballon busters on my way homefrom a friends place. In that video you had a discussion on synchronization with machineguns and aircraft propellers, my question is would the speed of the aircraft have an effect on rate of fire due to the propeller turning at different speeds? Thanks!

Anonymous

If you were a French soldier what would you pick between Lebel and 07/15 Bertier? If Lebel, would you change you mind for M16?

Anonymous

G'day Ian. Why have .22 rimfire lever actions continued with the Henry style of loading from the top of the tube magazine rather than using a King's gate system? Is it to do with the heeled bullet .22 rimfire cartridge not being considered of robust enough construction? Thanks.

Anonymous
>>57688390

Ians talked about this in previous q&as the problem is gas seal revolvers require proprietary ammunition are more complicated and heavy

Bruce Brodnax
>>57668117

Vertical dispersion from woobly stock is less likely cause you to miss than horizontal dispersion is my guess...

Bruce Brodnax
>>57668152

Watch the Krag series of vids over on C&Rsenal. The US adopted the Krag before Norway did, and US Ordnance had settled on the 30-40 before the Norwegian-Swedish Joint Commission had the 6.5x55 ironed out.

Bruce Brodnax
>>57668155

IIRC, the Brits did receive some M1s later in WW2, but it was relegated to security at home, since it of course required .30-'06 which wasn't going to be allowed to contaminate the Brit logistical train in battle.

Bruce Brodnax
>>57668185

Better how? Don't confuse IRtv's promotion of the idea of an 1870s-era lever-action assault rife using 45-60 as having any relation to US Ordnance decisions about what cartridge they felt was required.

Bruce Brodnax
>>57668208

Short answer: No. Longer answer: Maybe, if US Ordnance had used a saboted-.22cal load, running at the higher pressure of the standard .30-'06. Long answer: .30 Carbine is too slow. Yes, it has as much energy at 100yds as the .357 Magnum does at the muzzle, but velocity is king, and the .30 Carbine just can't drive that 110gr bullet fast enough to serve as the main battle rifle.

Bruce Brodnax
>>57668438

Eugene Stoner never expected his adjusted version of the .222 Rem Magnum to be adopted w/o further testing & iteration. He was given a set of parameters that had to be met, which 6.5G or 6.8SPC may or may not have satisfied. But it's a safe bet that if a proper testing & development process had been undertaken, we would have a different standard cartridge.

Bruce Brodnax
>>57668439

The U.S. didn't need different technologies; JMB had that all in hand w/ Colt's & FN's assistance. What the U.S. needed in WW1 was more machine guns. Which the U.S. armed forces didn't have the budget to spend on. Technology wasn't the issue...

Bruce Brodnax
>>57675394

It would still work fine, it just needs a device to slow down the rpm so it doesn't chew through ammo so fast...

Anonymous
>>57921233

That giant rim and terribly long bottleneck would be my first concern.

Anonymous
>>57931612

The revolutions of the propeller would only get you closer to the ROF of the gum itself.

Terry

Why did almost everyone settle on bullet diameters of about .357 for pistols (.38/.380/9mm variants) and .30 for rifles (30-06, .303, 7.62mm variants)? What is the ballistic magic of those diameters? Thanks, love your content.

Djd

Ain't I full of questions this month🙄:) You often mention that the SS had difficulty getting weapons from German manaufacturers as Wehrmacht, Luftwaffe and Kriegsmarine had priority. Did this apply to all elements of the SS? Did Waffen SS face the same difficulties? p.s. I always chuckle that the most feared units of German ground forces were the "Weapons SS" - sounds like a name a 7yr old might give his toy soldiers.

Anonymous
>>58044989

He answered it in a previous Q and A a lot better than I could, but it comes down to pistols needing a certain diameter to be effective because using adding length to the cartridge isn't an option due to how big hands are. Rifles could use the extra length and the diameter is is a sweet spot for having the right length and mass to be stable and effective at range.

Anonymous

When a military introduces a new weapon / weapons system, there are trainers available to teach the troops how to use it. (Aiming, safety, care and feeding, etc.). Who trains the trainers? Is it people who participated in the trials leading to adoption, or manufacturers reps, or someone else.

Anonymous

How about the M219 /M73 machine gun which has a really unique mechanism. Also, the M85 tank 50 cal machinegun. I used both of these for many years in my M60A1 tank back in the 1980s. I visited the Springfield armory two years ago and I was surprised to see an M85 on display there.

Anonymous
>>57871829

Don't forget the cost of the ammo, it is bought and shipped by the TON.

Anonymous

I asked this one before (one Francophile to another) In 2016, in Paris in front of Notre Dame, there were soldiers for security. I noticed the FAMAS being carried had a little computer-like screen on the foregrip with, I think, four buttons around it. Do you know anything about this? I didn't have the temerity to ask that tough looking soldier that question.

Anonymous

I asked this one before. Why is the 1911 the only gun in the U.S. military with left hand twist rifling?

William Frank

The zombie apocalypse is upon us! Good news: They're Hollywood zombies. A hit, with any caliber, will put them down. Bad news: Your only choices of weapon are a Zip22, an S333 Thunderstruck, or a Cobray Terminator. What do you choose?

Anonymous

Why is it that single shot break open rifles are significantly less common than break open shotguns considering how in places with strict gun control you could have a few different barrels in multiple calibres for one reciver

Anonymous

Working on a bit of an alternate history project, and considering that in actual history the needle rifle was a decent concept that largely missed its moment. I was wondering if you think there could have been an age of the needle rifle if it's benefits had been widely recognized (whether by chance or Prussia demonstrating its effectiveness in some earlier war) or would metallic cartridges just have been developed more quickly? Do you think there would have been the same proliferation of mechanisms with paper cartridges as with single shot metallic cartridge rifles, and which ones would you expect to have been successful?

Anonymous

Hi Ian. What is the story and development behind the magazine? I often think about why triple or quadrouple stacked magazines aren't more common. Why is that? Where did the development of detachable magazines start and why isn't triple stacked or double stacked magazines more common in early development? They offer bigger capacity without the extra length that prevents or hinders prone fire, I'd consider the extra weight of 10 or 20 extra rounds as minimal and not concerning, i.e 50 rounds are maybe logistically easier to handle...? Or is the AR and AK platforms so dominant that everyone sticks to 30 rounds, double stack? I'd love to hear some history from you on the subject of magazines. Love the content Ian. You are doing a fantastic job.

Anonymous
>>57671241

I'd assume its because they wouldn't have had the technical data and blueprints from Madsen to make them. They could've reverse engineered a Madsen sure, but introducing a new design during a massive war when you already have machine guns yourself is difficult to justify to a lot of conservative military establishments.

Knathaniel C

2nd time asking, how reliable were the so called "suicide special" guns like the little 32 revolvers like the Hopkins and Allen or Iver Johnson? Were they hi-points (perfectly functional but undesirable for one reason or another) or were they more like the Zip 22(garbage, and an objective waste of material) ?

Anonymous

Along with Forgotten Weapons and InRange, I watch a lot of other gun channels on youtube. Yours is constantly referenced by the others. You even have a fan page on Facebook. How do you feel about being the defacto spiritual leader of the online gun community, and how do you feel about the shenanigans on the Gun Jesus Wouldn't Like This Page, which I've been told you pop in to occasionally, though I have yet to see you.

USAUSA
>>58074360

is it still called rifling when applied to pistols?

Anonymous

I am planning to augment my French firearms collection with a Gras rifle. Unfortunately, living in France, it is much more difficult to find vintage French firearms than in the US. There are some available and I would like some advice of what to look for, both good and bad.

Anonymous

Continued from last post.: Besides the same numbers, I have been told to not get one that was converted from a Chassepot. Are there any other things to look out for? I hope to be able to shoot competitively once Covid is behind us. Unfortunately, for the time being, I can only buy off the internet and can not examine the gun in person. Lucky the major site in France offers a money back guarantee if I end up with a real lemon with crappy bore etc. Thanks for your advice.

Anonymous

H Ian, on your recent "Australia's FAL L2A1 Heavy Automatic Rifle" video, you stated that the Australian Military specifically did not want the guns to lock open when empty. What is the reasoning behind specifically choosing to not want that type of hold open on a rifle and magazine already designed to do exactly that?

Anonymous

Just today, Youtube decided I should know this exists: https://industrialcartridgesa.com/8-gauge-kiln-system/ Do you know of any other industrial guns, or industrial applications of traditional guns?

Anonymous

Whose side had the better infantry small arms in 1945: The Americans or the Soviets? Tokarev vs. 1911, M3 vs. Ppsh-41, BAR vs DP-28, Garand vs. SVT-40, Springfield vs. Mosin, M38 vs. M2 carbine? Who made better use of their weapons and who was ahead doctrinally?

Anonymous

Do you ever find it difficult to come up with titles for certain videos?

Anonymous

2nd time asking why hasn't 1913 rails been used as a standard interface for optics on handguns? Examples of it working is 1911s done by Casey Crawford and Lone wolf armory Glock slides.

Matteo Manino

Hello Ian: After WWI it was clear that 6.5 cartridges gave unsatisfactory results in machineguns, at least heavy mg, some nations (Japan, Portugal) chose to change all their ammo, others (Sweden,Italy) to adopt a separate caliber for heavy/medium machineguns. Wath was, in your opinion, the best choice? Can we see some similarities with today's situation of the new 6.8 against 5.56/7,62?

Anonymous

Since you studied aerospace engineering for a while, have you ever considered widening the scope of the channel some and doing the occasional experimental/prototype aircraft?

Anonymous

Ian, what do you think of modern day sub guns i.e. the cz scorpion evo, B&T APC9, Stribog SP9A1?

Anonymous

In the early decades of semi-auto rifles, why were bolts slamming into the back of receivers considered acceptable or even safe given the metallurgy and optimistic weight limits designers were under pressure to meet in that era?

USAUSA

I just watched your video on the OSS Flying Dragon. What other unusual, strange, wild and wacky method were used to get a projectile(bullet, dart, or whatever) downrange. ie hammerless, triggerless, boltless, and using propellants other than standard gunpowder?

Anonymous

Hi Ian. Love the channel, FW is mucho gucci. There are photos online of Yugoslav paratroopers in the 1980s using Sturmgewehrs in training. How prevalent were MP44s in Eastern bloc military use?

Anonymous

Mausers from major South American countries are fairly common in the United States, with the exception of Bolivian Mausers, which are notably rare to find. Why are they so rare in the US market?

Anonymous

Is there any proof or sks and early milled style ak bayonets being based on the same tooling?

Anonymous

This year is the 25th Anniversary of Tomb Raider and Lara Croft's iconic dual USP MATCH's have been out of production since the first movie came out 20 years ago. Given the continued difficulty in maintaining the guns as time goes on what modern handguns would you recommend to her to replace them if you were her armorer? As a work of fiction assume most laws don't apply and the requirements are that they're in a common enough ammo, suit the millionaire lady adventurer's flashy sense of style and of course avaliable in left handed.

Anonymous

Since you're a francophile, how about the Mitrailleuse de forteresse , MAC 31F, Modele 1931. I've only seen one at Les Invalides in Paris. It has a pan feed mounted on the side.

Anonymous

G'day Ian. Will "Dr Shush" break the Headstamp Publising run of similar style covers? By the way, a great topic, and I'm also looking forward to your Pistols of the Chinese Warlords book, (a topic I've found interesting since your early FW videos on some examples). Thanks.

Anonymous

Bonjour Monsieur McCollum. I had the chance to shoot a military Famas once and I've always wondered if the "hook" on the charging handle had something to do with the timing or delay of the action. Thanks for your hard work, always a pleasure to watch your video !

Anonymous

If the French 75 has a cocktail that represents the guns characteristics (french champagne with a hidden kick), what cocktail would represent the Pak 40? Or, would a new cocktail need to be developed? If so, how formulated?

Anonymous

I noticed that there aren't any (or very few) modern striker fired rifles. The most common patterns of rifles in the last century are all hammer fired. I know bolt actions and pistols still use striker systems, but why haven't I found a striker system in a modern rifle?

Anonymous

Is there a difference in quality and durability between rifling produced by removing metal (like the hooked cutters used before ca. 1940 and broached cutters used since then) and those that upset the metal instead like button rifling or barrels forged around a mandrel? Or are the quality of the materials used and the execution of the method more important than the methodology?

Anonymous

Are you going to get a Manurhin MR73 now that Beretta imports them into the US?

Anonymous

Considering that intermediate cartridges have been a relative success since their introduction with general infantry use, and would have probably been beneficial in some ways in rifles used prior to their popularization (WW1/WW2), do you know why countries in the mid 20th century tended to instead always trend towards the common standard of 30 caliber rounds of (very roughly) similar size? With examples in the late 1800s like 6mm Lee Navy, it makes sense that they were too ahead of their time in regards to the barrel/rifling metallurgy and powder chemistry of the time, but in the mid 1900s we see 6.5×50mmSR Arisaka being replaced by 7.7×58mm Arisaka, 7.35 Carcano replacing 6.5 Carcano, among others. Aside from the logistics issues of issuing different cartridges to rifles and machineguns, 6.5 Arisaka is listed in many places (can't find a solid source) as being criticized during its use for being "underpowered" despite being a relatively flat shooting round with weight/velocity loadings similar to 6.5 Grendel. Do you have any insight why these early "intermediate" rounds were so often put aside?

Anonymous

this might be better as a joint question with Karl, but given your unique understanding of historic military weapons trials, what is your current opinion of the us army next gen squad weapon program and the firearms / ammo that's being considered as a theoretical replacement for the m4 carbine and the m249 saw